*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

Decrypt AACS movies

p2pnet.net News:- "This is real, any good java programmer can confirm this program make sense, and all that is missing is the decryption keys," posts muslix6 on the Doom9 forum, billed as, "THE in-place to be for everyone interested in DVD conversion".

"I already have a version that works with volume key instead of title keys," the post continues. "Even more powerfull!" And, "Version 1.0, with volume key support should be out on january 2."

Doom9 was where the FairUse4WM application showed up. It allows people to un-DRM Microsoft Plays[not]ForSure tunes downloaded through Windows Media-supported 'services'.

Now meet BackupHDDVD, "a tool to decrypt AACS protected movies," says muslix6, going on, "I was not aware of anyone having done that, so I did. BackupHDDVD is a tool to decrypt a AACS protected movie that you own, so you can play it back later using an HDDVD player software.

"This is the first version, and it's not very stable yet. This software don't provide any cryptographic keys, so you have to add your own keys. Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oZGYb92isE. Executable and source code: http://rapidshare.com/files/8318838/...HDDVD.zip.html. Please read the FAQ before asking me any questions. Merry Christmas everyone!"

Same to you, muslix6. And a useful New Year. And all the best to the Blu-Ray and HD DVD disc makers

Meanwhile, below is his outline of the AACS farce which led to BackupHDDVD, or:

The Saga of decrypting an AACS protected movie
By Muslix64.

December 6:
I just bought a HD-DVD drive to plug on my PC, and a HD movie, cool! But when I realized the 2 software players on windows don't allowed me to play the movie at all, because my video card is not HDCP compliant and because I have a HD monitor plugged with DVI interface, I started to get mad... This is not what we can call "fair use"! So I decide to decrypt that movie. I start reading the AACS specification I have found on the net. I estimate it will take me about 4 weeks of full time job to decrypt that. I was wrong, it was in fact, easy...

BTW, when I disable my HD monitor, I can watch the movie,on my old VGA screen, but, what is the point of having a HD monitor and not being able to watch a HD movie on it!

December 7 to December 12:
Nothing, I try many things, but I'm going nowhere. I change my technique

December 13:
Now I focus only on title key. I was very surprise to realize that the title key is there, in memory! Can it be that easy? Around 7PM, I decrypt my first movie "pack". Around 11PM, I have now a totally decrypted movie! But there is a problem. Frame skipping.

December 14:
After many tests, I found a field in the Nav pack, that fix the frame skipping problem. Wow! Now I can watch a smooth playback of an HDDVD film that I have decrypted! After only 8 days of work, I was able to decrypt an HD-DVD movie! What's the problem? There is a major security problem somewhere.

December 15 and December 16:
I put together a small program called "BackupHDDVD", a java based command line utility to decrypt movies.

December 17:
I made a small video called "AACS is Unbreakable" where you can see the output of the program while decrypting. You can also see a playback of a decrypted movie.

December 18:
Upload that video on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oZGYb92isE

December 20:
Upload the program and source code on RapidShare (V0.99)

http://rapidshare.com/files/8318838/...HDDVD.zip.html

December 21:
I want to go further in the decryption, so I decide to track down the "Volume unique key" instead of title key. I found it also! I'm preparing BackupHDDVD V1.00, that will support volume key and title keys.

December 25:
Merry Christmas!

December 26:
I create a thread on the Doom9 forum about BackupHDDVD. People don't believe it...

Stay tuned.
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

Also See:
un-DRM Microsoft Plays[not]ForSure - Microsoft vs FairUse4WM, August 31, 206
Doom9 forum - BackupHDDVD, a tool to decrypt AACS protected movies, December 27, 2006

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

(Friday 29th December 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10856?PHPSESSID=fe887d8e53ee049b0

 

Cashing in on Golden Oldies

p2pnet.net News:- People have always shared music. It's part of life. But Warner Music (US), EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France) and Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), the members of the Big 4 Organized Music cartel, loathe the idea, saying it robs them of sales they're entitled to.

It's an argument as rubbishy as much of current over-priced, low-quality Big 4 'product' available online through the handful of corporate sites such as Apple's iTunes iPod loader.

But the Oldies are another matter. The labels say they're making making a come-back, although they've never been away. They're forever golden: quality music turned out by quality artists when music lovers were still customers rather than today's mindless 'consumers' being spoon-fed formulaic 'product'.

And in the UK, the Big 4 are adding Oldies, as well as downloads, to the Top Ten charts to pad the numbers and bolster the illusion that there's a viable corporate online market.

