Adjust and Control the Fan Speed on Your Mac

This article was written on August 18, 2008 by CyberNet.

arrow Mac Mac only arrow
One of the things that I really like being able to do on my MacBook Pro is monitor the temperature of various parts of my laptop, and also control the speed of the fans. Using the iStat Pro widget (review) I’m able to read the temperature of my hard drive, CPU, GPU, heatsinks, wireless card, and more. If you want you can take it a step further and even control the speed of your fans.

When I’m running a lot of different applications on my computer I’ve noticed that the fans don’t always increase their speed despite the temperatures rising to nearly 70 degrees Celsius. After a little searching around I found a free program called smcFanControl that lets me create different profiles to control the minimum fan speed.

smcFanControl.png

By default Apple has set the fans to run at 2000 RPM, but smcFanControl will let you override the minimum speed setting. It will not, however, let you set the minimum speed below what the default is.

After running smcFanControl I configured a few different profiles. The default one, which I still use almost all of the time, is set to run at a minimum of 2000 RPM. Then I also created two other profiles that run at 3000 and 4000 RPM respectively. With a quick glance at my Menubar I can see what my CPU temperature is, and choose one of the alternate profiles accordingly:

smcFanControl menubar-1.png

The fans don’t have any problem going this fast, and can actually be pushed up to 6000 RPM. You do need to keep in mind that running your fans at a higher speed for a long period of time could make them more prone to failure due to the extra wear and tear. In my case I only bump it up when I see my processor temperature inching closer to the 70 degrees Celsius mark, but I normally use the Apple-recommended 2000 RPM speed.

Get smcFanControl for Mac

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Advent Vega’s Flash Player yanked due to missing Adobe certification

The Advent Vega was never the most polished Android tablet in the world — after all, we had to rely on a custom ROM just to get native Android Market access — but a reasonable price tag and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 has still made it hard to resist. For those who’ve managed to snag one already, you may have noticed that the Flash playback isn’t exactly… awesome. That’s probably because the version loaded onto already-shipped versions isn’t certified by Adobe, and in order to fend off future complaints, the company’s yanking Flash Player entirely from newly-shipping models for the time being. The certification process is apparently underway, and the outfit expects Vega tablets shipped “in the early part of 2011” to have a green-lit build pre-installed; as for everyone else, they’ll be provided a gratis update as soon as it can be pushed out onto the interwebs. Head on past the break for the full statement.

Continue reading Advent Vega’s Flash Player yanked due to missing Adobe certification

Advent Vega’s Flash Player yanked due to missing Adobe certification originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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System Information, Benchmarks, and More

This article was written on June 02, 2010 by CyberNet.

pc wizard 2010.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Getting both the hardware and software details of your system typically requires using multiple apps. You’d have to peruse through the device manager, jump on over to the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, and then if you want to run some diagnostics or benchmarks you’d have to go hunt down some apps to do that as well.

PC Wizard 2010 is the all-in-one Swiss Army knife when it comes to that kind of stuff. It can provide a detailed breakdown of both the hardware and software on your computer, and can even be used to run some benchmarks. The included benchmark tools will let you test out the performance of your CPU, cache, RAM, hard drives, DVD drives, video, and more.

To top it all off most of the data can be saved off to a text file so that it can be referenced again later on. If you look at all the information PC Wizard provides (which I’ve put at the end of this article) you’ll likely see the value in being able to export some of the data to a simple archivable format. And did I mention that it’s not only free but also portable? Yeah, it’s an all-around worthwhile app to have in your collection.

PC Wizard 2010 Homepage (Windows only; 32/64-bit; Freeware/Portable)

