Travel In Vietnam - Saigon - Ho Chi Minh - Ha Noi

Jan 12, 2007

Adobe Reader v7.0.9

Upgrade today by downloading free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to view, print, and search Adobe PDF files. Whether you use it at home or in your business, on your computer or on a mobile device, upgrading to Adobe Reader 7.0 helps you work faster and better.

Download: Adobe Reader v7.0.9 (Freeware)
Homepage: Adobe

Undelete Plus v2.52

Undelete Plus is a quick and effective way to retrieve accidentally deleted files, files removed from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down.

Download: Undelete Plus v2.52 (Freeware)
View: Change Log
Homepage: Undelete Plus

Jan 11, 2007

Jackass: Number Two

Trailer

Symantec wants to lend a hand with Vista security

Symantec is thinking up ways to take the pain out of a security feature in Windows Vista.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has plans to create a technology that makes security decisions for Vista owners dealing with User Account Control. This feature in the operating system asks for permission to lift security barriers to the inner workings of a PC whenever software tries to access these. But it makes too many requests to be effective, according to Symantec.

"I have been running Vista for a while, and UAC bugged the heck out of me--to the point where I tuned it out and, eventually, turned it off," Rowan Trollope, vice president of consumer products at Symantec, said in an interview. "If a company could do better, it would be one of us security companies."

While Trollope's comments may seem self-serving, Natalie Lambert, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the company has a valid point.

"UAC is a great step forward for computer security, in theory. The main problem is that it still leaves the power in the user's hands. As we know, security technologies are only as strong as (their) weakest link, and in this case, that is the user," Lambert said. "Symantec's plan to enhance UAC is a much-needed complement."

The Vista feature lets people run a computer with fewer user privileges, which dictate how far they can interact with the software on it. It's designed to prevent malicious code from being able to do as much damage as it would on a machine running in administrator mode--a typical setting on Windows XP. In Vista, users now have to grant permission each time full access to a PC is required, for example, when installing a program or changing a setting.

Vista is the first major new PC operating system release from Microsoft since XP in 2001. Microsoft made the Windows update available to business customers in November and broad availability is slated for the end of this month.

Symantec's plan to overlay Microsoft's tool with its own technology is one example of how it hopes to turn the security in Vista from a business challenge into a business opportunity. Until now, the company had mostly talked about how the new operating system's built-in security features could hurt its bottom line.

"We have had a team looking at ways to enhance the built-in features of Vista, and UAC was one of the very first we identified," Trollope said. "We have not announced any specific feature, but we are researching it...We have a couple of researchers building prototypes."

Useful or not?
Such technology would be welcome, said Brian Lambert, a student at Southern Illinois University (and not related to Forrester's Natalie Lambert). While UAC is not difficult to understand, it is very noisy and bothersome and users might ignore it as a result, he said.

"I think third-party applications should take the decision out of the user's hands. Anything to reduce the number of nagging windows will be appreciated," he said. "I always welcome more security, but there has to be a balance between security and usability. UAC borders on being intrusive."

But not everyone believes handing off the Vista UAC controls to anyone else is a good idea.

"UAC may be annoying at first--heck, it is annoying for me as a power user--but people will get used to it," said Robert McLaws, who blogs about Microsoft. "If you're running Vista for a while, you don't see UAC prompts that often, and if you do, it is something you need to know about."

Microsoft for its part said that it had not heard of Symantec's plans and that customers have told it that UAC is a good way to help limit the impact of attacks by malicious software and unapproved system changes.

"We're certainly looking forward to hearing more from Symantec about the solutions they are building for Vista to help protect customers," Stephen Toulouse, security product manager at Microsoft, said in an e-mail interview.

The company does need to work with Microsoft to make sure its UAC-modifying technology performs as planned. Otherwise, the software giant might consider the product a hack, Toulouse said. "If a method to subvert or suppress it (UAC) was developed unknown to the user, as with all Microsoft software, we would initiate our security response process," he said.

In addition, if people decide they do not want to run UAC and they would rather run a third-party solution that provides similar functionality, they have the choice to disable it, a Microsoft representative pointed out in an e-mailed statement.

Opportunities in Vista
Other security components in Vista that Symantec thinks it could build upon are the Windows firewall and data execution protection, Trollope said. It also envisions using Vista's plumbing to create tools that protect against drive-by downloads and JavaScript exploits, he added.

The Windows update includes a host of changes designed to safeguard the PC. It also packs a number of security tools, including an improved firewall and a spyware shield. Symantec, McAfee and other security companies have accused Microsoft of anticompetitive practices over the operating system. In response, Microsoft agreed to make some changes.

"My outlook is positive on the changes that have been made for Vista," Trollope said.

Around the same time Vista becomes available to the masses, Symantec plans to release Norton 360, its new flagship consumer security product, the company said. Norton 360 will include a new detection mechanism for malicious software: it looks at the behavior of code on a PC to determine whether it is malicious, rather than using signatures--a kind of "fingerprint" of known bad code. The same feature will be enabled in the 2007 editions of Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security, Symantec said.

Symantec does still have one concern, though, Trollope said. It is worried that Microsoft's message that Vista is the most secure version of Windows yet will lead consumers to believe that they no longer need any additional security tools.

"It would be bad for customers if they got that idea," Trollope said. "Not to mention our business."

Source: zdnet

VeriSign Offers Hackers $8,000 Bounty on Vista, IE 7 Flaws

VeriSign's iDefense Labs has placed an $8,000 bounty on remote code execution holes in Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.

The Reston, Va., security intelligence outfit threw out the monetary reward to hackers as part of a challenge program aimed at luring researchers to its controversial pay-for-flaw VCP (Vulnerability Contributor Program).

The launch of the latest hacking challenge comes less than a month after researchers at Trend Micro discovered Vista flaws being hawked on underground sites at $50,000 a pop and illustrates the growth of the market for information on software vulnerabilities.

iDefense isn't the only brand-name player in the market. 3Com's TippingPoint runs a similar program, called Zero Day Initiative, that pays researchers who agree to give up exclusive rights to advance notification of unpublished vulnerabilities or exploit code.

The companies act as intermediaries in the disclosure process—handling the process of coordinating with the affected vendor—and use the vulnerability information to beef up protection mechanisms in their own security software, which is sold to third parties.