One of the reasons the free (in the sense of unfettered) sites and networks are the mainstays in the real world of online music, as opposed to the fake one the labels are trying to promote, is: they offer the full range of buyer-donated music that'd otherwise be kept locked up tight in corporate catalogues.

The Net offers a treasure trove of Golden Oldies, hard-to-find songs which, because the labels are hanging on to them like grim death, aren't available by any other means.

As usual, the Net has led the way and now, from Monday, "chart position will no longer be pegged to the sale of a CD single or seven-inch vinyl release," says The Independent. "Instead, digital downloads, which outstripped high street sales for the first time earlier this year, will dictate the risers and fallers in the Top 40. This means that any song available on the internet - including 'golden oldies' - could top the charts."

The move, "is likely to see older tracks brought to a new generation by TV shows, advertisements and films, or newly released digitally, shoot up the charts," says Guardian Unlimited. "Tests this year showed Mr Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra in the charts after being featured in Doctor Who, and an old Aerosmith track charting after being sung by a contestant on The X Factor."

And, "Experts said that old tracks revived for television advertising campaigns and films, but not re-released - such as the post-punk soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola movie Marie Antoinette - could well reappear in the charts," states The Independent. "The soundtrack included songs by New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure."

The aim is, "to make the charts more representative of what consumers are actually buying and revitalise an institution that was looking past its sell-by date after years of declining sales," says the story.

Just think how much money the Big 4 could be making if hey offered every Golden Oldie they had at reasonable prices through not only the corporate sites, but also the independent online distributors.

They'd have so much money pouring in that they'd go cross-eyed trying to keep track of it

Instead, they'd rather fix their prices at artificially high levels and try to sue their customers into toeing the corporate bottom lines.
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

Also See:
The Independent - Singles chart remix to favour golden oldies, December 29, 2006
Guardian Unlimited - Oldies but goldies benefit in digital revamp of charts, December 29, 2006

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

(Friday 29th December 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10858?PHPSESSID=99b786c733347d2dea6653df855b4f65

 

This worm wishes you a Happy New Year

By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 29, 2006, 9:14 AM PST

An e-mail worm disguised as a New Year's greeting is making the rounds on the Internet.

Worm-laden messages are titled "Happy New Year" and contain an attachment called either postcard.exe or postcard.zip, according to experts at VeriSign's iDefense Labs, which provides information on security flaws and exploits. If the attachment is opened, malicious software is downloaded from the Internet and can infect computers running Windows operating systems.

Once a computer is infected, it looks for open mail proxies and begins spamming mail to infect other computers. The worm is already moving quickly across the Internet, at a rate of five e-mails per second on at least one large network, according to the iDefense Labs Web site.

Security experts say that although the virus looks similar to the Warezov Trojan horse that has plagued the Internet for the past month, it is actually a new variant of the worm and has been largely undetected as of December 28. iDefense performed a triage analysis of the threat and found that more than a dozen codes were installed on a computer from several worm and Trojan horse families. More than 160 e-mail servers are used by the worm to send out spam to potential victims, the company said.

High volumes of mass e-mails are usually sent around the holidays. This year has been no different, experts say. The spike in holiday spam is largely attributed to the fact that people have been more likely to open the messages.

Consumers have been shopping online more, desperate for gift ideas. They also have been expecting electronic greeting cards from friends and family. Malicious spammers have been able to exploit this expectation by designing Trojan horses that can fool unsuspecting users.

Antivirus software maker McAfee issued several advisories over the holidays, warning customers to be wary of such Trojans. On Wednesday, it cautioned users about a malicious e-mail attachment named Christmas+Blessing-4.ppt that installs software enabling attackers to remotely access a compromised computer.

Like many Trojans, the "Happy New Year" worm is not recognized by all virus scanners, so users should be extremely cautious when opening e-mail attachments, experts say.

"The period of greatest risk is through New Year's Day, when antivirus protection is the lowest for this new threat and users are most apt to click on a holiday-related message," said Ken Dunham, director of the Rapid Response Team at iDefense Labs. "Everyone should be on guard for e-mails and other content potentially harboring malicious code during the holiday period."
http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-6146321.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

 

USER PROFILE HIVE CLEANUP SERVICE..........Log off Windows much quicker - From Microsoft. The User Profile Hive Cleanup service helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off. System processes and applications occasionally maintain connections to registry keys in the user profile after a user logs off. In those cases the user session is prevented from completely ending.....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en


info

Overview
The User Profile Hive Cleanup service helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off. System processes and applications occasionally maintain connections to registry keys in the user profile after a user logs off. In those cases the user session is prevented from completely ending. This can result in problems when using Roaming User Profiles in a server environment or when using locked profiles as implemented through the Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP.

