System.out

Relocation

2007-05-05T14:39:00.000+05:00

Find me here from now on

Fish with human faces

2007-05-02T23:34:00.000+05:00

txt talk hurtyn englysh skillz? u b the judge

2007-04-30T10:52:00.000+05:00

So which is it? Is abbreviated, punctuation-less communication hurting the written language, or is it just another method by which kids can easily communicate with one other? It's probably a bit of both.
Click here to continue reading on Ars Technica

Find of the week

2007-04-30T10:44:00.000+05:00

See here

Joost!

2007-04-24T23:34:00.000+05:00

Welcome to Joost!

Brought to you by the makers of Kazaa and Skype, Joost (pronounced 'Juiced') is a interactive program for distributing TV shows over the internet using P2P technology.

The program is based on P2PTV technology and is expected to deliver near-TV resolution images. It turns your PC into an instant on-demand TV without any need for additional set top box. News updates, discussion forums, show ratings, and multi-user chat sessions (often linked to the active stream/channel) are made possible through the use of semi-transparent widget overlays.

At the moment, Joost is in invitation-only beta testing. Since I've not blogged in a long time, I thought of handing out *drumroll* Joost Beta invites! Good way to find out if there are people out there that still read my blog. At first use, I noticed that it has a really smooth interface; it's very noninvasive and is easy on the eyes. I glanced through some of the features such as News updates, discussion forums, show ratings, and multi-user chat sessions (often linked to the active stream/channel).Joost looks like it has a lot of potential. In the future, you'll hopefully see a lot of TV Shows appearing on Joost. The company has signed up with Warner Music some other production companies for the beta.

Therefore if you want to help Beta test Joost, all you have to do is let me know you read this. Three invites remaining, so you'll want to hurry.

Also, I've started to hate Blogger and it's templates. So hopefully, I'll be moving my act here. And another thing, why does Sony choose to limit customers purchasing games from the PS Store only if they reside in select countries. What about people living in the other half of the world? There is an alternative method (Playstation cards) but nobody knows where to get one of them.

Resistance

2007-02-24T13:03:00.000+05:00

Resistance : Fall of Man is an amazingly well-done game. Set in a frightening, alternate 20th century reality, it delivers a unique blend of harrowing military action and unnerving horror. I started playing the Campaign mode after a couple of games online (Japanese R:FOM gamers are pretty tough). The graphics are just simply awesome! The glass breaking effects, and the glass itself in the game has to be the most realistic looking glass ever!

The story is progressive and events fit nicely; It doesn't seem like they took place for your convenience. I feel the storyline is actually going somewhere, and a sequel could very well be in place. As always, the weapons are trademark Insomniac material. Each weapon has a primary fire and secondary fire mode.

The best feature this game offers is the online multiplayer. Two words can only describe it : flawlessly brilliant. I've played countless games and not once have I experienced any lag. At all.

In the meantime stay tuned for some information on the CBEA (Cell Broadband Engine Architecture), I might be doing a small interview with some knowledgable cell-enthusiasts.

Playstation 3 has landed

2007-02-19T13:51:00.000+05:00

My Sony Playstation 3 60gb along with Resistance : Fall of Man arrived yesterday from Hong Kong Play-Asia.com I highly recommend this website -- It shipped in just 2 days and the ordering process was very straightforward.
The PS3 is currently sitting at the SL Customs which sucks because I thought It would be delivered to my doorstep.
I'll be going now to clear the console and bring it home, I hope this goes smoothly; the Customs here are anything but efficient.

Stay tuned for impressions, pictures and videos.

Things on my to-do list:

Install Yellow Dog Linux, play around with PSP-PS3 connectivity, hook it up to the internet, start R:FOM.

EDIT : What a coincidence. 10 Minutes after I blogged this, UPS came over with the PS3!

Uboxed it 2 minutes ago.. All I can say is : Wow.

This thing is a black shiny sexy beast. It's plugged in and I'm downloading the Firmware Update as we speak. Such a sleek looking console, Sony, Excellent Job.

Pics coming as soon as my camera feels like charging itself (grr)

Thanks for the comment , Maail. Yeah I just couldn't wait so I brought it down. Metal Gear Solid 4, Army of 2 , Oblivion, Lair. Tonnes of good games coming out this month. The system cost 599$, shipping was 125$ and Resistance:Fall of Man was 64$. It was worth every dollar.
Add me to the Playstation Network, my ID is n0uhad. It'll be cool to see more Maldivian gamers on the PSN

I'm loving the PS3!

Video modes

2006-12-05T08:12:00.000+05:00

1080i, 420p, 720p -- What's this all about you say? Let’s start with the basics – Progressive vs Interlaced

Interlaced - Interlaced scanning was invented back in the 1920s as a way to broadcast TV signals within a narrow bandwidth. It can cause flicker and various kinds of distortion. Interlace is still used for most standard definition TVs, The technology available during the time it was invented didn’t allow for sending a full image over the air at the necessary rate to create a smooth sense of motion at the viewer’s end. This method consists splits each image into its odd and even horizontal lines in order send each group separately. The image will later be reconstructed at the destination by putting together the two groups at a quick enough rate to fool the eye from noticing the split. For a nice animated example in Wikipedia, click here.

Progressive - In contrast, progressive (or non-interlaced) scanning manages to display the entire image at one time.

If you are to enjoy your new next-gen console in all it’s HD glory, I suggest you get yourself a decent 720p HDTV (arguably better than a 1080i HDTV, see why here)

So what does this all mean?

During the broadcast of an image using progressive scan, it is displayed on your Television screen line by line from top to bottom. On the other hand, interlace scanning displays the same image, but only for every other line; it then fills in the missing rows.

Frame is the term used to describe the entire image when it is not split into odd and even lines. Field is the term used to describe the half-an-image groups made of odd or even lines. These two words therefore allow us to refer to the display rate as either frames per second or fields per second.

The different formats are defined upon three aspects:

Number of lines: 480, 720 and 1080.
Display Method: progressive or interlaced.
Display Rate: frames or fields per second.

Normal TV’s (or at least the ancient one I have) have a 480i display rate. This means it uses interlaced scanning and has a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines. It also has an aspect ratio of 4:3 as opposed 16:9 ratio seen in most HDTV’s.
The aspect ratio of an image is its displayed width divided by its height (usually expressed as "x:y"). For instance, the aspect ratio of a traditional television screen, like the one I have is 4:3.
High Definition Television sets allow broadcasting with a significantly higher resolution than traditional formats, such as the one my TV uses.

HDTV’s contain different formats for broadcasting, they can be identified by :
1 . The number of lines in the vertical display resolution.
2 . Whether progressive frames (p) or interlaced fields (i) are used.
3 . The number of frames or fields per second.
As I said earlier, Frames denote the display rate where Progressive scanning is used as it refers to the ‘entire image, when it is not split into odd and even lines’. Fields, however, denotes the half-image groups made of odd or even lines.

The frame rate in hertz can be either implied by the context or specified after the letter p (such as 1080p30, meaning 30 frames per second).
For example, the format 720p60 is 1280 × 720 pixels, progressive encoding with 60 frames per second (60 Hz). 720p assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, and a horizontal resolution of 1280 pixels for a total of about 0.92 million pixels. The frame rate (in this case equal to the field rate) can be either implied by the context or specified in hertz after the letter p.

The format 1080i50 is 1920 × 1080 pixels, interlaced encoding with 50 fields (25 frames) per second. Usually assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a horizontal (display) resolution of 1920 dots across and a frame resolution of 1920 × 1080 or about 2.07 million pixels.

Information for this post was gathered from Wikipedia and here.

New slang

2006-11-24T23:16:00.000+05:00

As you can see, my blog's design has been defaulted to one of Bloggers standard templates. This is because I felt my previous template was getting stale, so, until I figure out a way to semantically tinker this template to accomodate my own CSS styles & links, this template will stay.
Time flies; it's been an interesting couple of months marked by many things that i'd like to include in this entry, but doing so would exceed the limit and purpose of this post.
First things first - Sony's Playstation 3 killer launch party was held this month. Besides its hefty price tag and ridiculously low supply of units, the PS3 left people with mixed emotions. To get your hands on Sony's next-gen console, you either had to camp for days outside stores in the States (and risk getting shot at) or smart enough to have pre-ordered your console months ago. Needless to say, they won't be available at their original price in this region for a few months to come, not unless you're willing to dish out 1000$ and purchase one on E-bay. Next came Nintendo with their Wii console, the 'redhead' of the next-generation console family, the Wii was the cheapest and appealed to a more generic fan-base compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Actually, if you think about it - the PS3 doesn't appeal to anyone in particular. Who is Sony targetting with the PS3?).. to be continued throughout the week

stuff i've been doing/watching/testing/
'Seeders, Leechers, Trackers'? Don't understand how does Bittorent works? Take a look at this interactive applet to give you a better idea.
Python
Java
Microsoft Office 2007 - Intuitive new 'Ribbon' interface - does the competition stand a chance?
The Departed - 10/10 Watch. This. Movie.
Casino Royale - The latest in the Bond series. certainly a more 'darker' Bond than ever. I liked it.
The 'scrapped' Jackass 2 finale scene - Why wasn't this included? 'Tis simply awesome!
Wikipedia's evil twin
CSS Shorthand Guide

in future posts - best software of 2006, WoW : Burning Crusade, PS3 specs, a look at Playstation Portable 3.0 Firmware, Python test coding, Microsoft Zune : why it sucks

A look back at E3

2006-05-21T23:38:00.000+05:00

Well basically, this year's E3 conference was much anticipated due to alot of reasons - some being 1) Rumours of Sony's PS3 concerning its hefty price and release date would be put to rest finally
2) Nintendo's Revolution would be unveiled, and later on, take a proper name.
And many other reasons that make E3 a great event that's looked forward to many people.

Well to start off, it's pretty obvious that Nintendo stole the show at this years event. Nintendo has a unique way of being 'different', and this year, being the black sheep of the family has certainly paid off for them. The Nintendo Revolution was named - Wii (pronounced Wee). What was unique about a console that one could make more than a million jokes about? It had motion sensing technology. No, not just the motion sensing whereby a controller new whether it was being moved down or up. We're talking the ability to use your Nintendo Wii-mote (the catchy name for the Wii controller) as a tennis racket. Now that is cool. So why did Nintendo dominate this year's event, compared to other years where it did 'ok' or came in second to other consoles?
It was all based on how the controller or rather the concept of the Wii changed the way people gamed. This time around Nintendo wasn't aiming at the average gamer, they decided to do something different as they always end up doing - They targetted the most important under-utilised resource of the gaming industry - Non gamers. With the release of their Wii console, Wii literally meaning 'We' or referring gamers as a collective, Nintendo made it clear that they were targetting everyone.

