Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker! 

September 2008

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Vista Under The Hood

The part of Windows Vista that you see—the Vista desktop—is just part of the operating system. Behind this interface (under the hood, if you will) is the guts of the beast. Vista is more than just a pretty interface; it’s a robust engine that makes all the components of your computer system run.
The Windows Vista engine works by managing the data flow to all the different pieces of hardware (including key subsystems) of your PC. Vista manages the instructions that are fed to the central processing unit; the applications and drivers that are stored in system memory; the external and internal devices that are connected to your computer; and the disk drives that your computer uses to store your data. Think of Windows as a virtual traffic cop, managing the flow of data and instructions; it’s all quite complex, yet Windows handles any given operation in the blink of an eye.
Consider, for example, the simple act of clicking your mouse to open a dialog box. When you press your finger down on that mouse button, it sends an electric signal from the mouse to your computer. That signal is translated into a specific instruction in binary code, thanks to a small software program called a device driver, which is part of the Windows operating system. Windows takes the instruction from the device driver, interprets what it means, and then forwards the instruction to your computer’s CPU. The CPU processes the instruction, and then feeds the result back to Windows. Windows then accesses the currently running program, which is temporarily stored in system memory,
and tells it to open the dialog box. The program does as it’s told, and feeds back to Windows the necessary information about what dialog box to open, and where. Windows takes that instruction, processes it as necessary, and then feeds the graphic information about the dialog box to a different device driver—this one for your PC’s video card.
The video device driver translates Windows’ instruction into the appropriate electronic signal, and the dialog box appears on your computer monitor screen. This whole process occurs in the blink of an eye.
Although this sounds rather complicated, it’s actually an example of a very simple—and very common—operation.
Windows manages dozens, if not hundreds, of these operations every hour, all in the background, all without you knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. The operating system just does its thing, routing the proper instructions to the proper devices and systems, making sure that no one operation gets in the way of any other one. There’s a lot of interrupting and pausing and restarting, but that’s the nature of the game—and it all happens behind the scenes, without troubling you, the user.
It’s all in a days work, as far as Windows Vista is concerned.

Do You Yahoo!?

Are you reluctant to move to the new My Yahoo!? Sick of the site constantly trying to get you to switch? Just want that same old warm, cozy, comfortable interface without the new, more prominent ads? Just delete the cm. from the beginning of the URL it tries to switch you to, and you'll be back home in an instant.

 

Internet Explorer 8 To Sport Traceless Browsing

Microsoft is testing a new feature in Internet Explorer 8 which will allow users to surf without recording data.
The inPrivate mode will not record visits to the user's history and will not allow sites to place cookies on the user's system.
Many industry pundits have been quick to point out the most obvious use of the feature, nicknaming it "porn mode," in reference to the ability to view adult sites without leaving a trail for employers or family members to follow.
Microsoft notes, however, that there are other important uses for the feature in regards to protecting privacy.
"Perhaps you’re using someone else’s computer and you don’t want them to know which sites you visited," explained program manager Andy Zeigler in a blog posting.
"Maybe you need to buy a gift for a loved one without ruining the surprise. Maybe you’re at an internet kiosk and don’t want the next person using it to know at which website you bank."
In addition to covering browsing history, the inPrivate feature will also allow users to block or ask permission to run other items, such as javascript code, which could be used to track a user's browsing pattern.
The feature will be able to limit which sites are blocked, allowing for sites on the user's favorites list to run as normal. Users can also download and maintain "subscription" lists which specify sites to block or allow as a rule.

New Firefox's Speed Will Smoke Chrome, Mozilla Says

The next version of Firefox will be faster than Google's Chrome, the fastest browser out there, Mozilla said today, according to TechCrunch. Chrome is 28% slower on XP and 16% slower on Vista than Firefox 3.1, which releases this year, Mozilla claims. By using the new engine TraceMonkey, one coder says, the browser will "easily eclipse even the fastest instance of Chrome."

Is Your Internet Connection Slowing Down?
 