On Windows 2000 you can benefit from this service if the application event log shows event id 1000 where the message text indicates that the profile is not unloading and that the error is "Access is denied". On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 either event ids 1517 and 1524 indicate the same profile unload problem.

To accomplish this the service monitors for logged off users that still have registry hives loaded. When that happens the service determines which application have handles opened to the hives and releases them. It logs the application name and what registry keys were left open. After this the system finishes unloading the profile.

 

Turn iTunes into WiiTunes
Topic: Things

Snipshot_9417jph8uqp5 Apple's Airport Express is an excellent device for streaming music from your computer to your stereo; the only obvious drawback is that you need to control playback via your computer, which can defeat the purpose of listening on your stereo. (Of course, the problem goes away if you're using your computer while listening to the music.)

Owners of the Nintendo Wii can solve the interface issue by installing the Opera browser on the Wii and then running dot.Tunes on their Mac or PC. This streams iTunes music, including purchased DRM-ed songs, to the Wii (as well as your online friends who have the password), and allows graphical playback control on the receving end, unlike the Airport Express.

In the case of the Wii, you would control dot.Tunes/iTunes playback with your wireless Wii controller and a flash-based interface on your television set. You might be able to demo the software here (their registration process isn't working at the moment, so the demo is currently unavailable to new users).

dot.Tunes is free for fifteen days; after that, it costs $30, although if you register before the fifteen days is up, the charge is cut in half. I'm not sure how stable Opera's flash support is on the Wii, but if this system works (and assuming Apple doesn't include a monkeywrench in the next iTunes update), people like me who are considering buying the Wii have one more justification for buying one.
http://blog.wired.com/music/2006/12/turn_your_itune.html

 

Secret Tweaks
20 unexpected ways to unleash the true potential of the technology products you already own.

Jim Aspinwall
Friday, January 28, 2005 03:00 PM PST
Illustration: Diego Aguirre
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,1/article.html


Your neighbors are doing it. Your coworkers are doing it. There's no shame in doing it--even in broad daylight. I'm talking about hacking: your digital camera, your MP3 player, your network, and of course your PC. If it has a plug, a jack, a battery, a cord, a chip, a disk drive, or a display, chances are it can be reprogrammed and tweaked in some way to give you more speed, advanced features, or greater storage--without your paying for a whole new unit.

Hacks can run the gamut from simple software downloads, to involved hardware swapping and modification that sometimes requires specialty parts. I'll point you in the right direction and walk you through the steps to get the goods, do the deed, and enjoy the secrets hidden within your gadgets. But first, a few important notes about safety and other considerations.
Hacking Caveats

Be aware that many hacks will probably void the warranty of your system or of specific components, so until you get comfortable it's best to start hacking on hardware you aren't too attached to. Also note that while some vendors are much more tolerant of hacks and tweaks than others--Intel and NVidia even provide you with some tools--many manufacturers take a harder line and try to make it as difficult for you as possible.

In any case, you'll want to take some precautions before you begin:

* First, back up any data you have stored on the device, or start with a fresh system--hacking can render your PC useless in a nanosecond but cost you hours of restoration time.
* Download and safely store the original firmware or drivers for a device, in case something goes wrong and you need to get your gadget back in working condition.
* When tuning up your PC, measure and test your system before you start and as you hack so that you can tell whether you're doing more harm than good. Check out "PC Benchmarks Tell the Speed Story" in this article to find out what to test and how.
* Disconnect the power before working inside the case of any device. Be careful not to drop or leave tools, screws, clips, loose wires, or extra brackets floating around inside the case; anything conductive could short out a critical circuit.

In this article:

* PC Hardware: Free Speed: Overclocking Your PC
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,2/article.html

* Operating System: Make Windows More Efficient
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,3/article.html

* Networking: Optimize Your Net Connection
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,4/article.html

* Quiet PCs: Keep Your System Cool and Quiet
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,5/article.html

* Digital Cameras: Hacking Pictures
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,6/article.html

* Audio Players: Store More Music
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,7/article.html


* 10-Minute Tips
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119267-page,8/article.html



quote

INTERNET SPEED TEST..........The most accurate broadband Speed Test on the internet. Very easy to use. DSL, Cable, Dial Up, you name it, this one test covers them all. Results appear on the screen in a easy to understand format.....(free).....
GO THERE!
http://www.auditmypc.com/internet-speed-test.asp

 

Apple iTunes DRM troubles

Why me?

p2pnet.net News:- Apple is already deeply in the mire and shareholders "shaken" because of charges that documents may have been faked to maximise executives' profits.