Hardware Information

  • Mainboard / Bios (Connectors, ID String, MP Support …)
  • Chipset (FSB Frequency, Norhtbridge, Hub, Direct Media Interface, XMB, NSI, …)
  • Main Memory (FPM, EDO, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR-2 SDRAM, DDR-3 SDRAM, RDRAM, FB_DIMM, Timings …)
  • Memory Profiles : EPP (SLi Ready), Intel XMP.
  • Cache Memory (L1, L2, L3, Size, Frequency …)
  • Processors (Type, Speed, Multiplier coeff., Features, Model Number, Vanderpool Technology …)
  • Coprocessor
  • APM & ACPI
  • Busses : ISA, PCI, AGP (2x, 4x,8x), SMBus/ i2c, CardBus, Firewire, Hyper-Transport … )
  • DMI / SMBIOS
  • Mainboard Sensors, Processor, Hard Disk & Battery (Voltage, Temperature, Fans)
  • Video (Monitor, Card, Bios, Capabilities, Memory, Integrated Memory, Frequencies …)
  • OpenGL & 3Dfx
  • DirectX (DirectDraw, Direct3D, DirectSound (3D), DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectInput, DirectX Media)
  • Keyboard, Mouse & Joystick
  • Drives (Hard Disk, Removable, CD-ROM, CDRW, DVD …)
  • SCSI (Card, Controller, Adapter, Devices …)
  • ATA/ATAPI & S-ATA (Devices, Type, Capabilities, S.M.A.R.T. Features, RAID)
  • Ports (Serial, Parallel, USB, IEEE-1394)
  • IDE & SCSI Devices
  • Twain & WIA Devices
  • PCMCIA (PC Card) Devices
  • Bluetooth Devices
  • Biometric Sensor Devices
  • Sound Card (wave, midi, aux, mix, AC’97 codec, High Definition Audio)
  • Printers (Local & Network)
  • Modem (Features, Speed …)
  • Network (Server, Connexion, Firewall …)
  • Security (Scan Ports …)
  • PocketPC & SmartPhone Devices
  • Virtual Machines

System Information

  • MCI Devices (mpeg, avi, seq, vcr, video-disc, wave) & ACM
  • SAPI
  • Passwords (Outlook, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, Dialup …)
  • DOS Memory (base, HMA, UMB, XMS, EMS, DPMI, VCPI)
  • Windows Memory
  • Windows (Version, Product Key, Environment, Desktop, XP Themes …)
  • Windows UpTime (Boot, Shutdown, BlueScreen, System Restore Points …)
  • TrueType & OpenType Fonts
  • WinSock (Internet), Telephony et Remote Access
  • OLE (Objects, Servers …)
  • Microsoft® Applications
  • Activity (Process, Tasks, Threads)
  • Modules (DLL, DRV, 32 & 16-bits) & NT Services
  • Internet Navigator (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, FireFox)
  • .NET Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
  • ODBC
  • CMOS/RTC
  • Resources (IRQ, DMA, E/S, Memory)
  • System files (.ini, .log, .bat, .nt, .dos …)

System Benchmarks

  • Processor (Dhrystone (MIPS), Whetstone (MFLOPS), Mandelbrot fractal …)
  • L1, L2, L3 Cache, RAM (Bandwidth, Latency …)
  • Main Memory (Bandwidth, Latency …)
  • Hard Drives
  • CD/DVD Rom
  • DirectX
  • Video
  • Removable/Flash Support
  • MP3 Compression
  • VISTA Experience Index

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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WrapUp: Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta, Listen to Entire Albums with Lala, and More

This article was written on November 23, 2009 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

google chrome os.jpgGoogle Chrome OS
This was a pretty big week for Google, and in the middle of it was their announcement that they were open sourcing the Chrome OS already. They are doing this so that they can start working with partners, the open source community, and developers prior to the launch late next year. Running the new OS isn’t exactly a point-and-click operation, but some sites have already posted instructions as to how you can have it up and running in a virtual machine with very little work.


gmail creator.jpgGmail Creator Thinks Email Will Last Forever
The creator of Gmail, Paul Buchheit, was interviewed by TechCrunch with the topic of whether email was ready to die. They talked about whether something like Google Wave would be enough to kill it. In a nutshell he said that email is not going to fall off the face of the Earth… well, at least not “until robots kill us all.”  


adobe air touch.jpgAdobe Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0 Beta’s Available
Both Beta versions of Adobe’s flagship frameworks sport multi-touch gestures, which will be an important addition as Windows 7 touch-screen machines increase in popularity. They are also both significantly better in performance, or they are at least in the quick checks that I’ve performed.


