Hasta La Gadget!

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

I’ve had a Vista machine setup for over a year whose sole purpose is to record my television shows, and I have to say that I’ve fallen deeply in love with it. Prior to owning the Vista Media Center computer I was using a ReplayTV unit to do the recording, and I didn’t think that it got much better than that. The model that I had included a commercial detection feature so that it would automatically skip past commercials as it came across them. I loved it!

When I got the Vista Media Center the ReplayTV was put on the back burner because it was leaps and bounds better than the ReplayTV. For that reason it is actually very easy for me to pinpoint five reasons why Vista Media Center is so great:

1. Appearance
   Vista Media Center looks really amazing, and I give the designers mad props for making it everything flow so nicely together. I especially love browsing movies that are on TV because it shows the box art for each of them.
   
2. WebGuide [Homepage] [Review]
   This is a free add-on created by a developer who was hired by Microsoft after the add-on really started to take off. With WebGuide you’re able to remotely access your Media Center computer through a website. You can remotely schedule shows, browse the television guide, or even stream content to your computer.
   
3. DVRMSToolbox [Homepage] [Review]
   As I mentioned earlier being able to skip commercials has become an important part of my television watching experience. This free software will let you do just that, and it is extremely configurable which is something power users will love.
4. Tuner Extender [Homepage] [Mirror] [Review]
   I recently bought a dual-tuner to add to the single HD tuner that I already have installed in my computer. Vista Media Center will support up to two tuners by default, but it is actually capable of handling many more. The only problem is that you won’t be able to add more than two tuners without using this special application. The fact that I can have three tuners simultaneously recording shows is awesome, even if it does take a little tweaking!
   
5. Xbox 360
   A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted access to my television shows in another room, and I was trying to figure out the best way of doing that. I decided on purchasing an Xbox 360 because it serves as Media Center Extender, and with that I’m able to access content from any Media Center machine that is on the same network as the Xbox. I have to say that Microsoft did a great job with the Media Center Extender technology, and I’m extremely happy that the commercial skipping still works even on the extenders. Oh, and I get to play Halo 3.

If there’s one thing in Vista that I really want to applaud Microsoft for it would be the Media Center aspect. It has never really crashed on me, is very extensible, and there is quite a large community surrounding it. I can’t wait to see where Microsoft takes this in the next release of Windows.

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on March 30, 2007 by CyberNet.

Firefox is known for having its inline spell checker that underlines misspelled words as you type them. I truly believe that this feature in Firefox has helped the Internet as a whole become more readable by reducing the number of misspellings in even the simplest things, like comments.

Mozilla does provide multiple languages for their dictionaries, but Opera also gets some of its own Ajaxy goodness with a script that has been made up to support spell checking in 27 different languages. Here is everything the script has to offer:

• It’s blazing fast since JavaScript is stored locally
• Inline and dynamic
• AJAX is used to send and receive data
• Support for 27 languages
• Ability to switch language dynamically

If it sounds like something you would like to use just follow these simple steps:

1. Download the files here and put them in a folder such as My Documents/OperaScripts.
2. In Opera go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options > Choose… and select the folder from Step 1.
3. Click OK, and then load a page with a text field in it. Click in that field and you should see the spell checker button similar to what is pictured below.

I had it installed in my Opera within 10 or 15 seconds, and at first I was wondering where the heck the spell checker was. Of course, being a computer geek I never feel like reading instructions or anything so I kept trying to figure out why the spell checker wasn’t showing up! Ahh, then I realized that you have to click in a text field and then a little tab will show up below that field, and clicking on the two-way arrow initiates the spell check:

It is still nice to have the inline spell check in Firefox, but this is definitely a step in the right direction for current Opera users. There is also a preferences file that you can download and use with the script so that you can choose to use the spell checker from Gmail (you have to be logged in), Orangoo, or fearphage. Also, if you only enable one language in the preferences then the drop-down box will be completely removed. That way it doesn’t take up quite so much room.

Maybe when Opera 10 rolls around it too will have inline spell check built-in, but until that time this is one script that I will definitely keep installed! Hopefully Opera 10 will also have a management screen for scripts that you currently have installed.

Source: Opera Watch

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on November 09, 2006 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

If you have your computer set to show hidden files and folders then you may have noticed a Thumbs.db file located on your computer. You can delete it and no damage will be done, but it will probably just reappear. The Thumbs.db file is used to cache the thumbnails of the images located in that particular directory. If the thumbnails are cached they should be able to display themselves a little quicker, but I don’t even notice a speed difference if I disable this feature.

It is a really easy to disable the thumbnail caching and once you have done that you can go ahead and delete all of the files from your computer by doing a simple search:

1. Go to the Start Menu and click on the Search option so that we can search the computer for files.
2. Windows Explorer should startup and there should be a sidebar available for searching. Before we search and remove the Thumbs.db files we’ll go ahead and disable them from being created in the future. Go to
   Tools->Folder Options->View and the 7th option down should read Do not cache thumbnails. Check that box and hit OK to close the window.
   
3. Now we’ll need to perform a search for the Thumbs.db files. In the file name box type Thumbs.db and expand the Advanced Options so that you can check the box that says Search hidden files and folders. It is important that you check that box because this file is always hidden.
   
4. After it finishes scanning your hard drive just select all of the files and delete them.

That’s all there is to it. These files do not typically get very large but if you have a lot of images then they could quickly consume space. More than anything I found them to be annoying because I always have the hidden files visible so they can be distracting. They won’t be any longer though!

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on January 11, 2006 by CyberNet.

It appears that Microsoft has started to send out emails to beta testers for Microsoft Office Live:

Hello and thank you for reserving your opportunity to participate in the Microsoft Office Live beta.

Microsoft Office Live is scheduled to make its debut in early 2006.* When it does, you’ll receive FREE access to a variety of online services designed to help give your small business the professional Web site and capabilities you need to succeed in today’s marketplace. How can Microsoft Office Live benefit your business? Take a look:

> Get a FREE Web site with your own domain name, free hosting, online business applications, e-mail and more.

>Easily access your company e-mail, customer and project information from almost any Internet-connected computer.**

> Make better use of your time and resources with one central location for your important data and smart, easy-to-use tools that can help you manage your small business.

> Streamline information sharing among employees, vendors and customers through a password-protected, private Web site.

Again, thanks for reserving your chance to join the Microsoft Office Live beta.

As the launch date approaches, we’ll continue to keep in touch with important information.

Best Regards,
Your Microsoft Office Live Team
www.officelive.com

News Source: The Unauthorized Microsoft Weblog

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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

Mac only
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.

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:

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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