Now it admits it's facing several federal lawsuits, "including one alleging the company created an illegal monopoly by tying iTunes music and video sales to its market-leading iPod portable players," says The Associated Press, continuing, "The case, filed July 21, is over Apple's use of a copy-protection system that generally prevents iTunes music and video from playing on rival players. Likewise, songs purchased elsewhere aren't easily playable on iPods.

"The plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages and other relief. The court denied Apple's motion to dismiss the complaint on Dec. 20."

When France looked ready to introduce a new law that would have forced Apple to allow iPodowner to download from services other than iTunes, Steve Jobs said it amounted to, "state-sponsored piracy".

And the Consumer Council of Norway claimed a major victory against Apple's iTunes saying it was close to winning case against Apple fort iTunes breaches of fundamental consumer rights.

Meanwhile, back in the US, just to rub it in, "Another lawsuit, filed November 7, alleges that the logic board of Apple's iBook G4 fails at an abnormally high rate," says AP, quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald. "The plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said its response to the complaint is not yet due.

Appl, "also disclosed that PhatRat Technology LLC filed a lawsuit on October 24 alleging patent infringement," says the story, add:

"The Nike-iPod product in question, developed jointly with Nike Inc, allow runners to keep track of how far and how fast they've gone. The company's response to the complaint is not yet due."
http://p2pnet.net/story/10865?PHPSESSID=76f9edf1e46ae0e0844d36d11974c28f

 

The 'digital recording revolution'

p2pnet.net news view:- On October 8, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) proudly announced the creation of a new singles chart, "integrating for the first time data from sales of physical singles and their digital counterparts".

The new chart would combine its digital track chart which measures authorised digital download singles, and its physical CD singles chart and would effectively replace the old ARIA singles chart for use by TV and radio in their "top 40 countdown" shows.

This seemed like a great advance for the Australian recording industry. In its press statement, ARIA said it was "thrilled", and pledged to continue "to develop charts of the highest calibre for the Australian public and industry alike".

Record company advertisements invited consumers to purchase releases on DVD, CD and digital download.

But how much of the recording industry's digital revolution is real, and how much of the revolution remains rhetoric?

Currently, the most popular song in Australia is Chasing Cars by English band Snow Patrol. Dominating Australian radio playlists, it was heard by 1.8 million Australians over the closing credits of the Grey's Anatomy season finale, as well as in ER, The 4400 and One Tree Hill. Chasing Cars has been the most downloaded song from authorised Australian services for the past two months. Yet an examination of the ARIA national singles chart finds that the track is absent from the top 50. Why?

Chasing Cars hasn't been released in Australia as a CD single. It's only available as a digital download and under ARIA chart eligibility rules, songs aren't eligible to enter the ARIA singles chart if they're digital-only singles. They're only eligible to enter the digital track chart, and aren't included in the combined chart.

Put simply, a CD single which is unavailable as a digital download single can enter the ARIA singles chart, whereas a digital download single which is unavailable as a CD single is excluded.

ARIA's chart rules discriminate against digital downloads. Under the rules, approved by record companies through the ARIA Chart and Marketing Committee, unless a song is available as a physical single, digital sales simply won't count. It seems despite the embracing the digital revolution, a digital single isn't a single for Australian record companies.

Further, no matter how popular the song, a digital download can't be certified gold or platinum. Therefore an artist who chooses the digital market rather than the physical market can't be recognised for their commercial success.

While for record companies, the physical CD single "priorities" can "ship" gold or platinum based on the quantity of CDs sent to stores but not sold to consumers, genuine download hits purchased by consumers go uncertified and receive little recognition.

The disparity in treatment between artists who choose the digital market and those who stick to the traditional physical market is best characterised by the story about the Australian artist who reportedly shipped four-times platinum to record stores in November, only to see all of the CDs returned to the record company in the following February. Obviously it wasn't a digital download-only release.

Despite the self-generated publicity about the digital revolution, this is clear evidence that Australian and international recording artists who support download technology are being denied the opportunity for chart position, gold and platinum records, and status in an increasingly competitive market place.

Why are digital-only singles discriminated against?

