IT Masala

Windows only: WordWeb provides definitions and synonyms with a click of the mouse.

This dictionary/thesaurus can look up words in almost any program. Just press the Ctrl key and right-click a word: this pops WordWeb (too fast) for you . WordWeb can also find sets of related words by pulling info from Wikipedia, Wiktionary and other sources. It'll even pronounce words for you.

Its far better than all the inbuilt dictionary we get with the Micro$oft Office ..etc.  WordWeb is free for personal use.

Happy vocabulary ! 

[ Download ] via [ WordWeb ]

PS : Sorry i forgot to put the link to download.thanks krishna for reminding. (see comments)

Apple has announced that it has now begun shipping Apple TV, a wireless device that allows you to play music, movies, photos and more on a widescreen TV.

According tp Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, “Apple TV is like a DVD player for the Internet age- providing an easy and fun way to play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV.” 

In the technology world, conventional wisdom says that we’ll soon be saying R.I.P. for the DVD. Internet downloads are the future, baby. No driving, no postpaid envelopes. Any movie, any TV show, any time.

Features: 

Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive, which can store up to 50 hours of video, 9000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each. It is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output.

Apple TV iTunes 7.1 or later, running on a Mac with Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional.

Apple ships with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. The Apple Remote ships with Apple TV at no extra cost. Apple TV can also auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers directly on to the TV without any wires. It can do so using high-speed AirPort 802.11 wireless networking.

Pricing: Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote will be available for a price of $299.

Mozilla Corp. late yesterday updated the Firefox browser to patch a single security vulnerability and fix several bugs it unintentionally introduced in earlier versions.

Mozilla currently supports two branches of the open-source application, and the upgrades — Firefox 2.0.0.3 and Firefox 1.5.0.11 — are now available, according to the release notes posted on the company's Web site.

New for Firefox 2.0.0.3 is a single security fix that patches up a hole in the browser’s FTP PASV functionality. A malicious web page hosted on a specially-coded FTP server could use this feature to perform a rudimentary port-scan of machines inside the firewall of the victim.

The main purpose of the update, however, was to fix several "regressions" — unintended flaws introduced by changes to previous versions. Earlier this month, Mozilla said it was working on a fast-turnaround for 2.0.0.3/1.5.0.11 to correct regressions in the browser's password manager, automatic security certificate authentication feature and other areas.

The last time the Firefox was updated was less than a month ago when 2.0.0.2 was released to address issues with AutoComplete, how the "Save" dialog box displays for known file extensions, a bug where a mouse's scroll wheel would stop working, two memory leaks and a number of security-related concerns.

Firefox 2.0.0.3 can be downloaded from the Mozilla Web site in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in 40 languages. Users can also update the browser using the Check for Updates command in the help menu.

[ Firefox 2.0.0.3 ] via [ Mozilla ] 

Adobe will give developers a free preview of its forthcoming runtime code-named Apollo today by releasing an alpha version of the technology on its Adobe Labs site.

So,What is Apollo ?

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

Developers can download the technology for free from the Adobe Labs site. The release includes a free software development kit that provides a set of command line tools to develop and work with Apollo applications. Web developers can use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of their choice to build applications for the runtime, Adobe said.

Apollo, like the Flash Player, is a runtime, but one in which applications built using standard internet development technologies - such as HTML, Flash and AJAX - can run offline. 

Also See a demonstration of how eBay is building an Apollo application to engage customers.

Check out : Technical Articles / Developer Videos / Sample Applications  from adobe labs.

This Offline internet app is going to threaten Microsoft's products.

[ Get Apollo ] via [ Adobe Labs ]

Easily Convert RPM, Deb and tgz package formats using Alien- Portable Package Power

Alien is a program that converts between the rpm, dpkg, stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats. If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your preferred package format and install it.

Licensed under GPL, this tool converts between the rpm, Debian deb,stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats.For example, if I want to install Inkscape which is in a binary RPM format in Ubuntu (or any other debian distro), I use the following command:

    # alien -i inkscape-2.1.3.rpm

The above command will unpack the rpm package into a directory, create a deb package and then install it on your system. And to uninstall the package at a later date use the relevent dpkg command.