–News in Brief–

sneak preview calendar.jpgGoogle Calendar Testing “Sneak Preview”
Google Calendar users will be able to enjoy a Labs feature (being rolled out) letting you preview whether an appointment you’re creating conflicts with something else on your schedule.


windows 8.jpgWindows 8 Expected in 2012
Looking at Microsoft’s roadmap it appears as though they will try to stick to a three-year release cycle for Windows 8.


office 2010 mobile.jpgOffice 2010 Mobile Beta Available
Microsoft has posted the mobile version of Office 2010 Beta for anyone running Windows Mobile 6.5.


skype logo.jpgeBay Completes Skype Sale at $2.75 Billion Valuation
eBay has sold off a majority (70%) of their ownership of the Skype software company.


automatic captions.jpgAutomatic Captions in YouTube
Google has employed an automatic speech recognition system on YouTube videos so that users can get closed captioning on nearly all uploads.


rtm calendar.jpgRemember the Milk Gadget for Google Calendar
Remember the Milk (RTM) users can enable a sidebar gadget in Google Calendar for easy task management.


ie9.jpgInternet Explorer 9 Announced
At PDC Microsoft unveiled some of the things that should be expected from IE9, including hardware acceleration.


mininova.jpgMininova Breaks 10 Billion Torrent Downloads
The popular BitTorrent search engine hits the huge 10 billion download milestone.


install silverlight.jpgSilverlight 4 Beta Released
The new version of Silverlight includes huge performance gains as well as support for the Chrome browser.


google image swirl.jpgExplore Images with Google Image Swirl
Google showed off a new way to search for images this week called Google Image Swirl. It tries to group images according to the subject of the photo.


ubuntu music.jpgUbuntu One Music Store
Canonical is working on a music store for their Ubuntu operating system that could compete with iTunes.


google templates.jpgTemplates Available in Google Sites
Anyone looking to create a quick website can find refuge in the new templates offered by Google Sites.


google translate.jpgA New Look for Google Translate
Google Translate can now translate your text as-you-type, and provides phonetic pronunciations for people who can speak languages like Chinese but don’t know how to read/write them.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

aruna file upload-1.jpgUse Aruna to Share Files  
Finding a good way to share files with friends can be difficult because of limitations many of them impose, but GoAruna knocks off most of those barriers. You can upload an unlimited number of files as long as each one is under 100MB in size. They can then be shared with anyone that you want through a simple URL. You can even manage the files you’ve uploaded through a convenient interface.  


lala.jpgListen to Entire Music Albums with Lala
There aren’t many sites out there that will let you legally listen to entire songs or albums, but Lala is one of them. The catch? You can only listen to each song once. That is a pretty big limitation, but what’s nice is that this gives you the chance to preview entire albums before you decide whether there’s just a few songs you want to pickup.


quick steps.jpgOffice 2010 “Quick Steps” Feature
One of the new features in Office 2010 Beta is the ability to add “Quick Steps” in Outlook. These are essentially easy-to-create macros that make managing your emails that much better. They can be used to forward/send email, archive emails to a certain folder, and a lot more.


–Tips in Brief–

google chrome logo.jpgHow to Run Google Chrome OS from a USB Drive
This is a guide showing you how you can run Chrome OS on your PC using a USB drive.


grep windows.jpgGrep on Windows
Search multiple files on Windows using the same popular format found in Unix/Linux.


itunes menubar.jpgiTunes in your Mac Menubar
Mac users can control most aspects of iTunes right from the Menubar with this free app.


foobar2000.jpgFoobar2000 v1.0 Beta Available
It’s been over 7 years in development, but version 1.0 of Foobar2000 is on the horizon with features like Windows Media streaming support.


pidgin plugins.jpgAdd 50 Pidgin Plugins with One Download
Grab all of the most popular Pidgin plugins without having to hunt them down one-by-one.


firefox tray.jpgMinimizeToTray for Firefox
The new version of this popular extension now supports Firefox 3.0 and beyond.


faststone image viewer.jpgFastStone Image Viewer 4.0
The update to this image viewer includes performance improvements, Windows 7 compatibility, and more.


http headers.jpgFind “Secret” Messages in Website Headers
This isn’t all that useful, but can definitely be fun!