The Australian recording industry is one of the few global recording industries that refuses to publicly release actual sales figures, including digital download figures. And yet, it purports to encourage consumers to eschew unauthorised services in favour of licensed services through piracy cases. So why not give artists supporting the digital revolution their due? If Snow Patrol is No1 on the digital track chart, why not include Snow Patrol in the ARIA singles chart? Unless of course, digital downloads are only selling a fraction of physical CD singles.

Could it be that a No1 digital only single might only appear at No5, or No10, or No15 on a combined digital and physical chart? If so, would this demonstrate that the Australian authorised digital download market isn't nearly as developed as the recording industry would like us to believe? Good old-fashioned record company self-interest may also be in play here.

Australian consumers who want a CD copy of Chasing Cars have three choices.

They can buy a physical CD import at a prohibitive cost, or "burn" a CD copy after obtaining a digital download, an action which despite (or because of) recent legislative amendments still raises substantial legal uncertainties in Australia.

Finally, consumers can purchase the Snow Patrol CD album just to obtain one song, and many already have. Snow Patrol's album Eyes Open is double platinum and sits at No6 on the ARIA albums chart after four months.

Of course record companies wouldn't want consumers to spend $20, or $25, or $30 to own a single song. Would they?

Alex Malik - p2pnet
[Malik is a music industry commentator and academic researcher at the University of Technology in Sydney. He's presently finishing his PhD in law.]
http://p2pnet.net/story/10864?PHPSESSID=741d6ffa0c82a8fbaf60732f003c3750

 

NPS Software was founded in 1998 and has since been committed to bringing free quality software to the Internet community.

When the MP3 standard became popular in 2000, we introduced 2 Find MP3, one of the first MP3 search tools for the Internet. Already more than 8,000,000 copies have been downloaded and 2 Find MP3 is becoming increasingly popular with users who are looking for a reliable and safe alternative to P2P file sharing networks.

Other programs by NPS Software include Kazaa & LimeWire Lyric Finder, Amazing CD & DVD Burner, and several MP3 and movie players.
http://www.npssoftware.com/


Amazing CD & DVD Burner

What is Amazing CD & DVD Burner ?

Easily burn music, video and data CDs and DVDs. Amazing CD & DVD Burner handles all drive types including CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM (SCSI, IDE, EIDE, and USB). Frequent tasks such as burning files, building and burning ISO files, and erasing rewritable CDs and DVDs are made easy for novice as well as advanced users. Amazing CD & DVD Burner has an innovative action driven user interface that guides the user through the entire burning process.

Amazing CD & DVD Burner runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me/XP.
download
http://www.npssoftware.com/amazingcdburner/download/amazingcdburnerfree.exe

http://www.npssoftware.com/amazingcdburner/index.htm

 

i have not tested this..ye is on ye own..


The FREE Reatogo-X-PE Boot CD

Multi-Shell - Custom Boot Profiles - Password Protection - Fully Localized Pre-processing - Post-processing - 200+ AutoHelp Plugins

Reatogo´s fully configured BartPE +XPE Recovery CD download bundle

Just download the free bundle

and follow the prompts.



NOTE: "Windows" is a trademark of Microsoft.

The Reatogo project is in no way affiliated to or endorsed by Microsoft.

You need to legally own a Windows setup CD to compile this recovery CD.



More than 200 AutoHelp BartPE Plugins

available for popular freeware and shareware programs.



The AutoHelp plugins copy or download the needed files for you.

Some plugins require the program to be installed on your host system. They all set up with a click and guide you through the configuration.

Regular BartPE plugins can also be integrated.

After the automatic firstrun configuration of the main setup, you are ready to burn your first CD.

go here

http://www.reatogo.de/REATOGO.htm

 

ULTIMATE LIST OF FREE WINDOWS SOFTWARE FROM MICROSOFT..........

Microsoft has over 150 FREE Windows Programs available for download -- but finding them all is extremely difficult. Until now .....(free).....GO THERE!

FREE GO THERE,
http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!70F64BC910C9F7F3!1231.entry


EXAMPLES

WINDOWS XP GOODIES

Agent components provide animated characters (Genie, Merlin, Peedy, Robby & "Custom") to appear during specific help or instruction. (Support FAQ)

Alt-Tab Replacement in addition to the icon of the application window you are switching to, you see a preview of the page.

Calculator Plus also performs many types of conversions.

ConferenceXP enables you to see & hear others in a virtual collaborative space, called a venue. You collaborate on an electronic whiteboard or PowerPoint presentation, send messages and more.