Enough about Nintendo's achievements, surely there had to be something great about Sony's announcements - but the truth is, people weren't satisfied. The PS3, which come's out on November 17 this year, didn't leave many people talking after E3. This is not only because of it's hefty price tag, but because of Sony's mixed messages. The 'boomerang' controller design (which struck me as dumb and odd) was scrapped to make way for not a new innovative design but the same of DualShock 2 controller. That is quite ironic because, since Sony lost a lawsuit to some company over the Force Feedback technology in their controllers, the PS3 controller does not have vibration in it. So basically, at this years E3 expo Sony lacked any form of innovation whatsoever, instead they thought it would be better to mimick a form of motion sensing found in the Wii. You won't be able to experience the immersive gameplay that can be achieved using a Wii-mote, since the PS3 controller senses only Yaw and Tilt.
Click here to read GameDaily's interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata
Click here to watch Sony's E3 2006 conference compared to what Sony promised in their 2005 E3 conference.

Of note, the loss of HDMI outputs (downgraded from 2 to only 1 on the premium console), ethernet ports (now only 1), and controller inputs (from 7 to 4).
What we are wondering is how much the system would have cost if the PlayStation 3 met 2005 specifications.

$599 - That's how much you will have to pay for a 'proper' PS3
$499 - That's how much you will have to pay for a not-so PS3 PS3

Playstation 3 System Features

Feature	20 GB System	60 GB System
Size of hard drive	20 GB	60 GB
Upgradable hard drive	Yes	Yes
Blu-ray drive	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi connectivity	No	Yes
HDMI connection	No	Yes
Memory Stick reader	No	Yes

End of Part 1 -- (I'm going to have to split this entry into two posts)

My PersonalDNA, I return

2006-05-04T12:51:00.000+05:00

Considerate Creator

What's the deal? Click here to get your personality test taken. It's pretty acurate. Mouse-over the image above to see what the color codes represent.

Stay tuned for more posts :)

Getting Things Done

2006-02-19T20:34:00.000+05:00

Lifehacking is a portmanteau term coined by Danny O’Brien. He linked together the words “life” and “hacks” and created a phrase that enable to describe any hacks, tips and tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increase productivity and organizing. Lifehacks are basically anything that is a solution to an everyday problem. The term is used to describe solutions to getting organized, being more creative, planning things our, time management, etc. If you're like me and find it hard to work with deadlines and get things organized, then you'll find this post to be quite helpful. With the aid of some of the links below, you can use them to plan and organize various things. Not only does it help you to be more creative, it makes you more efficient. For a more in-depth article on Lifehacking, click here.

First of all, you would want to look at sites such as
Lifehacker, To-Done, Lifehack.org, D*I*Y Planner , 43Folders for an updated collection of thoughts, writings, tips, tricks and information on personal productivity, work/life balance ultimately in the hopes of getting things done.

Websites
With the advent and spreading of Web 2.0 websites, more and more productivity websites have emerged. Some examples of such websites are
30Boxes.com – Handy online calendar
43things.com - You might find you have some important and some frivolous goals. You’ve got space for 43 Things on your list.
Remember The Milk – A free online to-do list that comes with reminders and tonnes of other features.
Backpack It - Organize to do lists, notes, images, and photos.
HipCal - Online calendar with to-do lists, alerts, address book and group calendars (join a group for your classes at school or create a group for a club, project team, or group of friends)
PocketMod - Carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish. PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It's best that you just dive in and create one.

Other
Rest assured that you can plan and organize whatever you need/want done with these software.
Rainlendar – Fully skinnable desktop calendar that has a to-do list and an Event list.
GettingThingsDone Wiki - A TiddlyWiki is like a blog because it's divided up into neat little chunks, but it encourages you to read it by hyperlinking rather than sequentially: if you like, a non-linear blog analogue that binds the individual microcontent items into a cohesive whole. It is a client side wiki, and is really handy in manging a variety of tasks and to-do notes.

Note that these are just a few of the many resources i have listed here. I will update them as I see more helpful links and websites.

The 99th Post

2006-02-01T12:15:00.000+05:00

ZZzzzzzz.. My blog hasn't been updated in a while :( Well this is because i've been busy with a whole lot of things (this is becoming a trademark). But dont' fear, i've found some spare time to jot down some interesting finds and opinions. Althought it says my last entry was on January the 27th, this is not so true; I logged in quite a couple of times, clicked Write New Post and was too tired to strings words together to write in an entry. Well that's that.
We're in the middle of February and some exciting things have happened. I'll list them in no particular order

* Console wars : Nintendo Revolution gossip, Playstation 3 Launch Date
* Silkroad : A fun free MMoRPG
* WoW Weather Effects patch infomation
* Desktop modding & some really handy apps

Alot has been happening concerning the Nintendo Revolution. Earlier this month, we saw the leak of concept logos for the Nintendo Revolution meant for developers, followed by scanned screens of a Nintendo catalog showing the evolution of the Nintendo controller. Based on the news we've seen on the media so far, there certainly is a lot of hype about Nintendo's upcoming console. Recently, a user by the name of 'MicrosoftIsDumbI' posted a lengthy but well argued post on the Gamespot forums, his post contained a well debated opinion, based on facts and quotes from the Nintendo main men, about where the Revolution was going. In my opinion, if what was written in his post is true (we'll have to wait and see what happens at E3, where the Revolution will be exhibited) then Nintendo's new console would be the most 'fun' and revolutionary console ever made. Click here to read the thread on the Gamespot forums.

For those of you that can't be bothered reading all that; he was trying to say that the Revolution will change the way we game – he claimed that the Revolution contained a projector that would allow us to project games onto walls and other surfaces, when not plugged into the TV. Quite a 'Nintendo' move, in my opinion. This is possibly true as the console is not rectangular in shape, but slopes down when positioned vertically. Not only did the person claim that the console had a projector inside it, quotes from former a former Nintendo president showed his vision for the future (3d projected gaming), and further quotes stressed the importance of this vision. The main question is however, will the Revolution appeal to gamers? It certainly is worth it! As it is a good 150$ cheaper than the X360 and around 300$ cheaper that the rumoured cost of a PS3 (500$).

Rumours have been going around that the Playstation 3 will probably be hitting the streets on September 21st in the US, September 16th in Japan, and include a new XBox Live-alike system - HUB. The Playstation HUB is Sony's take on XBox Live, it will include identical facilities that are provided in XBox Live, such as IM, downloadable media and online gameplay.

I'm all for the XBox 360, although i had some doubts about the Xbox360 while it was being released, it proved to be an all-round awesome console. I bet all the PS3 fanboys out there are probably getting more sceptical about the whole PS3 vs X360 topic as i was just reading that it will cost 900$! Click here to read the PDF containing the approximate cost of all the components that are said to be in the PS3. That much of money would get you some decent PC upgrades such as the nVidia 7800GT (*the* best graphics card in the market, it seems) Considering what Sony's trying to get under the hood of this thing $900 sounds reasonable, but since almost all game companies always sell their consoles at a loss at launch, we shouldn't have to worry too much about coughing up about a grand for a PS3. Eh, I'd only pay about six or seven hundred at most.

The other thing I've been playing/doing/addicted to (delete appropriately) is Silkroad. Silkroad is a free MmoRPG made by Korean game developers Joymax. The aim of the game is basically to level up (at max, it would take you around 3 days to hit lvl 20) by doing quests, finding items, spec-ing your character to some of the many forces/weapons in the game and eventually becoming either a Thief, Hunter or a Trader. Thieves, as you would guess, thiev or rob (is it? :P) stuff of traders. Traders walk or run or trade (-.-) between towns and sell items to make a profit. Hunters, on the other hand, protect Traders, and so on and so forth.

The only downfall about the game is it's lack of proper English. Other than that, it is quite addictive, and could possibly be the first WoW cure (Its a cure for MmoRPG's in general, that we need)

While on the topic of MmoRPGs, World of Warcraft, or more commonly a game that has well over 5 million addicts (couldn't find a better adjective) is on its endless march towards perfecting and balancing their hugely successful game. Blizzard is putting the final touches on the upcoming 1.10 patch, due some time in the near future. The three main adjustments in the patch are changes in the design of the Priest talent tree, the option to upgrade blue dungeon armor sets and finally – weather effects. No better way than to make the game lag even more on our machines. Passing through Ironforge is already difficult , but hey, doing so while raining and/or snowing wouldn't be a problem right? Wrong. But wait, there's hope. In an interview with 1up.com, WoW Lead designer Jeff Kaplan stated that “the option will be there to turn them off if that's what you prefer. “

For those of you that happen to be reading this post and do play WoW, catch me on the Medivh server in the near future.

Finally, my desktop has gone through tonnes of changes. Click here to see it in its current state. Some stuff you would want to look at or get if you're in to desktop modding:

Luna Element 5 – Excellent theme that resembles Windows Vista

Rainlendar – Skinnable calendar tool with to-do list and events list

Lclock – Change the dull look of the default Windows clock to make it look like the Longhorn clock

Nintendo DS Lite

2006-01-27T16:34:00.001+05:00

Welcome to my 98th post on this blog! Two more and I hit 100 posts (master of the obvious)
One particular console i'd like to add my generous collection of systems is the Nintendo DS, and thankfully, Nintendo have officially confirmed their Nintendo DS Lite. Check out pics here. Also, while you're at it, you might want to read up 10 things you didn't know about a Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection here. Compared to the Sony PSP, you can say that the DS does not quite match the PSP's graphical and homebrew-able capabilities, but one thing's for sure, Nintendo certainly won over gamers by making their latest addition to the console family different. What did they do that Sony didn't? They actually made it 'fun to play with'. Some features such as Pictochat, in my opinion, is awesome.
Also, the DS utilises its Wi-Fi connection extensively and Nintendo clearly made their online connectivity flexible (for example, if you don't have a Wi-Fi hotspot near you, connect your DS through a USB connector to play online through your existing internet connection on your PC). No doubt the PSP is cool, but the sales figures speak for themselves - 800,000-odd PSPs since 12 December 2004 debut versus 2.84m DS units since late November launch. Also, while i'm on the topic of portable consoles, rumour has it (the movie sucked) that Microsoft is developing a portable console/iPod rival product. More info here. Enough of DS-ranting, recently i jumped onto the Lost series bandwagon. It's an amazing series, so far i'm on the 6th episode and i'm dying to find out what happens.
Also, since I got subdomain hosting not far back I've been installing open source CMS's (to no avail) - which eventually means i'll have to stick with either Wordpress, Pivot (IMO, better than Nucleus only if it would INSTALL!!) or Nucleus. If you're unhappy with the CMS you're using, read this article to get a better sense of direction.