"Both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows dominate their respective markets, and it is not surprising that the decision to update to the current release of Internet Explorer 7.0 and/or Windows Vista is fraught with uncertainty. Primary in the minds of IT security professionals is the question of vulnerabilities that may be present in these two groundbreaking products," iDefense said in a note announcing the bounty.

The company said the motive of the challenge is to "help assuage this uncertainty."

The rules are straightforward: iDefense will pay $8,000 for each submitted vulnerability that allows an attacker to remotely exploit and execute arbitrary code on either of the two Microsoft products.

Only the first submission for a given vulnerability will qualify for the payout, and iDefense will award no more than six payments of $8,000.

"If more than six submissions qualify, the earliest six submissions (based on submission date and time) will receive the award," the company said, stressing that the iDefense team at VeriSign will be responsible for making the final determination of whether or not a submission qualifies for the award.

To qualify, the vulnerability "must be remotely exploitable and must allow arbitrary code execution in a default installation of Vista or IE 7.0. It [must] also exist in the latest version of the two products, with all available patches/upgrades applied."

Flaws in release candidate or beta versions do not qualify, and iDefense's rules make it clear that the vulnerability "must be original and not previously disclosed either publicly or to the vendor by another party."

In addition to the $8,000 award for the flaw, iDefense will pay between $2,000 and $4,000, based on reliability, quality, readability and documentation, for working exploit code that exploits the submitted vulnerability. "The arbitrary code execution must be of an uploaded non-malicious payload. Submission of a malicious payload is grounds for disqualification from this phase of the challenge," the company said.

Microsoft typically frowns on the broker market for flaws in its products. "We do not believe that offering compensation for vulnerability information is the best way [researchers] can help protect customers," the company said during the last iDefense hacking challenge.

"Microsoft believes that responsible disclosure, which involves making sure that an update is available from software vendors the same day the vulnerability is first broadly known, is the best way to protect the end user," a Microsoft spokesperson, in Redmond, Wash., said at that time.

Source: eweek

Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments II - The Domino Effect...

The guys from EepyBird are back, with 251 bottles of Diet Coke and over 1,500 Mentos mints. In Experiment #137, they did a mint-powered . version of the Bellagio fountains. This time, it's one giant Coke & Mentos chain reaction that has to be seen to be believed.

Keywords: eepybird eepy bird mentos coke diet coke mentos experiment fountain soda science geyser experiments fountains geysers.

Comodo Firewall Pro v2.4.12.146 RC2

As Internet access becomes vital to all business organizations, network security and privacy affects everyone. Comodo, a leading global provider of trust and assurance services for the Internet, provides the highest level of protection for networks and home users alike.

Comodo Firewall is one of the smartest firewalls you can ever see. While providing answers to firewall questions, users usually do not understand the complex questions which involve complicated connection details like IP addresses, Ports, Application paths etc.

Download: Comodo Firewall Pro v2.4.12.146 RC2 (Freeware)
Homepage: Comodo

Change Log:
Fixed : Incompatibility when McAfee + Daemon Tools + CFP installed.
Fixed : GUI Issues reported in previous language setups.
Fixed : Files could not be submitted using previous BETA setups, now you should be able to.

Jan 10, 2007

Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for January, 2007

This month's security updates affect Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Home users should follow the steps on this page to update their Windows software. IT professionals and systems administrators should review the guidance on Microsoft TechNet.

View: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (927198) (Critical)
View: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Remote Code Execution (925938) (Critical)
View: Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language Could Allow Remote Code Execution (929969) (Critical)
View: Vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2003 Brazilian Portuguese Grammar Checker Could Allow Remote Code Execution (921585) (Important)

Security updates are available from the Microsoft Download Center. Updates for consumer platforms are available from the Microsoft Update Web site.

News source: Microsoft

XnView v1.90 RC 1

Come to discover XnView, a software to view and convert graphic files, really simple to use ! Support of more than 400 graphics formats !

Download: XnView v1.90 RC 1 (Freeware)
View: Change Log
Homepage: XnView

Orbit Downloader v1.3.2

Orbit downloader is an indispensable tool for download acceleration which can download up to 500% faster. It is written with efficiency in mind - it typically uses less than 3MB of memory, allowing you to use the computer without noticing Orbit downloader is running. Additionally, the installation package is less than 1.6MB. It supports IE, FireFox, Maxthon and Opera. You can easily download files with a browser click from any remote server via HTTP/ HTTPS/ FTP/ RTSP/ MMS. Orbit downloader's easy-to-use management features and simple-yet-powerful configuration options can make both your downloading process and downloaded files management as easy as never before.

Download: Orbit Downloader v1.3.2 (Freeware)
View: Change Log
Homepage: Orbit Downloader

XPize v4.6 Beta 2

Pize is a GUI enhancer that replaces most of the non-XP icons, avis and bmps that Microsoft has always overlooked. It also includes some extras and a reloader, which you can use after visiting Windows Update.

Download: XPize v4.6 Beta 2 (Freeware)
View: Change Log | XPize Forum
Homepage: XPize

7-Zip v4.44 Alpha 2

7-Zip is a file archiver with highest compression ratio. Usually 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. And 7-Zip compresses to zip format 2-10% better than other zip compatible programs. 7zip compression usually results in smaller file-sizes when compared to the RAR format. This compression tool works in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP. 7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL.

Download: 7-Zip v4.44 Alpha 2 | for 64-bit Windows (Freeware)
View: Change Log
Homepage: 7-zip.org

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Alpha 2 Pre

Mozilla Firefox - faster, more secure, easier to use and sporting a new look, this latest Firefox release sets a new standard for web browser innovation. Mozilla Firefox project (formerly Firebird, which was formerly Phoenix) is a redesign of Mozilla's browser component, written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. It is small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over other web browsers, such as the tabbed browsing and the ability to block pop-up windows.

Mozilla Firefox 3 is focused on improved memory handling, performance, and stability, improved XUL, and new core components such as application data stored in SQLite. Mozilla Firefox 3 could break a few existing extensions and applications built on top of Firefox, and it will definitely include new optimizations if you like to build on the popular browser. Mozilla Firefox 3 should have additional JavaScript and SVG features if you're into that sort of thing.