FolderShare keeps important files at your fingertips - anywhere. All file changes are automatically synchronized between linked computers, so you always access the latest files.

GroupBar desktop tool offers enhanced window management capabilities in a taskbar-like setting. Through simple drag-and-drop operations on window tiles within the bar, users can create lightweight, transient grouping relationships that allow them to perform certain higher-level window layout functions on multiple windows at once.


this is a great program..ye have to try this one

Tweak UI gives access to system settings not exposed in the default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

USB Flash Drive Manager backup & restore files to/from a USB Flash Drive device.

Virtual Desktop Manager manages up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar

Virtual Machine is Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine for Internet Explorer, allowing you to view java applets on Web pages.

Webcam Timershot takes and saves pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam.

Windows Live Writer blogging authoring tool

XML Notepad 2006 provides browsing and editing XML documents. (Support: Design Doc)

 

Nice find ireland.

 

ANOTHER PROGRAM I USE TO BACK MY REGISTRY,
and it works great.. windows registry back up sucks

ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT
=========================================

Registry Backup and Restore for Windows NT/2000/2003/XP

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

read this
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

EXAMPLE
In Windows NT and 2000, the registry is never backed up
automatically, and in XP it is backed up only as part of the bloated
and resource hogging System Restore program which cannot even be used
for a "restore" should a corrupted registry prevent Windows from
booting. It has also become impossible to copy the necessary files,
now called "hives" and usually named DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE,
SYSTEM in the SYSTEM32\CONFIG folder, to another location because they
are all in use by the OS. And though the registry in an NT-based
Windows is less likely to become corrupted than in other versions, it
can still happen, and for these cases NT is simply missing an option
for easy registry backup and restore as there is in Windows 9x/Me, to
get the system up and running again in no time.

 

try this out as i have used this over the years[/b]

McAfee AVERT Stinger

Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.

GO HERE ITS FREE
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

 

FIND MY CREDIT CARD..........Security software intended to show you private info on your own machine, which you may not know of, and at your option erase information posing a hazard to your security .....(free).....GO THERE!

http://www.smartpctools.com/secure_credit_card/index1.html

 

KORORAA XGL LIVE CD..........Run the fabulous Kororaa XGL 3d desktop on your computer. Here's a video demo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6HXoa0Lgk

This is a live Linux CD, and will boot from your hd, no matter what OS you run. From the site: "I've tried about 100 different distro's over the past 2 years and can honestly say I've never seen anything on a PC as spectacular as Kororaa XGL... It makes the hairs on my neck stand up. It's that good. I'm like a kid who's found the keys to the local sweet shop, I just can't leave it alone... nearly fell out my seat the first time I spun the desktop" Minimum recommended configuration is system with 384MB RAM, Pentium3 with nVidia Geforce video card. This livecd requires a CPU with SSE instruction support, and 256Mb RAM. (i.e. P3 or later, if Celeron then need coppermine core. AMD users probably need Athlon XP CPUs, but check anyway). .....(free).....GO THERE!
http://kororaa.org/

 

V-GREP..........V-Grep is an easy to use while feature-rich application that brings - well known in the Unix world - regular expressions power to the typical Windows users. Even in DOS you could use masks, to speed-up searching for files. These masks were later adopted for use in Windows. Masks are special types of strings that with the help of reserved characters - here it would be an asterik and question mark - allow you to easily describe complex patterns. Sounds complicated ? But it isn't - very simple expression '*.txt' describes every string that ends with '.txt' phrase. Regular expressions are using basic concept of the masks but they add even more special characters that can represent definite number of characters, optional phrases etc. You can specify expressions representing complex patterns that are difficult or impossible to find using only masks, such as: e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, IP addresses etc. In the Unix-class systems regular expressions are handled by a program called GREP (Global Regular Expression Print). V-Grep (Visual GREP) gives you whole functionality of GREP and lots of other very useful options - all packed in a typical Windows GUI. V-Grep allows you also to search for files even without any knowledge about regular expression, but even then it's much better way to do this than by using Windows built-in search feature, mainly because of a more legible search results .....(free).....GO THERE!

http://www.vgrep.aionel.net/

 

K-Lite Codec Pack Update December 31, 2006
Author: KL Software
Date: 2006-12-31
Size: 4.8 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. Codec is short for Compressor-Decompressor. Codecs are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video. This Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. You should be able to play all the popular movie formats and even some rare formats.

This is a cumulative update for the latest version of the K-Lite (Mega) Codec Pack.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5347.html

 

The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide (FREE and FULL versions)
Dec 31, 2006 - 12:27 PM - by Digital Dave
One of, if not the best BIOS guides you can read.