ubuntu koala.jpgExtensive Ubuntu 9.10 Review
Ars Technica provides an in-depth review of the latest Ubuntu 9.10 operating system.


flv converter.jpgConvert FLV Video to AVI
Convert your favorite Flash videos to a format that is more device-friendly.


seesmic desktop.jpgSeesmic Desktop for Windows
This is one of the first Twitter clients for Windows that doesn’t use Adobe AIR, and the interface fits in better with other aspects of the operating system.


mmkeys.jpgmmKeys.dll Makes iTunes Work with Multimedia Keyboards
This DLL will address compatibility issues between iTunes and multimedia keyboards.


sumatra.jpgSumatra PDF Reader 1.0
Sumatra still keeps things lean in terms of it’s PDF capabilities despite hitting the big 1.0 milestone.


monitor site changes.jpgMonitor a Website for Changes
Get notified when the content on a website changes.


myports.jpgMyPorts Gives You Detailed Info on Open Ports
See what ports are currently being used on your computer, and which applications have them open.


–Downloads–

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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Vista SP1 Screenshots and Features

This article was written on August 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

Vista SP1

Windows Vista SP1 was known to be in the hands of testers just a few weeks ago, and much like XP SP3 it has been leaked in full form on the file sharing networks. Microsoft was actually pretty smart by making the general public cringe at the idea of installing a leaked copy of Vista SP1. Why? They only offered it to testers as a full 3.1GB Vista installation instead of as a standalone update. That way they were able to make the operating system expire by the middle of next year, and that is enough reason for me (and others as well) not to try it.

Everyone that has tried Vista SP1 have all said the same thing: it’s faster. When checking the Add/Remove Programs screen people noticed that Vista SP1 had four updates installed. Unfortunately there is no documentation on Microsoft’s sites regarding these updates, so there is little information available. APC Magazine was able to scrounge up a few details by browsing through the Windows Registry of Vista SP1:

  • Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB936330) – Has 133 packages most of which are for backend services. This is probably what fixes a majority of the performance issues.
  • Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB937286) – Contains 28 packages.
  • Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB937287) – Contains 1 package pertaining to Vista imaging.
  • Update for Microsoft Windows (KB938371) – Contains 3 packages.

JCXP has assembled a small gallery if you still feel the urge to see some uneventful screenshots. One interesting thing is that Microsoft revamped the Vista NOGUI Boot Screen with one that looks a little more refreshing:

Vista SP1 NOGUI Bootscreen

Hopefully we’ll be seen a public Beta soon of Vista SP1 that can be used without completely reinstalling the operating system, but until then the Vista Performance and Compatibility Packs have made a significant speed difference when transferring files between computers. That’s enough to get me by until Vista SP1. :)

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Opera 9.5 Optimizes JavaScript; Beats Firefox 3

This article was written on May 09, 2008 by CyberNet.

opera performance.png

arrow Windows Win; Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
Opera is obviously not content with sitting on the sidelines when it comes to being the fastest browser out there. Back in February Mozilla decided that it was time to optimize it’s JavaScript performance, and used a technique called Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) that gave it a nice boost. Opera decided to jump on the PGO bandwagon as well with this week’s release of Opera 9.5, and here is their explanation of how it works:

With this technique, Opera is compiled twice. The first compilation creates a specially instrumented build that gathers statistics about which code is called and which variables are used most often. The instrumented build loads sites automatically using “URL player”, a testing feature available in every Opera build (more information about that in a later blog post). This information is dumped into files and used to produce the final build that’s optimized based on the gathered statistics.

Did it help? Unfortunately there are some bugs in Opera 9.5 that prevent it from finishing the Sunspider test, but in the areas it does complete the result is normally better than Firefox 3 Beta 5. It does, however, consistently beat Firefox 3 in the MooTools SlickSpeed test in addition to this JavaScript benchmarking tool.

Congrats Opera! It looks as though you might be recapturing the JavaScript performance crown, but we’ll have to wait and see what the final version of each browser is like before we make any conclusions along those lines.

Be sure to checkout our more complete article where we compare the performance of more browsers.