Featured link - Big(and i mean BIG) Beer Ad | Fastr - A Flickr tag guessing game |

Internet Explorer 7

2006-01-25T08:24:00.000+05:00

It has been just under 2 years since the release of Mozilla Firefox 0.8 in February 2004. The project which became Firefox started as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite. When sufficiently developed, binaries for public testing appeared 2002 under the name Phoenix.
Firefox has developed considerably since its first release as Phoenix on September 23, 2002. The browser is lauded by fans for its download speed and a superior user interface, and users say that its pop-up blocker is one of the best out there. It offers tabbed browsing, which means that users can jump back and forth between different sites with only one window open, and live bookmarks, which show users the most recent headlines on their favorite sites and lets them go directly to those articles. Firefox 2 development is well underway, with an Alpha 1 release set to come out on February 10. For more info on Firefox 2 "Bon echo" features, click here.
If you're one of the few people who are not so sure about the Firefox hype, download it here, to change your browsing experience. Here's some information about IE7 :

IE 7 was originally scheduled only for inclusion in Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn)
IE 7 will be focused on security
IE 7 will include tabbed browsing
IE 7 will not include a new Outlook Express version
IE 7 will be free
IE 7 will ship for XP SP2, XP x64
The version of IE in Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) will be quite different from standalone IE
IE 7 will include major changes for Web devs.
IE 7 will not include ad blocking

Click here to view the IE7 screenshots gallery.

Featured link - James Bond : Casino Royale info |Nanotubes in the near future | US Army super gun | My WoW Mage sketch
I'm currently working on a website called Greyform.

Lifehacker software

2006-01-22T19:47:00.000+05:00

ABC's Googleplex visit was quite interesting as the Google park or campus as it's better known, reflects the companies goals and ethics (which have come under fire recently) . Bob Woodruff, the ABC anchor takes a tour of the complex and it is quite obvious that Google is very concerned about the wellbeing of its employees. Just imagine working for a company where food, haircuts, trips and many other stuff is 100% free. Not only is food free, but employees are given things such as exercise equipment which are scattered around the hallways. If you ask me, Google is the #1 company to work for, even though employees there may be a little wierd, Google employs the smartest.
If you want to check out the video tour - click here. Oh and if you didn't know, Google has seen a 400,000 % growth in revenues over the past 5 years. Thats my 0.2 $ on Google.

Lifehacker software
software that you should have

7Zip - When WinZip started refusing to open certain necessary file formats, I switched to 7-Zip and never looked back. ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM and DEB, oh my
FoxIt PDF Reader (Firefox Extension) - In the time it takes for Adobe Acrobat Reader to launch and then load up that PDF, you could download, install and open it with FoxIt with time to spare. Ditch Adobe for FoxIt’s leaner, meaner PDF browsing.
Audacity - Wanna record a song being played on an Internet radio station? How about clip a tune down to 20 seconds to make it your cell phone’s ringtone? Audacity will do ya right.
Picasa 2 - If you have a family member that has recently purchased a digital camera, this is a must have program. Manages all your pictures. Want a reason to download it? It's a Google owned company :P
VLC Media Player - If you had a file that WMP or any other media player whined about failing to open, this is what you need. In my opinion, the best media player out there.
Free Download Manager - Normally you'd think this containd spyware and adware. This is not the case. Use Free Download Manager in the place of Mozilla's Download tool (since it times out so often) This software downloads files at blazing speeds and it will not fail you.
Skype 2.0 - Get a headset. Get Skype 2.0, now you're connected to anyone else that has a headset and the program. Superb audio quality, VoIP at its best.
OpenOffice.org - Stop using MS Office! Start using OpenOffice.org! Contains all software that do the same functions as the MSOffice package.
Miranda - A reason to get stop using MSN Messenger. Miranda contains all IM clients and what's best is - you can skin it all you like.

Found In Translation

2006-01-21T07:07:00.000+05:00

Its been around 1 week since I last posted here! This was because I was busy with some work and took some time to design my personal website, which, if you would like to see is here - http://nouhad.technat.org/mysite. Feel free to check it out and if you would like, comment on this post so that I can get some feedback on how it looks.
Here are some stuff i've been checking out these past couple of days :

Featured app - Miranda IM 0.4.0.2

Boinc Boinc

2006-01-13T22:01:00.000+05:00

Thanks to Beastage on neowin IRC, I discovered Boinc! Boinc stands for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. What Boinc basically does once you download and install the software is donate your PC's computing power to scientific research projects such as: SETI@Home and Einstein@Home. In other words; this means that during your computer's idle time, you and many others who have Boinc, are actualy helping out either in the search for extraterrestial lifeforms or gravitational signals emitted by pulsars. This means that instead of institutes having only one super computer doing all the searching, people can actively choose to help increase the overall computing power in researching various projects. Other projects are :

Climateprediction.net: study climate change
Einstein@home: search for gravitational signals emitted by pulsars
LHC@home: improve the design of the CERN LHC particle accelerator
Predictor@home: investigate protein-related diseases
Rosetta@home : help researchers develop cures for human diseases
SETI@home: Look for radio evidence of extraterrestrial life
Cell Computing biomedical research (Japanese; requires nonstandard client software)
World Community Grid: advance our knowledge of human disease.

You probably think that it would take up a whole lot of space and consume alot of resources on your PC while it runs. This is not the case, as you can choose when and how the software runs, if you want to - you can tell the program to run only when your PC is idle. I myself am running SETI@Home and Einstein@Home, after all why not help out humanity while your PC idles.

Featured Link - Satellite detects massive extrasolar Earth | Video of cool 'origami' retractable car hood | Old lady vs. Mercedes Benz | Reality photos and PGR3 in-game scenery |
MacWorld - Inside the Core Duo found in Macbooks

Audio so real, it's scary

2006-01-10T22:45:00.000+05:00

Till I find something to blog on or write about, here are some interesting finds.
Here's something I came across on Digg.com. This three dimensional audio clip is so real, you can actually judge where its coming from. Check it out here. For info on Holophonia, click here.
Also, a video clip from Nintendo's E3 2005 booth that shows off its amazing floor screen technology. You have to see it to believe it, its amazing stuff.

A new audiocast has been released that targets hackers, geeks, and the security paranoid. SploitCast will discuss a wide variety of topics; these include, but are not limited to, new vulnerabilities, exploit code, security and tech news.

Featured Link - Search Flickr by sketching an image | Most anticipated games of 2006 (Courtesy IGN)
Featured App - HOT AllPeers. A free extension which combines the strength of Firefox and the efficiency of BitTorrent to transform your favorite browser into a media sharing powerhouse. To view screens, click here. HOT

Note - Stay tuned for a hands-on preview of Windows Vista, im awaiting my legal copy.
BTW - Be sure to comment on posts as I have resorted to a new commenting system.

Optimus Keyboard

2006-01-08T15:33:00.000+05:00

All I can say is - WOW! This is the best keyboard i've seen and since its keys are customizable LED's its even better. Check out the screens and the website. Rumoured to cost around 399$ !

CES update

2006-01-07T19:36:00.000+05:00

Updates from CES 2006.

Bill Gates' keynote (Windows Vista, Digital Lifestyle, Xbox 360 and more MS ventures)
Google keynote (Google Pack New!, 100 $ Laptop, Stanford robot SUV)
Lego Mindstorms NXT (Video Programmable Lego processor)Dell XPS 600 Renegade
Michael Dell Keynote, XPS 600 Renegade and 30 " UltraSharp 3007FP

Windows Live Messenger 8.0

2006-01-06T10:20:00.000+05:00

edit : I have 10 invites remaining. Comment on this post if you want an invite.

I got invited to the much overhyped and hard-to-get WLM 8.0 Beta, Microsoft's new version of MSN Messenger that incorporates Live features.
Here are some screens.

Tech stuff

2006-01-04T21:08:00.000+05:00

CES is back this year and it brings together more than 100,000 people and 300 companies for four days in the middle of the desert. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off in Las Vegas on January 5, and there's much hype about the products and new tech innovations that would be shown there. Here, at the PCWorld website, you can see some of the gadgets shown off during the first 24 hours of the exhibition.

Some of the most eagerly awaited news from the show will be updates on the launch plans for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc optical disc formats. The Blu-ray Disc has not yet confirmed a launch date. Sony's upcoming next-gen gaming console the PlayStation 3 is said to use the Blu-ray disc format, since Blu-ray hasn't been confirmed, and with the PS3 set to launch in the first half of this year, they seem to be running short of time.

Also, Intel, with its new look, is to formally unveil its next breed of processors, the Intel Viiv (pronounced 'Vive') at CES. The Viiv is to home multimedia PC's as the Centrino processor was to notebooks, some features it is said to have are: Quick-boot technology that allows users to instantly start their PC at the push of a button and dual-core Intel processors.

Featured Link - First discovery of the Sony DRM Rootkit by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals.com | Image-to-text |

Predictions and things to come in 2006

2006-01-02T13:42:00.000+05:00

2006 is here! let's hope this year is much more exciting and better than the last. Happy New year to you all! Before I begin with whats to look forward to this year, here's a final look back at some of 2005's greatest web moments and gadgets. Some highlights - The Numa-Numa guy, The boy who hacked MySpace.com and AOL's acquisition of Google.

Some stuff in brief - Time magazine recently announced its Persons of the Year - Bill and Melinda Gates and U2 rocker Bono. Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, and his wife Melinda, along with Irish rocker Bono, were chosen for making a difference in different ways. The Managing Editor of Time said the three had been chosen as the people most effective at finding ways to eradicate such calamities as malaria in Africa, HIV and AIDS and the grinding poverty that kills 8 million people a year. Gates, who topped Forbes magazine's list of richest people again this year, were named for their work in the Gates Foundation.
The charity is one of the world's biggest with $29 billion in funding allocations. The organization funds hundreds of projects around the world primarily focused on public health, from vaccinating children to developing new drugs. Bono and fellow musician Bob Geldof spearheaded a popular campaign to tackle poverty in Africa through canceling the debts, Bono was described as the “rocker who has made debt reduction sexy.”

for more, click here

Predictions and stuff to look forward to in 2006

Rise of video-enabled devices
Microsoft Vista more on this..
Robotic toys more on this..
RSS-ing everything
Playstation 3 at E3 more on this..
HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? more on this..
What's in store for Apple?
Broadband TV more on this..
New wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, WiMax and Bluetooth)
DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD more on this..
Fuel cells more on this..
Multiple cores, multiple choices in processors more on this here and here
Movies - Superman, DaVinci code, Spiderman 3, X-Men 3
Take 2 on 1080p and HD-TV more on this here and here
Will I go .com ?