Features in Firefox include:
- Easy migration: Switching to Firefox has never been easier now that Firefox imports data like Favorites, history, settings, cookies and passwords from Internet Explorer. Firefox can also import settings from Mozilla 1.x, Netscape and Opera.
- Smaller Download: Continuing efforts to make this the most efficient browser, the Windows version of Firefox is now only a 4.7 MB download, making downloading Firefox a breeze for dial-up and broadband users alike.
- New Default Theme: A new default theme provides a bright new look for Windows and Linux users.
- SmartUpdate: A new SmartUpdate feature notifies users of new versions of Firefox to ensure that the browser is always up to date.
- Help: A new online help system makes this one powerful, friendly browser.
- Extension/Theme Manager: New Extension and Theme Managers provide a convenient and secure way to manage and update the hundreds of add-ons that set Firefox apart from other browsers.
Mozilla Firefox also includes numerous bug fixes and incremental improvements, including faster page load speed.
- Popup Blocking: Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker.
- Tabbed Browsing: View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they're ready for viewing when you're ready to read them.
- Smarter Search: Google Search is built right into the toolbar, and there are a plethora of other search tools including Keywords (type "dict " in the Location Bar), and FastFind (start typing the first few letters of some text in the page and Firefox takes you there).
- Privacy and Security: Built with your Security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business.
- Hassle-Free Downloading: Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker.
- Fits Like a Glove: Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured, Firefox has all the functions you're used to - Bookmarks, History, Full Screen, Text Zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc.
- S M L XL XXL XXXL: Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new Extensions that add new features, add new Themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines. Firefox is as big or small as you want.
- Setup's a Snap: At only 4.7MB (Windows), Firefox only takes minutes to download over a fast connection. The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new Easy Transition system imports all of your settings - Favorites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers - so you can start surfing right away.
- A Developer's Best Friend: Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript and CSS error/warning console, and an optional Document Inspector that gives unheard of insight into how your pages work.
- Read Mail—Not Spam

Homepage - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Download Firefox 3.0 Alpha 2 Pre for Windows - 6.02 MB
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-3.0a2pre.en-US.win32.installer.exe

Download Firefox 3.0 Alpha 2 Pre for Linux - 8.30 MB
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-3.0a2pre.en-US.linux-i686.tar.bz2

Download Firefox 3.0 Alpha 2 Pre for MacOS - 16.8 MB
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-3.0a2pre.en-US.mac.dmg

Jan 9, 2007

Funny kick

Funny

Internet Explorer 7 on Linux

The following documents the relatively short process needed to get Internet Explorer 7 running on a Linux system. So far, I have found one (two) problems with this method: it seems transparent GIFs appear as filled-black boxes in IE7, and secondly (this is actually a good thing for me), this won’t give you the IE7 interface running in Linux, but rather the IE7 rendering engine inside the IE6 interface. What this means is that you won’t be seeing IE7 tabs or the RSS reader, but you will be able to debug webpages and fix layout problems.

Microsoft conditional comments do work, unlike the standalone version of IE on Windows, so you will be able to develop and test webpages across almost all major browsers (IE 5-7, Firefox, Opera) on one Linux box! Also note that we will avoid Microsoft’s Genuine Advantage download validation checks, so pure-Linux users will be able to finish the process without having to find a genuine Windows machine to download the IE7 setup file (the check is avoided legitimately, by the way).

First, install IE 6 (and optionally 5.5 + 5.0) using the excellent IEs 4 Linux installer. Consider donating to this project to say thanks!

Follow the instructions appropriate for your Linux distribution at http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Installation. You must at least install IE6; 5.0 and 5.5 are optional and up to you. I assume that you used the default installation path of ~/.ies4linux - if you didn’t, ensure that you use the correct directory in the upcoming steps.

Once you have finished following the instructions, you can test your IE6 installation by running the ie6 command.

ie6

I used a browser version check website (use Google, I don’t want to hotlink them) to test the currently installed browsers:

firefox reports ‘Firefox 2.0′
ie6 reports ‘MSIE 6.0′

Now for Internet Explorer 7:

To skip having to authenticate your copy of Windows at the Microsoft.com download site (since we’re on Linux and don’t have Windows…), make use of Google’s nicely customised IE7 installer; found at http://www.google.com/toolbar/ie7/. Download the file (IE7Setup_G.exe) and save it to a temporary folder.

Now, make a complete copy of your currently installed IE6 installation:

   cd ~/.ies4linux
  cp -r ie6/ ie7
  sed ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie6 -e 's/ie6/ie7/g' > ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7
  chmod +x ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7

Go to your IE7Setup_G.exe download and use cabextract which should be installed from earlier (IEs 4 Linux instructions).

   cd ~/yourtempfolder
  cabextract IE7Setup_G.exe

ls -la shows:
15505200 Dec 7 21:21 IE7-Setup.exe

Extract necessary files:

   cabextract IE7-Setup.exe
  for i in wininet iertutil shlwapi urlmon jscript vbscript \
  ieframe mshtml mshtmled mshtmler advpack
     do
        chmod +x $i.dll
        cp $i.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/$i.dll
  done

  chmod +x inetcpl.cpl
  cp inetcpl.cpl ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/

Now normaliz.dll and inetcplc.dll are needed, you can Google them, or use these links:
http://www.down-dll.com/dll/normaliz.zip
http://www.down-dll.com/dll/inetcplc.zip

Unzip both files and copy them to ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/

   unzip normaliz.zip
  unzip inetcplc.zip
  cp normaliz.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system
  cp inetcplc.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system

IE 7 is now installed but will have view pane corruption unless you switch the Wine container to use Windows XP as the operating system:

   WINEPREFIX=~/.ies4linux/ie7 winecfg

At the bottom of the initial page, change ‘Windows’ option to ‘Windows XP’ and press OK.

Make a shortcut:

   cd ~/bin
  ln -s ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7 ie7

Running ie7 and using the previous browser test site results in:

ie7 reports ‘MSIE 7.0′

How Do I Get Free Internet Traffic?

It does not matter if you are a webmaster, online marketer, or just a person with a myspace page, you need to know how to get web traffic to your web page. There are several ways to do this. I am going to mention some but I am focusing on one.

Why is web traffic so important? It is what makes the WWW go around. Without any traffic, there would be no web. Web site traffic is important for every one. As a matter of fact it is a matter of life and death for internet businesses. For newly created websites, getting traffic can be an extremely difficult task to accomplish. Think about it, there are over a billion websites and they all want traffic. So how can someone find your site, when they have no idea it even exists? The keyword here is promotion.