Does it seem as if something's dragging on your Internet connection? To see what programs are tying it up in Vista without downloading a separate network-monitoring utility, go to Control Panel | Administrative Tools, then click on the Reliability and Performance Monitor (or simply search for the monitor from the Start menu). This shows graphs and percent of capacity being used for CPU, Disk, Network, and Memory. If you click on the Network bar, it will expand to show you the programs using your connection, as well as how many bytes per minute each sends and receives. If something shows up that you don't want communicating, close the process in the Task Manager.

 

Dave's Cool Downloads

 

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Have you ever considered what makes an anti-malware application effective? Malwarebytes has created an easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application. Whether you know it or not your computer is always at risk of becoming infected with viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, dialers, spyware, and malware that are constantly evolving and becoming harder to detect and remove. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove these malicious programs from your computer.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is considered to be the next step in the detection and removal of malware. We compiled a number of new technologies that are designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well-known Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware applications on the market today cannot. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start. The Realtime Protection Module uses our advanced heuristic scanning technology which monitors your system to keep it safe and secure. In addition, they have implemented a threats center which will allow you to keep up to date with the latest malware threats.

Activating the full version unlocks realtime protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating. It is a one time fee of $24.95.

Key Features

  • Support for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.
  • Light speed quick scanning.
  • Ability to perform full scans for all drives.
  • Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Protection Module. (requires registration)
  • Database updates released daily.
  • Quarantine to hold threats and restore them at your convenience.
  • Ignore list for both the scanner and Protection Module.
  • Settings to enhance your Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware performance.
  • A small list of extra utilities to help remove malware manually.
  • Multi-lingual support.
  • Works together with other anti-malware utilities.
  • Command line support for quick scanning.
  • Context menu integration to scan files on demand.

 

Here's A Word Tip

Understanding Word Styles

In Microsoft Word, a style is a collection of commands and formats that have been bundled under one name. With styles, you don't have to visit a bunch of dialog boxes to change the formatting of text or paragraphs. Instead, you simply choose a style from the Styles and Formatting task pane or the Style drop-down list. You can be certain that all parts of the document that were assigned the same style look the same. In short, you can fool everybody into thinking your documents were created by a pro.

Which styles are available depends on which template you used to create your document. Each template comes with its own set of styles, and you can create your own styles, too. A simple document created with the Normal template (a document that you created by clicking the New Blank Document button or pressing Ctrl+N) has but a few basic styles, but a document that was created with an advanced template comes with many styles.

To see which styles are available in the document you are working on, choose Format, Styles and Formatting or click the Styles and Formatting button to open the Styles and Formatting task pane. Want to know which style has been assigned to text or a paragraph? Click the text or paragraph and glance at the Style menu or the Styles and Formatting task pane.

 

While Wandering The Web

Free Templates for Printing Labels and Business Cards in an Instant

 

autofillPDF-Labels 1.0 is a site that’s got tons of free, fillable PDF label templates for U.S. letter-size label sheets. Fill your information in one field and watch as your information automatically fills all label fields within that sheet! All you need to do is download and open up a template, fill a label field, and hit the Tab button on your keyboard! Print your labels in an instant.

The site offers a complete collection of basic formatting templates for address, shipping, mailing, and CD labels as well as file folder, round, name badge, business card, and all popular Avery label sizes are available — among many more choices! PDF is an ISO International Standard: ISO 32000-1. PDF Reader Required.

Four types of auto fill basic formatting templates for labels and business cards are available:

  1. Autofill all label cells with the same information in seconds.
  2. For Shipping/Mailing labels, autofill information for FROM and TO - excellent for multiple shipments to one address.
  3. For Shipping/Mailing labels, autofill information for FROM & insert manually different information for TO
  4. Autofill image insert and text for popular size labels and business cards

Also, there are templates for manually inserting different information into each label cell.

Check it out!

 

Bumper Sticker of the Month

 

On The Web, No One Knows How You Smell

More than 9% of individuals who have participated in a business videoconference did so in an appropriate shirt—and pajama pants. And 40% said they would skip showering before future videoconferences.

 

Pause For Thought

 

“I stayed up last night and watched the Republican Convention all night long. I watched all of them talk, and listened to them and seen them and I'm not interested in politics. If you watch them and listen to them you can find out why.”

 Casey Stengel


 


 

 

 

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Last Updated
09/20/2008