Feel free to contribute to this list by commenting on this post.

100 things we didn't know this time last year

2005-12-30T22:39:00.000+05:00

You can learn alot of things in 365 days, thankfully, the BBC has compiled a list of the things we didn't know this time last year.
A sneak peek :

14. It's possible for a human to blow up balloons via the ear. A 55-year-old factory worker from China reportedly discovered 20 years ago that air leaked from his ears, and he can now inflate balloons and blow out candles.

18. If all the Smarties eaten in one year were laid end to end it would equal almost 63,380 miles, more than two-and-a-half times around the Earth's equator.

22. The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say.

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.

Flexible Keyboard

2005-12-29T16:46:00.000+05:00

Here are photos of a flexible silicon keyboard my uncle sent me. Pretty cool.

Oh yeah, the PSP

2005-12-28T18:30:00.000+05:00

I've not written much at all about my PSP ever since I bought it, mainly because I didn't know what to write about or didn't have time. The PSP is high-ranked in almost all decent Top Ten gadget lists all over the web, and could possibly be the most revolutionary handheld device ever made. The first time you pick up the device it will be hard for you to keep your eyes of the TFT screen, the PSPs most noticeable element. The screen is 110 mm/4.3" (diagonal) 16:9 ratio TFT LCD, sporting a 480 x 272 pixel resolution capable of 16.77 million colours. In other words; the best screen ever put on a portable device.
The PSP has tonnes of games at the moment, but the device is being bought mainly to exploit it and run homebrew apps and games. Picture yourselves as Sony, its kind of scary when your Unit sales exceed your game sales by a huge margin. A few months after the consoles` original release somewhere in December 2004, the firmware was cracked by a group of spanish coders. Since then, Sony have released 5 critical updates, 4 of whom which (to my knowledge) have been cracked.
If you're into portable entertainment, you must have a PSP. The amount of music, videos, games and/or apps you want is limited only to the size of your memory stick, not forgetting Wi-Fi internet access. Be it podcasts, DVD movies, UMD movies, magazines or music, the PSP can store it all. But above all, the PSP is worth every dollar thanks to its 1001 multifunctional uses.

Podcasting 101

2005-12-27T19:39:00.000+05:00

Ever since I got my PSP, I've been doing everything an iPod can't (except the iPod Video.. lets not go there) Since podcasting is so popular nowadays I thought of looking around places and selecting some of the best that are worth downloading. Podcasting started becoming popular around 2004, it is the term used when RSS Syndication is used to keep track of, distribute and download media for mobile devices (originally the iPod; hence 'pod'casting) If you're a proud owner of an iPod or any other mobile device, you might want to put your memory stick to good use by having a look at some of the casts/content below. Podcasts are really handy when you're too busy to read the latest news and/or happenings, just a quick download and you're good to go.

Diggnation with Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht

“Diggnation is a weekly tech/web culture show based on the top digg.com social bookmarking news stories.”

Gamespot presents The HotSpot

"GameSpot editors recap the hottest news and trend in the gaming industry from the past week!”

Extremetech.com Podcast
“News, reviews and technology updates from ExtremeTech.com.”

Boagworld.com Podcast
“This podcast covers all things relating to web design. Whether you are a website owner, designer or developer hopefully this show has something for everybody. Each episode includes news, review and hints and tips.”

PC Gamer podcast GamersDaily
“The official podcast of PC Gamer Magazine”

TWiT (This Week in Tech) Podcast
“Your first podcast of the week is the last word in tech. Join Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, John C. Dvorak, and other tech luminaries in a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in digital technology. Winner of the 2005 People’s Choice Podcast Award for best overall podcast and Best Technology Podcast. Released every Sunday at midnight Pacific.”

The Mac Cast
"A Macintosh show for Mac geeks by a Mac geek. News, reviews, opinions and commentary about all things Macintosh. The MacCast also offers Mac help via email and a call in Hotline.”

MuggleNet Podcast
"MuggleNet.com's new podcast, appropriately titled "MuggleCast", is an informative weekly talk show dedicated to everything Harry Potter."

Post-Christmas Post

2005-12-26T18:24:00.000+05:00

Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for reading the blog every once in a while. I've actually got 4 readers on Feedburner (Yayy haha). If you look to the right, there's a movie poll, if you have time, vote :)

Featured Link - If you have an iPod here are stuff you can do with it | A How-to Wiki on how to do lot's of things
Featured Software - Pando A 3mb 'small' program used to transfer huge files between PC's.

Ha ha, look at this idiot..

Merry Christmas .. from Uttorent

2005-12-24T13:06:00.000+05:00

Look what popped up while I was using Utorrent :

Dugg

2005-12-23T16:38:00.000+05:00

Stuff that you should see / should be knowing :
Google Zeitgeit / Microsoft buys Opera /Clearest image of our Milky Way obtained by Astronomers /Halo 3 on sale? /Cracking Wi-Fi protected access / iPod Nano. Playing video! / Volkswagen Transparent factory in Dresden /Minimize Firefox to tray /Xbox 360 on a 35ft theater screen. Close to life size while playing /

Peter Jackson's King Kong

2005-12-23T16:27:00.000+05:00

This year will be looked back at and remembered with many events and happenings that occured during the course of this year. King Kong is one such event. 72 years since the original King Kong released in theaters, the all new Peter Jackson-directed King Kong was released this month. The movie itself has a runtime of 187 minutes - thats quite long for a movie, and some may say that a three hour movie would be boring and too long to watch. King Kong is everything but boring. Peter Jackson was given 200$ million to play around with to make the new King Kong movie, and after watching it, I can say that every single dollar put into it was worth it. Up till today, King Kong has grossed 66.18$ million in the box office.
With a cast consisting of actors such as Jack Black, Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody, Peter Jackson is able to make the movie even more exciting. The CGI sequences are so realistically done, and the CGI characters garner such emotion that its hard to believe they were computer-generated. Every other minute of the movie is pure CGI (hard to tell) and adds to all the excitement and confusion that occurs during the intro of the movie. This review itself does not convey what all the fuss is about; you'll just have to go see it to experience another one of Peter Jackson's pieces of art.

UT 2007 Media

2005-12-20T13:43:00.000+05:00

Screenshots.
Gameplay footage.

HowTo : Watch TV on your PC

2005-12-20T13:40:00.000+05:00

Here a some freeware software that let you connect to channels that stream tv and especially live sports events. Includes all channels such as the Champions League, Uefa cup, Wrestling MTV and custom stations such as gamerTV .
Sopcast - Click the link, download, unzip and select Sopcast.exe. Double click a stream/channel and it should automatically open up in WMP.
Pplive - Click the link, download, run and go here to see the channels list (does not come with the software).

Courtesy - http://www.ghacks.net/2005/12/19/watch-tv-with-your-pc/

Featured Links - How to run more than one Operating System on your PC | The worlds first photograph | Learn Javascript basics |
Featured Software - Windows Live Messenger 8.0 a.k.a MSN 8.0

A history of Google

2005-12-18T12:05:00.000+05:00

At first, the term 'Google' was meant to boast about how much of information the search engine could be able to search. Google was originally named 'Googol' - the word that represents the number 1 followed by 100 digits, the name Google was used after Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an investor who then addressed a check to 'Google'.
Google was originally started in 1996 by two PhD students from Stanford University, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They proposed the idea of a search engine that was based around the relationships between websites as they thought this would give better results. The project was first called Backrub, as it rated a sites popularity based on its backlinks.
The domain google.com was registered on September 15, 1997. They formally incorporated their company, Google Inc., on September 7, 1998. After some initial stumbles, Google's initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004. 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. The sale raised $1.67 billion, of which approximately $1.2 billion went to Google.
The vast majority of Google's 271 million shares remained under Google's control. The IPO gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. Many of Google's employees became instant paper millionaires. Not to mention, at the moment their market capital is $115 billion.
Google is renown for its famous corporate culture. Many people dream of working for Google, with their enticing perks and benefits, Google receives 150,000 job applications per month! Currently, Google employs 4,989 people (they employ on average around 9 people a day)
If you are employed by Google here a some of the perks you are entitled to :

Free cafeteria meals
Free use of laundry machines
A child care center
A free annual one-night ski trip (resort destinations vary depending on office location) Dog-friendly offices
On-site doctor
Engineers can devote 20 percent of their time to projects of their choice

Apart from the perks, Google uses ingenious ways to recruit new staff (Click to see the Google Labs Aptitude Test). One question asked: "In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?" The Gaussian integral, a complex mathematical equation used in studying the kinetic molecular theory of gases among other things, has been suggested as a smart answer by some on the Internet. Another question involved filling a blank rectangle "with something that improves upon emptiness," leaving applicants scratching for a subjective winner. Also, the famous Google mystery billboard, where people would have to solve the problem inbetween curly brackets which then reveals a website.

Some excerpts taken from http://talkgold.com/forum/r49501-.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google .

Redesign

2005-12-18T11:04:00.000+05:00

Here are some banner blueprints I was designing in photoshop. If you want to comment, click the title of this post.

Whats going down

2005-12-16T20:51:00.000+05:00

Top Gear's Bugatti Veyron episode was aired a few days ago. I have to say, the Veyron HAS to be the most incredible thing ever created. Besides being the most expensive car in the world, it has 1001 horsepower with a level of acceleration unheard of in the sports car segment, propelling it from 0 to 60 mph in just three seconds, and past the 200 mph mark in a mere 14 seconds! For pics of the Veyron, check out my Flickr slideshow.
Enough about the Veyron, more about Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, With and Wardrobe. This movie started off at a slow pace and it seems ages for it to actually reach the climax of the story, do not watch this if you're impatient. However, once it reached the climax, it was really enjoyable. I thought this movie resembled the LOTR movies alot, the only difference being this movie (based on the book) was meant for kids. Near the end of the movie, the story took quite a twist and made it all the more exciting, I'd rate this movie 7/10; watch it if you can.