So what are the secrets of the sites that are getting thousands and some millions of people to view there web pages on a daily basis? These sites have several factors that make them extremely important to the people that use them. The first and most important is "content". Content is not a secret, but it is the most important factor at getting your site noticed. The second is the age of the site. No site becomes an overnight success. The third is credibility. As a sight ages it either gains or loses credibility. If credibility is gained then traffic will also be gained. There are many, many more factors, too many to list, but these three are at the top of the list.

What if I have a new site with good content and want to get a jump start on getting people to view it? This where things can get very complicated. There are several steps that you need to take that I am not going to even mention. I suggest you search the term "SEO", known as search engine optimization. What you will find is information on getting your site noticed by the search engines and listed for the public to find by searching. The next suggestion is controversial, but it works!!

For immediate traffic to your web page, the simplest and quickest way is to utilize traffic exchanges. What is a traffic exchange? Traffic exchanges comes in many different flavors from manual to auto. The way a traffic exchange works, no matter what type, is the basic concept of "I will view your site, and you view mine". Sounds simple and it is.

The majority of traffic exchanges are free to join with options of upgrading. Free membership is fine for most people. Since for the most part, you get the same thing as upgraded members but limited and/or slower results. Becoming a member is very simple, all you do is register with a user name and your website address that you want others to view. Then you can log in and start viewing other members sites. Depending on the exchange, you will earn some type of credit for every site you view. Those credits are then used to have your site viewed. That's it!! For a little of your time you get free traffic to your site.

I mentioned something before about manual and auto exchanges. A manual exchange is one that has some sort of timer that counts down a certain amount of time before allowing you to "manually"proceed to the next site by clicking a button. Auto exchanges also has timers but the change to the next site is done automatically. WOW!! you say...but hold on, back up and lets think about this. If this is done automatically, who would be looking at the sites? Exactly, no one. I am not saying that auto exchanges should be all together avoided, but if you want a human to look at your web page, then stick with the manual exchanges. If you are looking to boost the numbers on your sites counter, then by all means go auto. I would advise the use of both with the majority being manual.

Richard Cook, Online author specializing in web site promotion. EzClicking

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Cook

How To Build A Website For Google Adsense Revenues

There's plenty of competition on the net, and you have to corner your market to turn a profit. Google AdSense has created an easy way to generate revenue on your website. Unlike other forms of advertising, Google AdSense does not require the same investment before you start seeing a profit. If you want to build a website to earn Google AdSense advertising revenue, just follow these four basic steps for joining the Google AdSense program.

1) Choose a topic for content on your website. It can be anything at all because Google AdSense has relevant ads for a multitude of categories or topics. You can choose something you are interested in or have experience with. If you are an expert in a specific area, you can provide advice on your chosen topic. Google AdSense is intuitive and will provide you with numerous ads that are relevant to your content. Should Google AdSense provide you with an undesirable ad, you have the power to filter it out! Have no fear, Google AdSense is flexible and will change to suit your website's needs.

2) If you are a pro at website development, go ahead and build your own. If you feel HTML-impaired, find a free professional template for a site you like and add your own graphics, pictures, and fonts to give it a personal touch. Google AdSense gives you the ability to customize the ads to match the look of your site. Don't settle for anything you don't like because Google AdSense ads can be adjusted until they are just right. Once your website is constructed, register a domain name and find a hosting provider. You are just about ready to see some income from Google AdSense.

3) Sign up for inclusion in the Google AdSense program. The Google AdSense site has a simple online application that you can complete quickly. It might take a couple days for the Google AdSense team to review and approve your site. Once Google AdSense accepts your application, you can learn how to generate Google AdSense coding to insert in your website's HTML. Then you'll be ready to receive Google AdSense revenue through your site traffic. If Google AdSense rejects your website, they will give you a detailed reason for the rejection. Fix your problem areas and reapply for the Google AdSense program.

4) This is the most important step for generating Google AdSense revenue. To profit from Google AdSense, you need to heavy site traffic. You want visitors to click on the Google AdSense. The more traffic you have, the more likely you are to get some income from Google AdSense. Here are some tips for driving more traffic to your site.

- Try Pay-Per-Click advertising to send visitors to your Google AdSense. The most popular PPC search engines are Google and Yahoo.

- Explain Google AdSense to your friends and family. Let them spread the word about your Google AdSense.

- Write articles that relate to your content and Google AdSense ads and submit them to article directories with a link to your site and Google AdSense. Post links to your Google AdSense in blogs and forums.

If you follow these simple steps for building a website with Google AdSense, you are ready to join a competitive market. Google AdSense will generate revenue for your site if you give it time and choose how to implement the Google AdSense program. Check out the Google AdSense site for more details and sign up for it today!

Robert is a full-time Internet marketer, author and publisher and contributes to http://www.CashConfidentials.com on a regular basis. Robert provides new and unique ways to make money online - check it out!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Thatcher

SEO Tips For Beginners

# Potential buyers will go into Google, type in their keywords and research has shown they are more likely to look at the left hand Free Organic results rather than the Pay per Click results on the right. This is good news for people who want to optimize their site and not pay for advertising.

# Getting high numbers of traffic to your site is not the complete answer. You want to increase targeted web site traffic that will buy.

# The secret to targeted traffic is your keyword phrases. You must be specific, take advantage of the long tail of your niche.

# An example, if you are promoting holiday accomodation, do not use holiday accomodation as your keyword phrase. You would be competing in too big a market and would be lucky to get any traffic. Use the long tail and be specific. Have the keyword phrase "Holiday Accomodation Rotorua New Zealand." The visitors will be looking for a holiday in Rotorua and are likely to buy.

# Check out what your competiton is doing, what is the No 1 doing and what is their page ranking. Don't try to compete with the large corporations like Amazon.

# Before you spend time optimizing your site for a particular keyword phrase test it. Spend $20- $50.00 on Pay Per Click and see what results you get. If the results are good go ahead, there is nothing worse than spending your time optimising a site that no one is going to look at.

# Create a theme based website, Google understands the concepts of themes and you donot have to keep repeating your full keyword phase. If you have a golf theme, Google understands that swing means golf swing.

# When you are setting up your site make sure it is user friendly. If your traffic does not find it easy to use they will simply leave your site. Although you want to get a high ranking form Google remember it is your visitors who buy not Google.