Note : Alien should not be used to replace important system packages, like sysvinit, shared libraries, or other things that are essential for the functioning of your system

Other things which are required :

- perl version 5.004 or greater.

- Red Hat Package Manager; get it from its website.

- If you want to convert packages into debian packages, you will need the dpkg, dpkg-dev, and debhelper packages, which are available on the Debian packages site. You'll also need gcc, and make. 

Despite the large version number, alien is still (and will probably always be) rather experimental software. It has been used by many people for many years, but there are still many bugs and limitations.

Although no one officially recommends using Alien as a solution for business, I have found it to be a very effective tool. 

Download via [ Alien ]

Nero announced today that Nero Linux 3 will be unveiled at CeBIT in Germany. The new version of the definitive burning application for Linux operating systems will add Blu-Ray and HD DVD data recording support as well as an improved graphical user interface (GUI) that is similar to the look and feel of the current Nero Burning ROM 7 edition.

"Nero has long recognized the importance of including the Linux community in our broad user base," said Udo Eberlein, Chief Operating Officer, Nero AG. "By ensuring that the functionalities of our most popular application are available to users of the Linux operating systems, we are also ensuring that Nero's cutting-edge burning technology is enjoyed by users all over the world."

In addition to Blu-ray and HD DVD burning capabilities, Nero Linux 3 will also natively support 64-bit systems, as well as Unicode in all languages currently supported by Nero's flagship product, Nero 7. A beta version of Nero Linux 3 is expected to be available at the end of March 2007. Nero's OEM partners will be able to bundle Nero Linux 3 starting in mid-May 2007 offering a unique solution to the growing community of Linux OS users and fans. Many Linux distributions will be supported in the new upgrade including Red Hat Enterprises, Fedora Core, SuSE, Debian, Ubuntu, Linspire, and Mandriva.

Source:Press Release

Windows Media Player 11 offers great new ways to store and enjoy all your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV. Play it, view it, and sync it to a portable device for enjoying on the go or even share with devices around your home—all from one place.

This is a nice and simple way to install Windows Media Player 11 without validating.Follow the steps and you are done.

Steps:
1. Download and extract (unrar, unzip) wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe to a new folder
2. RUN wmfdist11.exe
3. RESTART your COMPUTER
4. RUN wmp11.exe
5. RESTART your COMPUTER

Here’s what a $1,490 keyboard looks like.Well, it's been years in development but Art Lebedev has finally finished development work on the 114-key color OLED (organic LED) Optimus Maximus keyboard. 

Press shots have been released at CeBIT .No keyboard prototypes are present at CeBIT, just the photos.

Each display is 32×32 pixels full-color OLED (organic LED). Each key is user-replaceable. Each key incorporates a display. Change your keyboard layout at will.

I wonder if the keyboard is really worth $1,490. I still love my $12 Logitech keyboard.

Well, what do you think? Is it worth $1,490? time will tell….

[ For more screenshots ] and for more details :[ Optimus keyboard ] 

Compressing and encoding High Quality Video Using Vdub:

We have recorded the video at 6 Mbits (6000Kbps). With the help of DivX we can compress it to 1500kbps without affecting quality.

1. Remember to keep the settings we kept for TV Caps. For compressing High quality Videos u can use either DivX or Xvid codec. I prefer Divx as we are dealing with TV recorded Videos which need more workout. 

2. Go to Video > Compression > Select DivX > Click Configure.

 

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Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of unauthorized copies of Windows.

A security expert says Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, but Microsoft calls the process an antipiracy 'hack'.

Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, a serious end run around one of Microsoft's key antipiracy measures, Windows expert Brian Livingston said Thursday.

Livingston, who publishes the Windows Secret newsletter, said that a single change to Vista's registry lets users put off the operating system's product activation requirement an additional eight times beyond the three disclosed last month. With more research, said Livingston, it may even be possible to find a way to postpone activation indefinitely.

"The [activation] demands that Vista puts on corporate buyers is much more than on XP," said Livingston. "Vista developers have [apparently] programmed in back doors to get around time restrictions for Vista activation."

Brian Livingston describes the Registry key that's involved and the steps :

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