Whats on the news: NSA Spies on the US. Here's an excerpt from the NYT:

Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

Check out the Smart Stuff blog which features cool and, more importantly, smart products. They review and feature new and simple products intended to make life easier, and by extension, help you live smarter. The featured products are pretty cool.

Featured Link - The Cute Overload blog has nothing but pictures of adorable animals and character toys (haha :/)
Featured Software - Sweepi (Will make your system quicker and more efficient by deleting useless accumulated data)

Im hoping I get luckier than this guy.

Torrent hack and Ajax

2005-12-14T20:06:00.000+05:00

Hey again. There's much happening at digg.com, such as Torrentfreaks guide to speeding up torrents. The guide doesn't contain old advice such as, "cap your maximum upload rate at 80% of your ISPs upload rate", (if you didnt know; do it!) it also contains a helpful link to a SP2 TCP/IP max connections hack. In other words, a legit program that safely lets you manually set the number of half-open connections.
Let me explain; Windows SP2 limits the number of half-open connections or SYN to a maximum of 10 (the previous being 65,000), the purpose being - it is supposed to slow down virus spread as their methods are to spread to a number of random IP's. The consequences of having a limited amount of connections is that it affects some software such as P2P clients and Bittorent clients. Enough technical jargon-talk if you want, click here to read all about it. After going through the guide and installing the TCP/IP hack, my downloads increased by a considerable amount, so based on experience; it's worth a try.

If you haven't heard of AJAX lately you have been living under a rock. AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript + XML :

isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways.

To read an article on the basics of AJAX, click here.
Christmas is coming up, somebody get me a Oculas :)

Featured Links - Top Twelve Dream Gifts of 2005 (dream on..) | Not just your normal Firefox tweak guide (Must see)
Featured Software - PC INSPECTOR File recovery (What the title says + it's FREE. Recover accidentally deleted files!)

Xbox360, Welcome to Japan

2005-12-13T19:00:00.000+05:00

Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe released yesterday, the movie is based on C.S. Lewis' timeless adventure based on the four Pevensie siblings -- Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter -- in World War II England. Surfed a site the other day that claimed the Xbox 360 was not meant to play games while stationed vertically, it seems that discs get damaged pretty easily in some cases. Well, that does not put things in an optimistic way for Microsoft as sales figures of the Xbox360 in Japan are claimed to be lesser than the sales figures of its predecessor on release day.
Also, make sure you check out Del.icio.us. It's a social-bookmarking application that hit the big time Friday when it was acquired by Yahoo. It works like this: When you find a site you want to keep, you put it on your del.icio.us account with descriptive tags you invent to keep track of it.
Lastly, I'll let you in on a little secret about Bill Gates; he plays World of Warcraft. Shhh! Keep it down.

Watched - Aeon Flux
Featured Links - Utorrent 1.3 115 KB | XPize 4.2 Beta

Featured Skin - Royale Vista VS by dobee (Preview)

X-Men 3 First Look

2005-12-12T19:21:00.000+05:00

Here are photos from the upcoming X-Men 3 movie. Click here to view them.
Also, to watch the trailer for X-Men 3, Click here.

The Protect-Your-PC post

2005-12-11T21:37:00.000+05:00

Hello again. Spyware, Malware and Adware can be one harmful and at the same time annoying. Spyware is define as software that sends information about your web surfing habits back to another website. Often you may notice popups appearing at odd times or you may notice that your web browser's home page has been redirected to another site. Even if you dont get popups or browser issues, I strongly recommend taking some of the procedures listed below as no PC is immune to spyware.

Step 1 : Viruses
To start off with, take a free virus scan from either Panda Activescan or Housecall. If the scans show that you have viruses click Delete to remove all infections

Step 2 : Windows Update
Many people don't seem to have Windows Updates turned on. This can often lead to consequences such as Viruses and backdoor exploits, so therefore turn it ON. To do this, head on over to the Windows Update website and download and install all critical updates for your PC.

Step 3 : Scan for Adware/Malware
One of the most common adware is 'Coolwebsearch'. To check whether your PC is infected by it, download CWSShredder, extract the file, run the program and remove infections if there are any present.

Download Ad-Aware SE Personal, a free spyware removal tool. Once you download it, be sure to run the update tool before scanning to get all the latest spyware definitions.
Or if you are running Windows 200, XP or Server 2003 download Microsoft AntiSpyware (beta) from here.

Next, download HijackThis from here (Download zip, extract, store in its own folder e.g. C://HijackThis)

Once you have done this, click Scan. After it finishes scanning your PC, you will get a list of items similiar to the one show in the picture above. To analyse these results, hit Save log, save the log somewhere on your PC and head on over to this site to analyse the results. If you have any problems or need help, leave a comment on this post (Click the title to leave a comment).

Some parts taken from this article.

In December

2005-12-10T18:28:00.000+05:00

I was surfing digg.com and saw a digg on the houses of Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Steven Jobs. Pretty impressive, also be sure to check out Tiger Woods` house. Wow.
Watched Lord of War over the weekened, pretty good movie that revolves around the life of a guns dealer who goes the world over supplying guns to the most notorious dictators in the world, eventually he ends up facing his own conscience. The movie is pretty much about the devastating effects of gun deals in the world its worth watching ( 2 hours playing time).
In some other stuff, I've posted a link to the 'Music In Maldives' blog, which is all about educating, promoting and documenting music in Maldives. Its a free online project, which you can take part in yourself. Have a look at it, and if you have anything to contribute, feel free to post. Stay put for tomorrows post where i'll get a hold of some utility programs to help search for rootkits.

Watched - Lord of War
Featured Links - Mouse 1.0 (Highly addictive) | Music In Maldives (Must See) | THE Very Best Freeware Utilities
Featured Software - ewido Security Suite

Stuff in general

2005-11-11T14:02:00.000+05:00

Yay, just watched Flightplan - good movie but it took quite a while to reach the climax. After the movie, I checked out the trailer for the Exorcism of Emily Rose, which i think is really freaky. Also read a post by an NYC student on blogging, which was a good read. Gotta cut this post short for today >.<

Watched - Flightplan
Featured links - Pandora (Streaming radio that plays music based on songs/artists you like) | Chinese Backstreetboys (LOL)
Featured software - VLC (Must get Media player) | Your PC specs | Portable Firefox | OpenOffice.org 2.0 (Stop using MS Office!) | All the codecs you'll ever need

Some re-design

2005-11-09T08:24:00.000+05:00

Back. Argh, 4 days since my last post - Was kinda busy designing layouts for some magazine that's going to be released next month or so. From now on my posts will have a 'format' to it, this makes it easier for me to post regularly and keep posts in an orderly manner.
Anyway, played around with Photoshop CS2 yesterday and ended up with this and this.

Watched - The Interpreter (click for info)
Featured links - How to make a Frappuccino | Family Guy Quagmire compilation (video) |
Featured Software - RootkitRevealer 1.56 (removes mechanisms and techniques whereby malware, including viruses, spyware, and trojans, attempt to hide their presence from spyware blockers, antivirus, and system management utilities)

Desktop Styling

2005-11-05T19:11:00.000+05:00

Hey again, I've customized the look of my desktop totally. This post contains some helpful links on where to find wallpaper and programs to give your desktop a new look.

Click image to Enlarge.

Wallpapers (Socksoff.co.uk)

Programs - Konfabulator, RK Launcher (an application that will allow the user to have a visually pleasing bar at the side of the screen that is used to quickly launch shortcuts)

Themes - I recommend getting Neowin UXTheme Multi-Patcher v4.0 and then downloading themes, this just patches the Windows theme settings so you don't have to use programs to use themes. If you need links to some nice themes, leave a comment and i'll get back to you.

Featured link - Is the Xbox360 a Dreamcast 2.0 ?
Featured Software - Lavasoft Personal Firewall

Pro Evo 5

2005-11-02T18:48:00.000+05:00

Woot, got my hands on Pro Evolution Soccer 5 yesterday. From the first impression, it looks just like Pro Evo 4 , but only when you start playing the game do you see the difference. The game has a new look to it, with Henry and Terry on the front cover of the game. The main menu has also been redone and looks nice in its sleek black design.
As usual, the intro cinematic was really awesome; a bunch of 3d players showing off different types of skill on the ball. At first play, i realised that the controls to the game were 'stiffer' and bit unresponsive compared to the responsiveness in Pro Evo 4.
Graphics on the other hand were stepped up a notch. Player models and the environments were very detailed which led me to believe some of the pitches were redone. As I kicked off my first game (Arsenal vs Real Madrid) , there were some considerable changes in gameplay and control of players. Player movement etc has been changed a bit, resulting in, what i thought, was 'edgyness'. But on the whole, the pros outweighed the cons; players responded in a more realistic manner on and off the ball.
Tackles, passes and long balls were a lot more realistic than in Pro Evo 4, there's around a million ways you can score a goal. This is one of the reasons Pro Evo 5 is the best in its genre. As i said earlier, the player models look realistic enough that you can actually tell which player has the ball without looking at his name. One significant change is the AI in the game, without doubt i give it 5 stars. Players reacted well and there was no sign of AI gone wrong, as Henry pulled off a diving header on a loose ball and scored into the farpost ( :( )
The music that came along with the game (a sort of techno type) went quit well with the game, with the occasional rock track. Overall, this was a really fun game. I look forward to Pro Evo 6. Make sure you check out the gameplay screenshots which are linked below
Rating : 8/10

View photo slideshow

It's Halloween. Yeay

2005-10-31T18:07:00.000+05:00

Happy Halloween everyone, im a day away from getting my hands on a copy of Pro Evo 5. Ill try my best to write a review and post some screenies. Umm nothing of bloggable interest has happened lately, so ill just blog some nice finds or software.
There’s a new version of the popular peer to peer voice service skype, Skype 1.4.0.84. Also, another interesting piece of software, Google Web Accelerator. Google Web Accelerator is an application that uses the power of Google's global computer network to make web pages load faster. Google Web Accelerator is easy to use; all you have to do is download and install it, and from then on many web pages will automatically load faster than before. Click here to download it.
World of Warcraft creators Blizzard have officially announced the expansion to the popular game, Burning Crusade. Over 5 million people worldwide subscribe to this MMoRPG (Massively Multiplayer online Role-playing Game). Some solid facts Blizz has revealed about the expansion:

Level cap raised to 70

Blood Elves confirmed new horde race

Flying mounts

New profession (Jewelcrafting)

New talents, abilities and spells.