# To help save your time and energy I would reccommend using software like SEO Elite. Brad Callen has created an amazing piece of software. He also offers valuable information with the product.

# After completing your on page optimization you need to do the off site work. By this I mean you need to create links to your site. Google goes to one site then goes to the sites that are linked to the original one. If you are not linked to a site that Google has given a ranking to it will be a long time before Google ranks your site.

# To get links to your site write articles that have good content about your site then submit them to different Directories. This way you will be linked to the directories which have a Google ranking.

# You can also pay to have your site linked to sites. This will give you a higher ranking more quickly.

# If you have a blog or blogs link these back to your website as well.

These tips and hints should give you a starting point to enable you to understand the benefits of optimizing a long tail keyword phrase for your niche.

Lyndsay uses her knowledge of Search Engine Optimization to help people increase targeted web site traffic. Become one of those people now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lyndsay_Wilkinson

ASUS Unveils External Graphics Card

ASUS introduces the world's first external graphics card for notebook users

ASUS today introduced a dedicated external graphics card for laptops -- the XG Station. The XG Station is an external graphics card that allows laptop users to enjoy high end graphics performance while plugged in. As the XG Station is an external graphics it can be unplugged when portability is needed.

The XG Station connects to any notebook’s ExpressCard slot and provides a PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards. Since ASUS has opted to equip the XG Station with a standard PCI Express x16 slot, the station can be equipped with any PCI Express based graphics card: AMD, NVIDIA or even Matrox. ASUS launched the default XG Station with an NVIDIA 7900GS powered graphics card.

The XG Station is powered externally. A separate power brick plugs directly into the adaptor.

An integrated LCD display and control also grace the XG Station. The display is customizable and can display information such as frame rate, fan speed, GPU temperature and more while the control knob can change various settings of the XG Station such as the core and memory clocks.

Expect ASUS to release the XG Station in Q2'07 this year. Pricing of the XG Station is unknown at the moment.

The XG Station adaptor only interfaces with ExpressCard interfaces at the moment, but will work with with PCIe ExpressCard interfaces installed in a desktop PC.

Windows Home Server Preview

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week (see my special report), Microsoft previewed its long-awaited Windows Home Server (WHS) product, a Windows Server 2003 R2-based server for consumers that dispenses with the complexities of most Windows Server versions and provides the core storage, sharing, and remote access functionality that digital media and home networking enthusiasts require. It's an innovative and exciting product, and I'm happy to finally be able to discuss it. Chances are, if you read this site regularly, you're going to want Windows Home Server.

Codenamed "Q" (and previously codenamed "Quattro"), Windows Home Server is designed to be almost diabolically simple, and after two and a half years of active development, Microsoft feels like it's arrived at an interface that is simple enough "even for mom" while being powerful enough for even the most jaded power user. The only downside to WHS, from what I can tell, is that there won't be a public beta. Instead, Microsoft will open up the product to an outside private beta test in late February and then ship it in late 2007. But if you can bear the wait, take heart: WHS will be available via both standalone software and pre-made servers. In short, it's all good news. Let's take a look.

Understanding the needs of the market

When you think about the market for a home server-type product, you obviously need to consider how many people there are out there who would want and could take advantage of such a product. According to Microsoft, the market for WHS is quite big: There are over 40 million people worldwide that have broadband access and 2 or more PCs at home. They've got important data stored on those PCs, including digital memories (photos and videos), work and personal documents, financial data, and more.

The problem, of course, is that as more and more people use PCs to store their important data, the user base, overall, gets less and less technical, and the needs of the market migrate down to the mainstream. For this reason, WHS needs to serve the needs of average users as well as more advanced users (you guys). What Microsoft expects is that most of the people who acquire the first version of WHS will be enthusiasts. But they'll be so excited about the product that they'll evangelize it to others. And the product needs to work for these people.

With over two and a half years in active development, WHS has undergone a dramatic UI simplification. Though it is based on Windows Server 2003 R2, the product features a very simple, tabbed user interface from which there are only simple, plain English choices with few knobs and buttons. It doesn't ask unanswered questions, and it's not as complex as a car dashboard, let alone the Space Shuttle cockpit. Marketing to families is somewhat visionary. But making it actually work is, perhaps, miraculous. From what I've seen of the UI, Microsoft may just pull it off.

"This is not about making a geek happy," Microsoft product manager Todd Headrick told me during a Windows Home Server briefing in December 2006. "We designed this to solve a problem." Headrick said that most home users don't know their ISP, let alone their IP address. So you can't make the product too complicated.

Core functionality

The biggest PC-related issue facing these households, of course, is backup: Everyone knows you're supposed to do it, but few do with regularity. As a result, most people who do get the backup bug do so only after they've experienced a major hardware failure and lost months or even years of data. So Microsoft decided that it would try and solve this issue with the first version of WHS, and make backup a core part of the product's functionality. On the server-side, a number of storage-related innovations will make this process simpler than ever before.

Sharing is another key issue, of course, and perhaps the most predictable task that Microsoft could take on with WHS. As such, WHS will indeed act as the hub for your connected home and connect all the Media Center PCs, Xbox 360s, Windows XP and Vista-based PCs, Windows Mobile devices, Zunes, and other devices you may own. It will utilize the Windows Media Connect-based sharing technologies with which most Windows-based home networkers are today no doubt familiar.

Finally, Windows Home Server will provide ways for users to access their WHS-based content from both around the home network and externally, via the Internet. Microsoft will provide WHS customers with a handy IP address via Windows Live Domains to make this as simple as possible.

In the next few sections, I'll examine each of these features in more depth.

PC backup

Headrick told me that people don't do backups today because it's too complicated and they don't like to push buttons. In Windows Vista, Microsoft has introduced some backup-related innovations such as Previous Versions, Complete PC Backup, and Backup and Restore Center. But Vista's backup utilities are all about an individual PC: They work only with the PC on which Vista is installed.