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Geminoid-F takes the stage for Japanese play

Japan’s uncannily realistic robots have been creeping us out for years, but one was deemed emotive enough to have a stint on stage — yesterday evening, Hiroshi Ishiguro’s Geminoid-F made its debut in a Japanese play. It’s a fairly small step for robotkind, really, as the android was completely controlled by a real-life human actress from a soundproof room behind the stage, and no attempt was made to pass off the robot as human, as Geminoid portrays a caretaker android assigned to a dying girl. Still, the possibilities must have Hollywood agents agape — it’s only a matter of time before the world’s highest paid actors can literally phone in their lines.

Continue reading Geminoid-F takes the stage for Japanese play

Geminoid-F takes the stage for Japanese play originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-lint  |  sourceBBC, Reuters  | Email this | Comments

How to Reduce Firefox’s Memory Usage

This article was written on November 12, 2009 by CyberNet.

It’s a common problem among Firefox power users: you’ve been surfing the web for some time and all of a sudden Firefox’s memory footprint goes through the roof. And although Mozilla’s developers do their best to ensure that Firefox is stable, many people play a part in the browser’s memory leaks without knowing it. So how do you get Firefox to run smoothly again?

firefox addons.jpg

Do you really need that Firefox extension?
In my opinion, Firefox’s support for add-ons is one of its most valuable features, but there’s a catch: the longer Firefox has been installed on your hard drive, the more extensions you install and the slower Firefox becomes. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to uninstall extensions you don’t use. If you want to keep a certain extension around just in case, disable it to prevent it from being loaded on startup.

firefox plugins.jpg

Disable all unnecessary plugins
Aside from your extensions, there are some hidden memory eaters in Firefox that you may want to get rid off: plug-ins you didn’t even ask for. Common plug-ins you might want to disable of include Microsoft Silverlight, Java, Google Update, QuickTime, RealPlayer and Adobe Reader. If you disable the latter, you won’t be able to view PDFs in your browser. Instead, you’ll be prompted with the standard download dialog. Unlike extensions, plugins can be disabled/enabled without restarting your browser.

restart firefox.jpg

Reboot Firefox with a hotkey while saving your tabs
Rebooting Firefox is one of the most effective ways to lower its memory footprint. Originally intended for use by extension developers, QuickRestart does just that. Just press Ctrl+Alt+R to reboot Firefox while conserving your currently opened tabs.

firefox safe mode.jpg

Use Safe mode
Vista Rewired suggests using Firefox’s Safe mode in situations where you just need the basic browser. In Safe mode, all your extensions are disabled. You can find a shortcut to Firefox’s Safe mode in its Start Menu folder. Alternatively, you can launch it with the -safe-mode parameter. Visit Vista Rewired here for more details.

firefox trim on minimize-1.jpg

Hack: save Firefox’s state on your hard drive when minimized
In 2006, Ryan wrote about a way to have Firefox save its state on your hard drive when it’s minimized. This involves creating a setting of the boolean type in Firefox named config.trim_on_minimize with value true. Although this might free up some memory when Firefox is minimized, it may cause a slight delay when you restore Firefox’s main window. If you want to activate this hack, check out the how-to here.

firefox profile.jpg

Start with a clean slate
For that extra speed boost, you should consider starting out with a clean Firefox install. To do this, you’ll need to delete your entire profile folder. If you’re not sure where to find this folder, you might want to read Mozilla’s explanation here. Unless you don’t mind your bookmarks being wiped, ensure that they are backed up. Also note that this will not only delete your bookmarks, but also your extensions, your settings, your saved passwords, your history and so on. That’s a lot of data you’re throwing away, but obviously that’s the reason why wiping your profile is so effective.

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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The Church of the Sacred Hologram [Video]

Will you tell of your hopes and your dreams and the goodness you have seen? Or will you tell them of the darkness you’ve created with your own hands? More »

Apple shows Nokia’s N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video)

Nokia claims it always prioritizes antenna performance over physical design, and we’ll take them at their word, but that apparently didn’t exempt one Espoo handset from Apple’s grip of doom. Here’s the Nokia N97 Mini going down for the count, from a full seven bars to two. Of course, Apple doesn’t mention whether calls or data drop when the handset’s held this way. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Lyndon W.]

Continue reading Apple shows Nokia’s N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video)

Apple shows Nokia’s N97 Mini can be force choked, too (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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