For more information, check out the official website.
BTW, im writing this post in MS Word (testing out the Blogger MS Word plugin).
Till tomorrow.

Mail beta

2005-10-30T23:54:00.000+05:00

Heya, been doing some tinkering (still alot more tinkering needed) with the blogs design which resulted in a change of headers. This is mainly because im sick of all blogs looking Kubrick-like. So, I opened up Photoshop CS2 and began experimenting. Cs2 is really fun when you get the hang of it, otherwise you wont have a sense of direction and this will get you nowhere. The text in the header is the result of text-masking, something that is stupidly simple to do.
Im trying to get a hold of Microsoft Mail invites, and once i do i'll stick some up for grabs (or if you'r really impatient, click here to sign up for Microsoft Mail beta) . Microsoft Mail (codename Kahuna) , which is still in the Beta stages,

is a huge improvement over Hotmail, Microsoft's current service, and GMail, the Google-owned service with which it is clearly competing. Offering the best functionality from Web-based offerings like OWA as well as even Windows-based email clients such as Outlook, Kahuna is surprisingly full-featured.

Smashmyipod.com - launched by a 19-year-old Toronto resident, "dedicated to people who hate the 'iPod Revolution,'" in early October with a simple ambition: raising enough money to buy a 20GB iPod that he would smash on video, right there at the store. He succeeded. However, in a surprise plot twist, he gets kicked out of the Yorkdale Apple Store." If you hate iPods, you'll love this site (i think).
Also, if you want to find out the best movies to lookout for this season check out Metacritic.com 's Movie Reviews. Can't wait for Saw 2 (rated 40 - WHY!!) and The Legend of Zorro to come out.
Keep checking the site, i've got alot of changes planned.

Mini compo

2005-10-29T18:31:00.000+05:00

Back again, this time I thought i'll give away something in a post, and so, im giving away 30gigs Email accounts for those of you out there that don't think GMail has enough storage. All you have to do to get an account is comment on this post, as simple as that.
Got Civilization 4 today, it doesn't run that 'smoothly' but nonetheless its a really good game, expect a semi-review and screenshots once I properly get the hang of it. Also, i'll be getting my hands on a copy of Pro Evolution Soccer 5 soon, await screenshots etc.
And.. FireTune 1.8 "FireTune for Mozilla Firefox v1.x was developed for an easy and fast optimization of your browsing experience with Firefox. Usually you have to optimize Firefox manually, which can be time consuming and difficult for the novice user."
At the moment i'm : Checking out WordPress (not liking it), playing Civ VI, downloading torrents, on mIRC and finding stuff to post on. Till tomorrow, later.

Some stuff..

2005-10-28T16:49:00.000+05:00

Wazza! Downloaded Azureus again, its been ages since I used this nifty bittorent client, so I thought I'll tell you all about it. First of all, you can download Azureus here. Once you have downloaded it all you have to do is find a torrent you want to download and start downloading. Simple as that. If you want a program that is light, and i mean light on resources, I suggest you check out UTorrent here (the program itself is 97kb big/small).
Im thinking of getting a new PC, or core components, at least. So im listing down some performance PC parts. If you like to help me out, click on the title of this post and comment. So far i've got :
Processor - Intel or AMD 3200 + socket one..
Motherboard - Asus something..
RAM - 1gb Kingston DDR2 X 2
Graphics card - Geforce 7800GT (256mb DDR3) or ATI Radeon X850XT

Also, if you're a fan of World of Warcraft (like me) then you'll surely be interested about the plans for the game expansion are going. Click this link to read about the new Horde races and other stuff that will be coming out with the expansion pack.
While looking through Tomshardware.com came across this nice guide on BIOS, for beginners. If you want to overclock your pc, check this guide.
Okies, that should do for today.
enjoy

The 'free' post

2005-10-26T15:36:00.000+05:00

Woot it's me again, I couldn't post yesterday because of serious template deformalities. Todays post will be about News in general and other interesting (I hope) stuff. I applied for Adsense day before yesterday, now all I have to do is wait and see if the nice people at Google think my blog is worth showing ads. Another cool thing about Google Adsense is that it is somewhat a form of revenue. It basically works like this : Your site shows Google ads (you can choose what sort of ads you want displayed) , people visit your site, click the ads and you get paid for it.
Found some interesting piece of software/operating system (delete as appropriate) called Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is as quote

a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support.

And what's cool about it is the fact that it is 100% free. Where can you get a copy of Ubuntu? Easy, just click this link to have Ubuntu shipped (FREE) wherever you are in the world.
Just found a site that lists and tracks other websites and services that are all free. From everything that ranges from Online education, Music, DIY-stuff and good deals, Ools i seems to have it all.
Some other free stuff, check this site out for the Best Free web applications.
If you are lucky enough to own an Xbox360 controller, check the Llamma's guide to disassembling the controller and how to wire/connect the LED's.
Oh, the image at the top of this post was my attempt at Photoshop CS2 ><. More from me tomorrow. BTW, i've added RSS feeds to this blog. If you can, subscribe to the feed :)

Woot.. nouhadsblog v2.0

2005-10-25T00:13:00.000+05:00

Hello there people, its been well over 4 months or so since I last posted (was kept busy with exams and a whole load of other things). Anyway, im back to blogging. During my time away I was planning to restart blogging by redesigning the whole blog, and so, construction is underway in creating nouhads blog v2.0! Expect it to be released within a few months/weeks as im coding it myself in CSS and it is not easy :P
The picture above is a little sneak preview of how the banner for v2.0 will look.
There has been so much happening and so much that I have to post, see you tomorrow.

Perfect Dark 0

2005-06-04T06:05:00.000+05:00

Posted by a forum user, they are said to be grabs from the single-player game mode and feature some interesting-looking Metroid-style spiders. Hmm. Rare has been careful to keep the game under wraps so far, but now the first few details are starting to emerge - including news that all the weapons will feature primary and secondary functions, and you’ll be able to hold up to four at a time.

Exam hiatus; a quick post

2005-06-03T18:32:00.000+05:00

Hey there people, i've not posted for ages. Its because I have exams on the 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 20th of this month.
I've been checking out some stuff. First off, get a gangster name. Click here to get a gangster handle yo! I be the Pimp Master Jo :D
Also X:Men 3 details. How to crack passwords.
Stay posted, i'll be back on the 8th :D
Thanks for constantly checking the site.
Edit : I've added a sloganizer to the bottom of the website, the site now has a favicon.

iPod hackery, Batman and a Star Wars Prequel?

2005-05-26T20:55:00.000+05:00

It's been a while since i last posted. First off, Accessing Hidden Files on your iPod,

Apple keeps the music files on your iPod hidden, but with a little hackery, all your music will be revealed, allowing you to copy the files (legally, of course) from one machine to another.

That basically explains it. Click here to find out how to do it.
Also, just released, a 10 minute peek into just how sweet the new Batman movie is going to be.
Click here to see the clip.
Moving on, about the Star Wars prequel this is what i found out
a prequel to The Phantom Menace. The story would follow the Jedi regaining control of the universe from the many Dark Lords some 88 years before Anakin Skywalker ever graced the universe. Yoda, who, according to Lucas, was instrumental in the effort, would apparently have a headlining role. However, Lucas, now age 60, says he won't be captaining such a ship if it ever happens."
Thats about it, Bittorent is getting stormed by the way.

Security and some helpful programs

2005-05-22T22:15:00.000+05:00

Hello there, this post contains information and a patch for the Microsoft Windows Generic Host Process error.
Symptoms that you need this patch are if :

After you install security update 873333 (MS05-012), you experience the following problems:
• You may receive the following error message after you start the computer:
Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Error
Note This problem only occurs in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).
• File names are not displayed in e-mail messages that include file attachments when the following conditions are true:
• The file name contains double-byte character set (DBCS) characters.
• The file name is longer than 42 characters.
Note This problem only occurs when the e-mail message format is Rich Text.

A direct download link for WinXP users can be found here. Otherwise, click here.

Also I found a handy software that tests your personal firewall. Click here to see whether your PC is hack-proof.
Also, check out Shell Extension City for some small extremely helpful programs, I've chosen RamAgent as an example (FREE Ram Optimizer for Windows which boosts system performance and optimizes). Click here to go to Shell Extension City.

More Xbox360 Movies and 'Spore'.

2005-05-22T06:14:00.000+05:00

Here is the full list of new Xbox360 Movies.
Condemned: Criminal Origins Xbox E3 2005 Movie (72.41MB)

Dead Rising Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (100.46MB)

Demonik Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (84.59MB)

EA Compilation Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (122.18MB)

Final Fantasy XI Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (109.49MB)

Frame City Killer Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie #2 (105.77MB)

Ghost Recon 3 Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (100.84MB)

Kameo: Elements of Power E3 2005 Movie (83.99MB)

Madden NFL 2006 Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (65.89MB)

NBA 2K6 Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (88.16MB)

NHL 2K6 Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (88.92MB)

Saint's Row Xbox 360 E3 2005 Movie (147.64MB)

Also, Next year, Electronic Arts will release Wright's next attempted masterpiece, Spore, a game some are calling "Sim Everything."

Spore will give players the chance to control life -- from the ground up.
Click here to read about Spore.

Courtesy : Gamershell.com

The Revolution has begun.

2005-05-19T09:13:00.000+05:00

Click here for pictures

Nintendo held its pre-E3 press conference this morning and confirmed speculation that it would announce its contribution to next-generation gaming. Plans for its future console, the Revolution, were revealed at an auditorium off Hollywood Boulevard. Nintendo is the last of the "Big Three" game-console makers to reveal its next-gen plans. Microsoft took the lid off its future console, the Xbox 360, last week, and Sony unveiled the PS 3 yesterday at its pre-E3 conference.

To cheers from the crowd, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata proudly held a "Revolution prototype" aloft in his hand--but did not hook it up to any displays or turn it on. The Revolution design didn't follow suit with its curvaceous competitors, the concave Xbox 360 and the convex PlayStation 3. In fact, its simple rectangular design could easily be mistaken for a modem at first glance. However, like its competitors, the unit can stand vertically or lie supine.