In WHS, Microsoft moves the unit of backup from the PC to the household. WHS provides a single solution for backing everything up in your home, every night, without having to push buttons. This includes a new form of image-based PC backup--similar to Complete PC Backup in Vista, but based on new patent-pending Microsoft Research technologies--as well as drag and drop access to individually backed files, from different points in time. On the server, Microsoft is using its Single Instance Store (SIS) technologies from Windows Server 2003 to keep the backup size as small as possible, and it's doing so across PCs. (How good is this technology? Headrick said that they're seeing 15-19 TB of data stored in 300 GB or less of backup space.) So if you have an identical version of foo.dll on five different PCs, only one version of that file will be backed up on the server, dramatically lowering the storage requirements. (This works with PCs based on Windows XP and Vista.) Smart.

Using this feature, users will be able to perform a full image-based restore of any PC in the house, browse through backups using a standard Explorer interface, and drag individual files and folders out to your desktop. In general, all you need is your Home Server password to access this functionality. If you need to do a full image-based restore, you need the password, the date and time to rewind to, and whether you want all of the data or just certain drive letters.

Somewhat related, WHS also monitors the health of each PC it is protecting. In the meantime, WHS will monitor Windows Security Center in XP (SP2 and up) and Windows Vista, and provide a single dashboard view of the health of all of the PCs in your household. So if someone turns off anti-virus for some reason, you'll know about it. There's no remote management in the first version, though that will come in a future update.

Expandable storage

On the server-side, WHS finally does away with drive letters. "No-one gets drive letters in Windows Home Server," Headrick said. "They'd just forget where they put stuff." Instead, WHS aggregates all of the storage attached to the server into a single store pool, regardless of whether that storage is internal, external, or a combination. As you add drives to the server, the available storage pool simply increases.

I asked whether this technology was based on DFS (Distributed File System), but Headrick told me that this was, in fact, yet another example of new software out of Microsoft Research. Data is mirrored at the shared folder level, so that two copies of a folder are always stored on two different physical hard drives. It's quite different from RAID, Headrick says. "RAID is an insect spray," he cracked. "With RAID, you must understand the technology, add disks in sets, and its hard to remove drives." With WHS, storage is hot-swappable. You can plug in an 80 GB hard drive, for example, and configure it quickly with the WHS Add Drive wizard. When you want to remove it and replace it with a 500 GB drive, there's a simple wizard for that as well.

Headrick compares WHS storage to toast in a toaster: It's user-serviceable and there are no screws. I think it's one of the most innovative features in the server, and it could very well help revolutionize how people interact with backups, since it will be so easy to add storage and ensure that you're always retaining a wide range of backups.

One final point about WHS storage. Were you to pull a drive out of WHS and try to access the disk from another Windows-based PC, that system would see the disk as standard NTFS. So it will work anywhere, though of course the backups are written in a proprietary data format.

Sharing and remotely accessing content

When most people hear the phrase "Windows Home Server," they think of digital media files and sharing, and sure enough, WHS does offer these facilities via Windows Media Connect. That is, content on your home server can easily be shared with other compatible devices, including Media Center PCs, XP- and Vista-based PCs, and Xbox 360s. What's amazing about WHS, however, is that it also offers these facilities remotely, via the Internet. To make this work, Microsoft is providing WHS users with a free Internet address via Windows Live. This address will give you a remote interface into your entire home network, not just WHS. You will be able to access any shared folders remotely, or even control individual PCs remotely.

This technology, which is based on remote access functionality in Windows Small Business Server, will let consumers do things like upload photos from a kiosk from a remote part of the world, download files they need while on the road, or enjoy recorded TV shows while they're on vacation. Microsoft will also allow you to pick a vanity Internet address through Windows Live Domains if you'd like something more custom.

Incidentally, the remote access functionality is free in that you won't be paying any annual or monthly fees, it's just a part of the benefit of using WHS.

Simple hardware, simple software, simple connections

While individual WHS features like full household backup are exciting, the overall direction this product is taking is, perhaps, even more interesting. I hope you're getting the notion that simplicity is Job One with the WHS team. Well, this mantra extends to every possible facet of the system. For example, WHS servers are headless, and you couldn't connect a keyboard, mouse, or display to one if you wanted to. Instead, there are only two ports on a WHS server--for the power cord and Ethernet--and a single power switch. (That's right, it's wired only. You are expected to connect the WHS box to your home network's router, and PC clients can be wired or wireless.)

A simple install CD, places in a networked PC, gets WHS up and running. There are few questions to answer during setup, involving passwords, recovery questions, and the standard questions about Windows Updates. From there, you can access the WHS console, where you setup the home server, the users who can access it, and the shared folders you'd like to create. There are no domains--though that was experimented with back in the Quattro days, Microsoft quickly dropped that notion in a nod towards simplicity. Besides, how many users will you need in a typical household?

The first night after WHS is installed, it will backup all the PCs in your house. All you need to do is install a small Windows Home Server Connector application, via the CD or over the network, and you're good to go. Mac user? You can access the WHS shared folders as you would any other Windows share, and that means your backup program--like Apple's Backup--can use a share as a save location as well. "We're a great back-end store for Time Machine," Headrick told me, alluding to the new backup feature Apple recently announced for Mac OS X Leopard.

Schedule and availability

Microsoft is announcing Windows Home Server at CES 2007 on January 7, 2007. The product will enter a private beta in late February or early March 2007 and will be released publicly in the second half of 2007. Microsoft will make WHS available in two ways: Bundled with new WHS hardware and software-only, the latter so that enthusiasts can install the system on the hardware of their choice.

That said, the WHS-specific hardware I've been briefed on looks quite exciting. HP will demonstrate a tiny home server at CES that features a sleek micro-tower design, four externally accessible, hot-swappable SATA hard drive bays, and 4 USB 2.0 ports. It utilizes a low-end 64-bit AMD Sempron processor running at 1.8 GHz and features 512 MB of RAM. You can connect a printer and share it out to other systems on your network. HP is extending the WHS experience with media sharing solutions of its own and by styling the machine to match its entertainment PCs and notebooks and other products. More PC maker partners will be announced at WinHEC this spring.

If you're building your own home server, Microsoft requires a 1 GHz processor or better, 512 MB of RAM or more, and as many disks as you think you need. The company will support multiple home servers on the same network, but it's still murky how that will work.

Final thoughts

I'm excited about Windows Home Server in a way that I haven't been about technology since the first time I laid eyes on Windows Media Center ("Freestyle"), back in early 2002. Enthusiasts are going to eat this thing up, and once more typical consumers catch on, I suspect Windows Home Server is going to find a huge market indeed. And that's a good thing: Windows Home Server looks like a winner, and I can't wait to get this thing up and running in my home.