Techarp.com

Welcome To

The Definitive
BIOS Optimization Guide

Revision 9.4

http://www.techarp.com/freebog.aspx

EXAMPLES

BIOS Optimization Guide
BIOS Option Name Published Date

System Bus
16-Bit Recovery Time 11 Aug 2003
8-bit I/O Recovery Time 21 Aug 2003
AT Bus Clock 10 Sep 2003
Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk 21 Aug 2003
Auto Turn Off PCI Clock Pin 22 Nov 2005
Burn-In Mode 14 Aug 2005
Byte Merge 20 Aug 2003
CPU Spread Spectrum 31 Jul 2005
CPU to PCI Post Write 20 Aug 2003
CPU to PCI Write Buffer 20 Aug 2003
Delayed Transaction 01 Sep 2003
Differential Current 07 Jun 2004
Disable Unused PCI Clock 22 Nov 2005
FSB Spread Spectrum 18 Sep 2003
Host Burn-in Mode 14 Aug 2005
ISA 14.318MHz Clock 10 Sep 2003
ISA Enable Bit 10 Sep 2003
Master Priority Rotation 13 Sep 2003
MCLK Spread Spectrum 03 Oct 2006
P2C C2P Concurrency 18 Sep 2003
Passive Release 19 Sep 2003
PCI 2.1 Compliance 19 Sep 2003
PCI Burn-in Mode 26 Aug 2005
PCI Bus Parking 07 Oct 2005
PCI Chaining 23 Sep 2003
PCI Clock / CPU FSB Clock 23 Sep 2003
PCI Clock Synchronization Mode 25 Sep 2005
PCI Delay Transaction 04 Sep 2003
PCI Dynamic Bursting 04 Sep 2003
PCI Express Burn-in Mode 26 Aug 2005
PCI IRQ Activated By 23 Sep 2003
PCI Latency Timer 23 Sep 2003
PCI Master 0 WS Read 23 Sep 2003
PCI Master 0 WS Write 23 Sep 2003
PCI Master Bus Timeout 15 Oct 2005
PCI Master Bus Timeout Control 15 Oct 2005
PCI Master Read Caching 23 Sep 2003
PCI Pipelining 23 Sep 2003
PCI Prefetch 04 Sep 2003
PCI Target Latency 23 Sep 2003
PCI Timeout 09 Aug 2005
PCI to DRAM Prefetch 19 Sep 2003
PCI#2 Access #1 Retry 19 Sep 2003
PCI-E Compliance Mode 09 Oct 2006
PSB Parking 07 Oct 2005
SM I/O Buffers Control 27 Jul 2005
Split Lock Operations 09 Nov 2003
Suppress Unused PCI Slot Clocks 14 Oct 2006
Synchronous Mode Select 10 Nov 2003
V-Link 8X Support 17 Nov 2005
V-Link Data 2X Support 27 Dec 2006
V-Link Data Rate 17 Nov 2005
V-Link Mode Selection 17 Nov 2005

Storage Subsystem

 

DRM: A nuisance or a brilliant strategy?

When thinking of DRM (those of us who even know what it is, of course), we likely think of something meant to hamstring our media enjoyment experience, something of an inconvenience that prevents portability between platforms (unless the offending part is cracked to allow it). Of course, we are told repeatedly that it is to 'protect' against piracy. But how many times are we told it might be a deliberate scheme to artificially recreate historical transitions to new technology and media? This is exactly what this article postulates in a very compelling fashion. Here is just one of the many points to what is a very unique perspective on the DRM phenomenon:

The most sublimely yet stupidly profitable periods for the recording and movie industries, respectively, were when music transitioned from vinyl records to Compact Discs and when home video transitioned from VHS cassettes to DVDs. Everybody bought new stuff -- the same stuff we already had but rebuilt using the new technology. We replaced our record collections with CDs and our video tape collections with DVDs -- exercises that generated untold billions for record companies and movie studios without any risk at all because all they were doing was repackaging established hits.