Ps3 Part 3 : "Smooth"

2005-05-17T16:35:00.000+05:00

PLAYSTATION 3 SPECIFICATIONS

CPU: Cell Processor PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
--1 VMX vector unit per core
--512KB L2 cache
--7 x SPE @3.2GHz
--7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
--7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
--*1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
--Total floating point performance: 218 gigaflops

GPU RSX @ 550MHz
--1.8 TFLOPS floating point Performance
--Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
--Multi-way programmable parallel Floating point shader pipelines
--Sound Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-based processing)

MEMORY
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth Main RAM-- 25.6GB/s
VRAM--22.4GB/s
RSX-- 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

SYSTEM FLOATING POINT PERFORMANCE:
2 teraflops

STORAGE
--HDD Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
--I/O--USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
--Memory Stickstandard/Duo, PRO x 1
--SD standard/mini x 1
--CompactFlash(Type I, II) x 1

COMMUNICATION
--Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
--Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
--Bluetooth--Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
--ControllerBluetooth (up to 7)
--USB 2.0 (wired)
--Wi-Fi (PSP)
--Network (over IP)

Ps3 Part 2

2005-05-17T16:33:00.000+05:00

New: Motor Storm (Sony). This demo included about 60 seconds of truly chaotic game footage. It’s a racing game, but a wonderfully muddy, violent and georgeously rendered-one from the looks of this footage, which definitely jazzed the audience. On reaction alone this was a crowd favorite. In the footage, motor vehicles of all types (dirtbikes, ATVs, dune buggies, rally cars) crashed into each other as they raced through muddy gulches and over high embankments. Motorcycles rode over the tops of slower vehicles and sometimes got crushed by larger vehicles. The violence was crunching and visceral and the entire experience immersive as a result of the realistic way in which mud, people, and parts of vehicles flew absolutely everywhere. Screenshot shows a motorcycle rider about to get creamed by an exploding rally car that’s flying through the air at him.

PS3 , W3lcom3 Chang3

2005-05-17T16:28:00.000+05:00

It will support Blu-ray (obviously), DVD±R/W, CD-R/RW
Backwards compatible with the PlayStation 2 and original Playstation
One 3.2GHz Cell processor—total system performance rated at 2.18 teraflops (uh, that’s actually about twice what Microsoft is claiming the Xbox 360 will do); it will have 256MB system RAM 3.2GHz, and 256MB GDDR VRAM at 700MHz
The nVidia graphics will be called the RSX (”Reality Synthesizer”), and will trump the Xbox 360 with 1080p (yes, that’s a p) graphics support.
There will be a 2.5-inch hard drive (i.e. laptop hard drive) attachment—a first for a Sony launch (no, we don’t count the PSX and/or the FF add-on)
Memory Stick Duo slot, and very surprisingly, an SD and CF slots
Bluetooth support with up to seven wireless controllers
Six USB system ports

Featured Find#2 Walls

2005-05-16T07:20:00.000+05:00

Here are some nice wallpapers. Hopefully, in the coming Finds i'll get something nice.

Luckily the PSP doesn't run windows..

2005-05-16T07:07:00.001+05:00

Although this giant billboard in NYC could be a little misleading:

.. and then ..

How embarrassing!

Also,

Uber Truck. This is the most awesome truck on Earth. Two words that'll make you click the link - Halo, Big Big Screen (Make that 4). Go go go!

Xbox 360 #4

2005-05-14T21:32:00.000+05:00

Dashboard image.
Media of games for Xbox 360 : Gears of War, Ghost Recon 3, Quake IV, NFS : Most wanted, Thug 3 , COD 2.

Who knows, PS3 may turn out to kick the Xbox 360.
Only time can tell

PS3 Ad Hype

2005-05-14T21:22:00.000+05:00

This picture contains a billboard showing an advert for the new PS3, just days after Microsoft unveiled its new gaming console, Xbox 360, hitting stores on November 2005.
Click here to view the full picture.
Plus check this site out for some trailers of new movies.

DOA for the Xbox 360 Warning : these pics contain simulated people)

2005-05-13T15:13:00.000+05:00

DOA pic 1 , DOA pic 2, DOA pic 3 , DOA pic 4 , DOA pic 5 , DOA pic 6 , DOA pic 7 , DOA pic 8

Xbox 360 #3 More Pics

2005-05-13T15:05:00.000+05:00

The New Name
In generating a name for the system, the team threw out Xbox 2. "We've shifting the power of the gaming systems from technology to hardware to the gamer being the center of the industry, and Xbox 2 just sounds like it fits into that old scheme. We threw it out."

After numerous attempts, the team favorite became Xbox 360 because, among other reasons, it puts gamers at the center of the circle. So they decided to try it out, give it a sort of Rorschach test. Microsoft went to the public -- gamers and non-gamers, the second gamer in the household, the NASCAR dad and the soccer mom, as Allard says -- and asked them what they thought of when they heard the name "360."

One survey taker said, "Um, the first time I kissed my girlfriend on a Ferris wheel." Another responder said, "I love music. The word 360 makes me think of vinyl. Another said, "The first time I landed a kickflip on my skateboard." Another said, "When I exchanged rings with my husband in our vows, and I understood the significance of the ring, you know, a lifetime commitment." The answers, the team learned, were wildly different because of the unconventional name. But they all connected with a theme -- they were all emotional, personal experiences that evoked joy. "So, the reason we went in was different than the reason we came out."

Xbox 360 #2 Specs

2005-05-13T15:01:00.000+05:00

The Specifications:

Xbox 360 Hardware Specifications
Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU	- 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each - 2 hardware threads per core; 6 hardware threads total - 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core; 3 total - 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread - 1 MB L2 cache
CPU Game Math Performance	- 9 billion dot product operations per second
Custom ATI Graphics Processor	- 500 MHz - 10 MB embedded DRAM - 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines - Unified shader architecture
Polygon Performance	- 500 million triangles per second
Pixel Fill Rate	- 16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA
Shader Performance	- 48 billion shader operations per second
Memory	- 512 MB GDDR3 RAM - 700 MHz DDR - Unified memory architecture
Memory Bandwidth	- 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth - 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM - 21.6 GB/s front-side bus
Overall System Floating-Point Performance	- 1 TFLOP
Storage	- Detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive - 12X dual-layer DVD-ROM - Memory unit support starting at 64 MB
I/O	- Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers - 3 USB 2.0 ports - 2 memory unit slots
Optimized for Online	- Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music - Built in Ethernet Port - Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G - Video Camera Ready
Digital Media Support	- Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD - Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs - Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive - Custom playlists in every game - Windows Media Center Extender built in - Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers
HD Game Support	- All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing - Standard definition and high definition video output supported
Audio	- Multichannel surround sound output - Supports 48 KHz 16-bit audio - 320 independent decompression channels - 32-bit audio processing - Over 256 audio channels
System Orientation	- Stands vertically or horizontally
Customizable Face Plates	- Interchangeable to personalize the console

Courtesy GameInformer

Xbox 360

2005-05-13T14:47:00.000+05:00

Xbox 360 Update

2005-05-08T18:36:00.000+05:00

Here's a little update to all of you people. These pics show the prototype controller and a shot of the Xbox 360. Stay tuned for more pictures and posts.
Heres the controller, and here's the Media Center Remote Controller.
Xbox MTV Debut May 12th...

Desktop modding

2005-05-05T23:26:00.000+05:00

So you want to mod your desktop? Here's a simple and easy guide to changing the appearance of your desktop to whatever you want. Read on, follow these few steps and your desktop will look nothing like the dull (i think..) look it has at the moment.
1. First of all you need the Neowin UXTheme Multi-Patcher. This does NOT install any programs, it only patches the themes settings in Windows XP. Get it here.
2. Okay, we've patched the themes settings, now u need a Skin or a Rip. Check out these sites for Visual Styles : Neowin. Or, if you directly want either Mac OSX Tiger themes or Longhorn themes.
3. Once u click these links and choose a nice VS, to install it, just copy the file into the Windows Resources folder . Or you can simply double click the Theme file.
Any problems? Contact me.

Customising Messenger 7.0 and a PSP hack

2005-05-04T21:51:00.000+05:00

Heres a helpful article to all of you people out there that have a PSP and have Wipeout Pure. This cool article shows how u can access the backdoor of the door to reveal a browser so that you can surf the Internet through any wireless hot spot. Click here to read the Web browser trick.
Another find, this is for people who don't like ads and various other annoying stuff that comes with Msn Messenger 7.0, Download this file and select the options you'd like to remove.

Featured Find #1 "iPod killed Kenny"

2005-05-01T09:39:00.000+05:00

I've decided that i'm going to give the readers a featured download, i'll try do this for every week. This week's featured download is a wallpaper called iPod killed kenny. Quite nice, currently its at 1200X600 resolution.
Contact me if you want a bigger/smaller one.
Click here to download the Featured Find.

Shizzolate that Shiznitt

2005-04-30T17:47:00.000+05:00

Was looking at some sites and found a good find. Check out Snoop Dogg's Shizzolator, a well cool site that converts any site to Shizzle language. Have fun trying to Shizzolate the CNN website.
Click here to go to The Shizzolator and Click here to see a Shizzolated version of my blog.

Guess-the-google

2005-04-30T17:01:00.000+05:00

Check out Guess-The-Google its a game where the Google Image Search process gets reversed, you have to guess what was written to get the pictures shown.
Also, I found a really nice site on GoogleHacking. Check it out , it has all the hacks and information on one blog so it's easy to read. Click here to read GoogleHacking.
Also check out this article on how to Supercharge software, good for those people who are STUCK with Windows.

Ohh and by the way, Firefox passed its 50 million download mark.

Blazing new Power Mac G5

2005-04-28T17:57:00.000+05:00

Apple have done it again, another blazing fast PC that emits an architectural aura of brilliance (man i love their designs). Basic info about the Power Mac G5

The new Power Mac G5 line extends as far as you require. Two 64-bit G5 processors reaching top speeds of 2.7GHz, room for up to 8GB of main memory, pro performance graphics cards and ultrahigh-bandwidth system architecture will give you more results than systems costing twice as much.

You'll have to see it to believe it. Pictures courtesy a friend on Neowin can be seen here, and here.
To read about it, click here.

Star Wars Timeline and "talk about owning yourself!"

2005-04-27T15:04:00.000+05:00

StarWars, the much-worshipped movie's third part will be coming out shortly. For those of you that want to find out how it all started, check out this Timeline of how it all started.

Moving on, man do we have alot of hackers trying to prove themselves on the Internet, but i think this dude has really done something no other hacker has done. Click here to read about the ultra-smart hacker. Its a good laugh.

Games go Sky-High

2005-04-26T13:25:00.000+05:00

On a sunny California day, Lou Myers and three others became the first people ever to play a Super Mario game while plummeting from the sky at terminal velocity.