--Paul Thurrott
January 7, 2007

source: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

ASUS Annouces World's First SideShow Notebook

After making the rounds around the web for the pats few months, the W5Fe is officially announced

The Asustek W5Fe should be familiar to most DailyTech readers by now. ASUS brought you word of the W5Fe back in October, but the company just officially announced it as the world's first SideShow-enabled notebook.

The W5Fe shares most of its design aspects with the older W5A and W5F notebooks, but features a rather unsightly bulge on its 12.1" widescreen lid. Housed within that bulge is a 2.8" SideShow QVGA auxiliary display and 1GB of NAND flash.

According to Asustek, the SideShow display can be used to track meeting schedules, phone numbers and emails. The display can also be used to play games, view photos, listen to music and can even be used as a navigational device.

Once you get past all of the SideShow business, the W5Fe is still a Core 2 Duo notebook at heart running on an 945GM Express chipset. The notebook supports up to 1.5GB of DDR2 memory, SATA hard drives up 160GB in size along with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and 802.11a/b/g connectivity options.

IE7pro v0.9.5

IE7pro is an add-on for IE 7 which adds lots of features and extras, that make your IE easier, more useful, more secure and more customizable.

Download: IE7pro v0.95 (Freeware)
Homepage: IE7pro

Changelog:
1. Fix an bug when open unsupported URL schema
2. Support proxy setup exception list.

Comodo Personal Firewall v2.4.11.135 RC 1

As Internet access becomes vital to all business organizations, network security and privacy affects everyone. Comodo, a leading global provider of trust and assurance services for the Internet, provides the highest level of protection for networks and home users alike.

Comodo Firewall is one of the smartest firewalls you can ever see. While providing answers to firewall questions, users usually do not understand the complex questions which involve complicated connection details like IP addresses, Ports, Application paths etc.

Download: Comodo Personal Firewall v2.4.11.135 RC 1 (Freeware)
Homepage: Comodo

Windows Home Server: details and features

Much of what we predicted about Home Server is true. It's all about centralization and ease of use, and it's targeted at users who want an easy way to back up all of the important data in their house. It's built using a mix of new and not-new sever technology, but whereas we previously believed it was based on a client OS, Windows Home Server is in fact based off of Windows Server 2003. Dropped behind a suitable firewall, this should be a strong server product that meets many emerging needs in the computing household. Whether or not it can fight off competition from other products, especially the coming onslaught of consumer NAS products, remains to be seen.

One challenge facing Windows Home Server (WHS for short) is that it is an OEM-only product, meaning that you won't be able to head out and buy WHS at your local retail joint. And much like Media Center in the early days, we don't expect specialty shops to carry an OEM version of the software anytime soon. This is disappointing news, because the early-adopter segment isn't particularly interested in paying top dollar for OEM creations when do-it-yourself delivers a better experience. That said, I discussed this briefly with a Microsoft representative who said that Microsoft is aware that there's a big enthusiast crowd out there, and a retail release of the OS isn't out of the question.

Storage and backup

What's in the box? There's the obvious stuff you'd expect to find in a "Home Server," like securable file and print sharing that you can centrally manage. Home Server does not provide a centralized Active Directory, as you might expect (that would be overkill, to say the least). Instead, Home Server will sync user accounts and passwords between client machines and the server, so if "Jonboy" changes his password on the downstairs PC, that change will sync to the Home Server.

There's also a fairly robust centralized backup system which will track "previous versions" of files that have changed or have been deleted. Users can opt to store data directly on the server, or the server can be configured to do periodic backups of local machines. Or both. I really like the idea of a centralized backup solution in the home, and WHS looks to be easier to use than your run-of-the-mill consumer NAS solution.

WHS is about more than file storage, of course. WHS supports disaster recovery functions, including scheduled snapshots of client systems that can be fully restored by booting off of a CD that connects to WHS. This is a killer feature because it obviates the need for all kinds of tech support stemming from a spyware infestation or a hardware install gone bad.

Microsoft has tapped Single Instance Store (SIS) technology to reduce the size of backups. Files are backed up, and then monitored for changes. When changes are made, only the changes are added to the backup, making subsequent backups both fast and small in size. Furthermore, the backup system monitors your entire network for duplicates. If you have Quiet Riot's greatest hits on one PC, the system will not back up that same album on another PC if it determines that the copy is identical. This greatly reduces the size of multiple-system backups, since many system files and applications will not be backed up more than once.

The Home Server will also monitor the health of your PCs, including drive health. Notably, WHS will report the complete status of the Security Center on Windows Vista PCs.

Sharing and searching

In terms of storage for files, music, etc., users of the WHS won't see a "C:\" drive, but instead just a single storage pool which can be almost endlessly expanded thanks to WHS Drive Extender. This is accomplished with a new twist on dynamic disk control. Adding more space will be as simple as adding more hard drives (internal or external, ATA/SATA or USB/Firewire) and using a tool to add that drive's capacity to the central store. The use of dynamic disks will also allow for a degree of data redundancy. This isn't RAID, but something more akin to data mirroring. WHS will duplicate data among two or more other disks (if present), so the system should be protected against the failure of any one particular disk.

One item worth noting is that the file sharing is handled via SMB, meaning that Linux and Mac clients can use WHS. In fact, you can even back up these clients by having them store their own backup images on the server.

On the entertainment side of the fence, WHS' storage system is designed to be used for sharing digital media, including that which you create with various devices like cameras and camcorders. The server will stream music and video to anything that supports Windows Media Connect, including the Xbox 360, which means that Windows Media Video will rule the day on WHS. While we like the idea of streaming media, the format limitation is something that irks us, especially when we know that greener pastures are coming in the form of media- and format-agnostic solutions. Then again, no one is going to buy WHS to just to stream media.

In terms of interaction, WHS is designed as a headless server package. Microsoft has developed client-side software to handle most routine management tasks, but management can also be done via web browser. The Remote Administration tool that runs in Internet Explorer will also allow you to remotely see PC desktops and shared files. As a nice touch, you can download entire directories from the server, and it will compress the download into a zip for you, on the fly.

In fact, Microsoft is planning a Windows Live tie-in that will allow you to remotely connect to your Home Server or network to upload or download files or make changes to settings. You can grant this capability on a per-user basis, too. This tie-in with Live will allow for users to register their own domains with the service, even if their IPs are not static.