When I think of how much music these days (from country to what is now called 'rock') does not seem that original nor creative (well, except in a few areas like Latin pop/rock, where there is still some originality and creativity evident), as many songs seem like 'repackaged formulas' of previous hit songs of eerily similar sound, does this author's argument not seem plausible? Does it not seem exactly this way, that DRM is an attempt (in part) to lead us into forced technological obsolescene exactly in the hope consumers will have to spend that much more just to enjoy the same song or movie on a different platform or device? While it may seem to play into the hands of conspiracy theory lovers, does it not seem likely this is what motivates a significant part of the reason behind using DRM and fighting to keep it intact--instead of just 'giving the customers what they want'? You decide.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/DRM--A-nuisance-or-a-brilliant-strategy.html



DRM defined--as well as an important distinction

To any wondering what DRM is and what it does, this article defines it fairly well--especially considering that some product managers are not known for making 'technobabble' accessible to normal end-users. However, Gaudet does a credible job, as well as with explaining that ERM is not the same as DRM:

DRM and ERM share common technical concepts, such as encryption to control access to data and application- or device-level functionality to control usage. But DRM focuses on securing static content tied to a per-user access and usage license, while ERM focuses on controlling dynamic content tied to a business process that users may come in and out of on a regular basis. ERM enables companies to extend security to third-party partners, suppliers and customers.

Assuming ERM were the same as DRM, then the concept would mean for each time you tried to open one file with a different application, the user would have to pay to open it [just as a user has to currently buy the same file to have on a different platform (computer, Ipod, Zune, etc.)]--or each new user might have to pay to use the same file when accessing it. So ERM is not the same as DRM.

Just as a 'curve ball' to our readers: can you identify which vendor Gaudet favors in the article? Include this in your reaction, or feel free to react on any other related point for this article.


DRM vs. ERM: battle to control data
Important differences in often interchangably used copyright terms
Ed Gaudet


Over the past three years digital rights management and enterprise rights management have gained attention because of copyright issues involving digital media and leakage of sensitive data. Unfortunately, the terms are often used interchangeably even though they mean different things.

DRM and ERM share common technical concepts, such as encryption to control access to data and application- or device-level functionality to control usage. But DRM focuses on securing static content tied to a per-user access and usage license, while ERM focuses on controlling dynamic content tied to a business process that users may come in and out of on a regular basis. ERM enables companies to extend security to third-party partners, suppliers and customers.

Here are a few more key differences:

-- Content monetization vs. life-cycle control: DRM restricts the access and use of digital files; its business problem is optimal monetization of digital content while protecting the interests of copyright holders.

Today, this content is in the form of music and video files. The goal is to restrict content access to its owner, which is an individual consumer. By contrast, ERM controls access to and usage of electronic data in various formats such as word processor documents, spreadsheets, e-mail, PDF files and CAD diagrams. ERM allows for persistent control of content (regardless of where or when access occurs) and enables an enterprise to control access to intellectual property or other confidential business information that needs to be secured for privacy, competitive or compliance reasons.

Unlike DRM, which tends to deal with static and published content (one song to one consumer), ERM focuses on controlling information throughout its life cycle, and that life cycle is often highly collaborative.

-- The ecosystem and technical implementations differ: Both approaches include the notion of a policy server in which rights are defined, an encryption mechanism that controls access to the data, and a software client or device that enforces the policy (which authenticated user has what rights based on content).

DRM tends to focus on the media format and device, with the two most common systems offered by Apple and Microsoft. Apple's FairPlay software is exclusively tied to the encrypted Advanced Audio Coding format, iPod media player and the iTunes online store. Microsoft is more open with Windows Media DRM in that it licenses components of the DRM platform to other vendors for use.

With ERM, the controls are tied to the native applications, which have the ability to produce and consume protected data in several formats. For example, Microsoft Word supports a number of file formats (.doc, .txt, .xml, .dot, .rtf, .wps, .htm and .html). ERM enablement is accomplished with a provider's software developers kit (SDK) and associated APIs and delivered using one or more of the following approaches: natively by the application vendor, through a plug-in or by an ERM integration agent that leverages the strength of the SDK approach with the flexibility and time to market of a plug-in.

ERM solutions with SDKs include Microsoft's Rights Management Services and Adobe's Policy Server. ERM vendors by acquisition include EMC and Oracle, which use plug-in approaches to application enablement and do not offer an SDK.

Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages; however, only the integration agent provides cross-application control such as secure clipboard, the ability to support all of an application's file formats interchangeably, and enterprise-class management of multiple applications, which simplifies distribution, upgrades and integration.

As a steward of customer and corporate data, understanding the difference between the often controversial DRM and ERM is critical to your organization's agility and long-term success with controlling electronic information.

Gaudet is vice president of product management and marketing for Liquid Machines, which provides an ERM system that supports out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft's RMS. He can be reached at egaudet@liquidmachines.com.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1027773335;fp;4194304;fpid;1