Lou Myers and three of his friends jumped of a place at terminal velocity of a plane so that they could be the first people to play the Nintendo DS quite high up in the air. Also, they tested their PSP's to full potential by standing at a LA intersection. Suprisingly, even at 300 feet apart, the wireless connectivity of the PSP was uneffected. Click here to read the article.

Courtesy : Wired.com

Internet Explorer 7 : Firefox killer? Nah..

2005-04-26T13:15:00.000+05:00

Suprise, after Mozilla's succesful release of Firefox (the browser market figures for Firefox are so small; its no threat, it's just that they are gaining more ground) Microsoft has decided it's about time to come up with a new version to their buggy and flawed browser.
Enter IE 7.
Worth a read, to see what Microsoft are scheming.

You saw it here! Sony eat your heart out

2005-04-23T12:59:00.000+05:00

Hello, this is my first post today and its probably the most informative one ever. You know there's a time every 5 years or so, a time when a new gaming console is about to be released and your not sure whether you'll be able to buy it or not? Well my friends, that time has come.
Await! the Xbox360 :

This, people, is the new Microsoft Xbox. Sony, eat your heart out.

What you're looking at is one of the best Next-Gen consoles thats going to be dominating this years` news.

Skinning ur GMail, Sony MMORPG-ing and Ipod Killers

2005-04-22T09:27:00.000+05:00

This punchpacking post contains some really handy info and some news concerning Sony and Ipods.
Ever wanted to skin your GMail maybe because you did'nt like the way it looked? Then read this guide and CSS-customise it to however you want it to look.
Also, news that Sony is greenlighting the MMORPG market can be read in this article courtesy ArsTechnica. Finally, the last article is about rivals of the Ipod are targetting the revolutionary MP3 player, click here to read iPod killers courtesy Yahoo! Finance.

Google yourself

2005-04-22T09:17:00.000+05:00

Heres an article by the people at Wired News called "Check Yourself Out on Google". It's about the personalization of Google for each of it's members so that the search engine remembers who you are. Click here to read the article.

Courtesy Wired.com

The Revolution has been announced.

2005-04-22T09:15:00.000+05:00

With all the rumours that are going around about Nintendo going to show their upcoming Revolution console or not, we decided it was definitely time to get some confirmation so we called our contact within Nintendo and wouldn't leave the phone alone until we got a definite reply on the question "Will the Revolution be shown at E3 ?"

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we can now safely say "Yes!" to that question. Our PR contact confirmed that the Revolution will not only be talked about but also be shown at E3. Whether it will be playable however has yet to be confirmed.

Courtesy Fragland.net

Xbox 360 : Its all happening so fast!

2005-04-22T08:54:00.000+05:00

Heres what i found out when i woke up today,

The popular gaming news website Evil Avatar has once again gotten its hands on the latest puzzle solution to the Xbox 360 from Our Colony. The picture this time shows a chrome image of some part of the Xbox 360. This indicates that in fact the Xbox 360 does not have an in fact white (platinum white shell), but a chrome/metal like appearance.

Also, a little bit more on the development kits for the Xbox 360

Now before you frantically click the title, be warned, these are not pics of the actual console. They are pics of the development kits sent out I believe last May or June to developers. Back then, the actual system was in such early stages that they shipped Mac G5 computers instead (free of charge I'd assume) to developers to start work on the next gen titles. The article claims that the kit is housed inside the case, when in fact this is not true. These are basically G5 systems (because they use PowerPC processors like the upcoming Xbox 360), but they are running a different kernal and operating system.

Courtesy : Neowin.net and Kotaku

Area 51 : Uncovered, Google style

2005-04-15T23:17:00.000+05:00

Google logo for today (April 16th 2005) commemorating Leonardo DaVinci.
We all can never get enough of google. Last year there was google hacking and this year, somewhat following its footsteps is the uncovering of top secret information concerning Area 51. "Steven aka Daniel_Pengies" posted a guide on how he used Google Maps to uncover satelite arial pictures of Area 51. Read all about it here, on Area 51 : Uncovered, Google style.
Courtesy Neowin forums

WIFI : What is it ?

2005-04-15T14:51:00.000+05:00

Heres a handy article posted by the nice people at Cnet on WIFI. Click to read FAQ : Wifi Alphabet Soup

Set phasers to "May the 12th" !

2005-04-15T14:13:00.000+05:00

The machine can stand upright and hollows in at the middle, like it's "sucking in its cheeks," our source told us today. Previous rumours had put the console as light silver, although fresh information says the final design may be white. It's impossible to tell from the documents, our source explained - although the glimpse of the machine's controllers given on viral marketing website OurColony does suggest a platinum-white colour scheme for the hardware.

The time has come ladies and gentlemen, the ultimte console-slaying machine is about to be previewed on Mtv on May the 12th.

Miranda IM and Wallop

2005-04-04T14:32:00.000+05:00

After around 4 months of successfully using Miranda IM, i feel that it is about time i blogged it, after all, not many people know about Miranda and are stuck with using either MSN Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger.

Miranda IM is a multi protocol instant messenger client. Miranda IM is designed to be resource efficient and easy to use. It uses very little memory and requires no installation.

It is 100% customizable and the site contains many plug-ins and icons etc. Almost all IM clients such as MSN, Yahoo, AIM and Jabber are supported. Additional plug-ins such as IM to Blogger allows you to post to your blog. There are tonnes of plug-ins and I highly recommend that you check Miranda IM, Click here for a direct link to download Miranda IM.

Also, if you want to get invited to Wallop or Yahoo! 360 send me an email and i'll forward an invite Wallop. Wallop is a research project of the Social Computing Group at Microsoft Research, exploring how people sharex media and build conversations in the context of social networks.

A new look and Firetune

2005-04-04T14:03:00.000+05:00

Hello there or Yekshemesh, i've changed the look and feel of the blog after i thought the Blogger template was too colourful, the current skin is much more simple. Thanks to help from the friendly people at Neowin. The template is from Blogger-Templates (theres a link on the blog).

Moving on, i was looking at new software and i found quite a decent program called Firetune. Firetune for Mozilla Firefox v1.x was developed for an easy and fast optimiazation of your browsing experience. Usually you have to optimize Firefox manually, which can be time consuming and difficult for the novice user.

April Fools Day

2005-04-04T13:31:00.000+05:00

Unlike the GMail storage increase, Google Gulp is one of the first big April Fools jokes floating around the internet this year:

"At Google our mission is to organize the world's information and make it useful and accessible to our users. But any piece of information's usefulness derives, to a depressing degree, from the cognitive ability of the user who's using it. That's why we're pleased to announce Google Gulp (BETA)™ with Auto-Drink™ (LIMITED RELEASE), a line of "smart drinks" designed to maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty."

Looks as though Wikipedia has been bought by Encyclopedia Britannica...

"On April 1, 2005, Encyclopædia Britannica - The Free Encyclopædia announced its immediate semi-hostile takeover of the Wikimedia Foundation and all of its projects (now to be called Britannican reference subdivisions), including Wikipedia (now called Wikipædia)"
- Courtesy Neowin.com

Duke Nukem Forever's Nuking Physics Engine

2005-03-20T08:30:00.000+05:00

Swedish company Meqon, the firm behind the physics for 3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever, have rekindled interest in the long-delayed game with a stunning demonstration of its latest physics technology. Click the link and read on

Is this the Xbox 2?

2005-03-13T09:40:00.000+05:00

isthisxbox2
Originally uploaded by nouhad.

Either someone has a very deft hand with their cell phone camera, or this is a good fake (or itâs a really nice surge protector). Pengo sends in this shot of Allard standing over a small silver box that could be the next Xbox. It has the rounded look that weâve heard about, and seems sexy enough from a distance.

Courtesy joystiq.com

Welcome to the world of Torrents

2005-03-13T09:16:00.000+05:00

For those of you still using Kazaa and all other lame P2P software, switch over to the world of Bittorrent. Here is a 4 step guide to getting started up and begin downloading files.
1) There are mainly two good bittorent clients, they are BitComet and Azureus. Choose whichever client you want, download it and proceed to Step 2.
2) Find a site that hosts torrents, such as www.btefnet.net, go there and download a torrent file.
3) Open the torrent file using whichever client you downloaded from Step 1.
4) The file downloads, and u can enjoy. If you have to, play around with the configuration settings.
If you need any more help, feel free to email me at nouhad@gmail.com

Okay, heres the deal with Xbox 2

2005-03-13T09:05:00.000+05:00

Its about time somebody put all the bits and pieces of information regarding Xbox 2 into one article so we all know whats going on. Thanks to the folks at IGN, here is "Everything You wanted to know about Xbox 2".
Read on and enjoy.
PS3, Xbox 2, Gamecube Revolution!! Its on like donkey kong!

Fantastic Four images

2005-03-12T08:50:00.000+05:00

Here are images of the new Marvel movie, Fantastic Four. Courtesy ign.com

World Of Warcraft

2005-03-12T08:48:00.000+05:00

Here is a review of the game for those of you who are unsure about it.
My opinion - it rocks solid

The Cell revisited

2005-03-12T08:43:00.000+05:00

This is the first article published by David T. Wang that shows a detailed explanation of the Cell processor used in Xbox 2 and PS 3

The second article, "The Cell revisited", talks about RAM and other capabilities.

Xbox 2 - Sheer power

2005-03-12T08:41:00.000+05:00

CPU - Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three.

Also,

GPU - Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease.

thanks to http://arstechnica.com

Xbox 2 Information

2005-03-12T08:38:00.000+05:00

Microsoft stated some general info on how the high definition technology, personalization and connectivity will be executed:

* Custom music. Developers will no longer have to support custom music for games, because consumers will be able to play their own music while playing any new Xbox game.
* Marketplace. After searching via game, genre, etc, consumers will be able to go there to download new game levels, skins, maps, weapons, vehicles and content created by other gamers.
* Micro-transactions. Developers and the gaming population will be able to log into the Marketplace, then buy content created by the gaming community. Buying a fully-loaded car, for instance, might cost a dollar, and then the transaction can go down within the Xbox context. Similar ideas have already been at play in PC games such as Second Life.
* Gamer cards. Gamer cards boost the community aspect of Xbox Live!, allowing players to find others online who have the same interests, skills and lifestyles.

Back to blogging

2005-03-12T08:36:00.000+05:00

Im back after a long hiatus... Its 2005, and man do I have stuff to blog about. Stay tuned for postings. Previews (Xbox 2 , PS3, Cell Architecture, Xbox 2 Games , etc..)