Windows Home Server will be entering beta sometime in the next 60 days, with general availability following 120+ days after that. As such, we won't see Windows Home Server in action until the second half of the year. Minimum system requirements are quite low: 1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB of free space on the primary drive, and an Ethernet connection.

Jan 8, 2007

SEO Tips For Beginners

Everyone wants traffic going to their website. We are all aware that an awesome product and the perfect sales page does not equal sales. No sales means no money...not a good result. Here are some tips and hints to use to help you get the results you want.

# Potential buyers will go into Google, type in their keywords and research has shown they are more likely to look at the left hand Free Organic results rather than the Pay per Click results on the right. This is good news for people who want to optimize their site and not pay for advertising.

# Getting high numbers of traffic to your site is not the complete answer. You want to increase targeted web site traffic that will buy.

# The secret to targeted traffic is your keyword phrases. You must be specific, take advantage of the long tail of your niche.

# An example, if you are promoting holiday accomodation, do not use holiday accomodation as your keyword phrase. You would be competing in too big a market and would be lucky to get any traffic. Use the long tail and be specific. Have the keyword phrase "Holiday Accomodation Rotorua New Zealand." The visitors will be looking for a holiday in Rotorua and are likely to buy.

# Check out what your competiton is doing, what is the No 1 doing and what is their page ranking. Don't try to compete with the large corporations like Amazon.

# Before you spend time optimizing your site for a particular keyword phrase test it. Spend $20- $50.00 on Pay Per Click and see what results you get. If the results are good go ahead, there is nothing worse than spending your time optimising a site that no one is going to look at.

# Create a theme based website, Google understands the concepts of themes and you donot have to keep repeating your full keyword phase. If you have a golf theme, Google understands that swing means golf swing.

# When you are setting up your site make sure it is user friendly. If your traffic does not find it easy to use they will simply leave your site. Although you want to get a high ranking form Google remember it is your visitors who buy not Google.

# To help save your time and energy I would reccommend using software like SEO Elite. Brad Callen has created an amazing piece of software. He also offers valuable information with the product.

# After completing your on page optimization you need to do the off site work. By this I mean you need to create links to your site. Google goes to one site then goes to the sites that are linked to the original one. If you are not linked to a site that Google has given a ranking to it will be a long time before Google ranks your site.

# To get links to your site write articles that have good content about your site then submit them to different Directories. This way you will be linked to the directories which have a Google ranking.

# You can also pay to have your site linked to sites. This will give you a higher ranking more quickly.

# If you have a blog or blogs link these back to your website as well.

These tips and hints should give you a starting point to enable you to understand the benefits of optimizing a long tail keyword phrase for your niche.

Lyndsay uses her knowledge of Search Engine Optimization to help people increase targeted web site traffic. Become one of those people now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lyndsay_Wilkinson

This hot girl is ALMOST perfect - very funny

sexy girl funny jim carrey

Funny Animals


" Clips of animals doing funny things put in to 1, custom made video. It didnt take me to long. The music for the cats isnt mine the rest is ^_^ Enjoy!

Google Issued Patent for "Similarity-Engine"

Don't search harder, search smarter

According to a filing issued to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, patent 7,158,961, Google is working on deploying a "similarity-engine." This similarity-engine compares documents and websites for redunancy.

A common problem for search engine uses is receiving similar results during a search. Most website results returned will either have identical information or "roughly the same" information. With a similarity-engine in place, Google will be able to return the most relevant information while hiding or discarding reptitive data.

Google's patent filing claims:

From the search engine's perspective, one problem in cataloging the large number of available web pages is that multiple ones of the web documents are often identical or nearly identical. Separately cataloging similar documents is inefficient and can be frustrating for the user if, in response to a request, a list of nearly identical documents is returned. Accordingly, it is desirable for the search engine to identify documents that are similar or "roughly the same" so that this type of redundancy in search results can be avoided.

Google's similarity-engine project is not particularly earth-shattering. According to earlier reports, IBM, Hitachi and Visage Inc., are a few that have filed for similar inventions. In fact, over 15 patents for similarity-engines have been filed over the last 10 years.

According to Google, the similarity-engine will be based on creating and calculating differences and sums in vectors. Using hashes and what Google calls "sketches," its engine will be able to compare differences in text as well as images. The similarity-engine will take an object, create an vector for it, and compare the vector to that of another object.

Further into Google's filing, the search giant also describes the use of its similarity-engine in other applications. Besides web documents, the engine can be used to compare regular text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other commonly used office productivity data.

"The concepts described could also be implemented based on any object that contains a series of discrete elements," the filing emphasized.

Source: dailytech

Google Talk v1.0.0.104

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

Choice: Get in touch over email, IM or a call
Quality: Talk through your computer but hear your friends as if they were in the same room
Convenience: Your Gmail contacts are pre-loaded into Google Talk so inviting or talking to your friends is just a click away

Download: Google Talk v1.0.0.104 (Freeware)
Homepage: Google Talk

AnyDVD v6.1.0.2

AnyDVD works in the background to automatically remove the copy protection of a DVD movie as soon as it's inserted into the drive, allowing you then to backup the movie using a DVD backup tool such as CloneDVD and CloneDVD mobile. You can also remove the RPC region code, thereby making the movie region free and viewable on any DVD player and with any DVD player software.AnyDVD is capable of removing unwanted movie features, including subtitles and prohibition messages such as copyright and FBI warnings.
Download: AnyDVD v6.1.0.2 (Shareware)
View: What's New
Homepage: AnyDVD

- New: Added display of drive manufacturer, type and revision to AnyDVD status window
- New: Added support for HD-DVD booktype to AnyDVD status window
- New: Added correct display of HD-DVD layers and capacity to AnyDVD status window
- Fix: Another Bug introduced in 6.1.0.0, Macrovision RipGuard was still not removed correctly in some rare situations

AnyDVD v6.1.0.2

Google Earth v4.0.2722

Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

Download: Google Earth v4.0.2722 (Freeware)
Homepage: Google Earth

KML Notes:
- no longer produces error messages when the "Show prompts for all errors" option is used

Major Fixes:
- Improved performance and stability with large number ofcollada models
- Mac specific bug for time data being shown incorrectly
- All urls in description are now automatically converted to hyperlinks (wrap description with ... to avoid this)