Kaspersky Internet Security2009

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 provides adequate protection, but the program itself could use some work in telling the user what's going on.

We were disappointed with Kaspersky's Internet Security 2009. While there are significant improvements to the anti-malicious-software engine in the 2009 edition — it is faster — we only saw evidence of that during the file scan test. In our application and boot tests, the numbers were actually worse than last year. This highlights our dilemma: the problem is not so much with malicious software detection (it does that very well), but with the execution of the overall program. The installation process required a few too many reboots, and we also experienced more than the usual number of system glitches on our Windows XP test machines. The interface is a little clunky, with messages regarding updates and scans being very unclear. Also, some of the new features didn't seem to be fully developed. From a world-class software vendor, we expect better.

Installation
Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 requires Windows XP or Windows Vista. Our installation on a Windows XP test machine wasn't neat. First, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 identified both ZoneAlarm and AVG 8.0 as potential conflicts that needed to be removed even though only one was currently installed on our machine. Turns out, KIS 2009 read the registry files and found an old installation of AVG 8.0 that had been removed, but not completely uninstalled (that's why products need to be uninstalled completely). Kaspersky technical support, we were told, offers a package, avg8.zip, which includes KLeaner.exe, that you can download from their site to remove old installations; however, installation of a security application should not be this complicated. Once we removed these, we needed to reboot and restart our installation.

Once the files were loaded, Windows XP asked us whether the Windows Firewall should block Kaspersky. Shouldn't KIS 2009 be accepted by Windows? When we tried to register the product code — which we copy and pasted — we were unable to do so. We kept getting a message that only manually entered numbers and Latin characters would be accepted. Kaspersky representatives said the latter scenario should not have happened, but it did. Customers who order online will get a file that you can point to during installation. Then, once the program was installed, we had to reboot — again.

Two reboots of the computer and 20 minutes later, we were up and running. Note: We also experienced boot lockup problems after our installation and configuration of both Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 and in KIS 2009. We're willing to attribute this to early code, but even in November we continued to experience minor glitches.

Should you decide to remove KIS 2009 from your system, there is an All Programs icon to Update, Modify, or Remove the program. However, after uninstalling the program, and rebooting the system, we found more than a few traces of Kaspersky within the system registry — the exact problem we experienced during the installation with residue from another antivirus product lurking within the registry. Representatives of Kaspersky blamed the Microsoft uninstaller for the residue, citing a similar problem with AVG Technologies AVG 8, but Kaspersky didn't offer an explanation why it doesn't provide its own uninstaller, such as the one found in Check Point's ZoneAlarm products.

Interface
The KIS 2009 interface didn't initially win us over. The first thing you'll notice is a scary red alert. That's good because you notice it; it's bad because usually it's flagging not a problem with your machine, but with the program itself. Click the Fix Now button and, in most cases, you'll discover that you only need to download the latest updates. This is automated and probably halfway done by the time you realise it. The fact the system is self-updating is clear if you look to the left; there's a percentage indicator showing how the update is progressing.

Messaging for system scans is also confusing. After running a quick scan, we were simply taken back to the scan screen, with nary a results page in sight. Even if there were no results, we expected to see some indication that we had a clean system (most products show at least a blank results screen). Instead, it appeared as though we hadn't run the Quick Scan, which takes less than 1 minute, at all. In fact, we ran the test several more times before we realised that there's a report button. Many of the screens within KIS 2009 have hard-to-see buttons that will reveal details if asked. In this case, however, the button only displayed the times at which the scans ran with no real confirmation that our system was clean. Kaspersky representatives said they'd take our suggestions for review.

Features
Like most Internet security suites today, KIS 2009 includes antivirus, anti-spyware, a personal firewall, anti-phishing, anti-spam, and even anti-rootkit protection. The extras set it apart. Unfortunately, not all the extras feel fully baked.

KIS 2009, like KAV 2009, includes something called Post Infected System Restore. It's a wizard that helps restore a system to a state prior to a virus or piece of malicious software. In the case where malicious code has deleted system files, KAV 2009 includes the capability to create a Rescue Disk. Of course, you need to do that in advance, and KAV 2009 never prompted us to do so. Also to create a Windows XP rescue disk, you need a Windows XP SP2 disc, which some users (if they updated from Windows XP SP1) won't have. A Linux Rescue Disk for Windows XP and Vista can also be downloaded.

While we really like the idea, the execution of Kaspersky's new Security Analyzer needs more work. It's good that it checks with the Secunia database for the latest reported vulnerabilities and vendor updates. But it's bad that during the analyser's first run on our test system it discovered 481 vulnerabilities but there's no one-stop shopping available — we needed to click on each alert individually. We also had to download the correct patch for our system, but which version of the vulnerable software are we running? It gets confusing and tedious even for someone relatively tech savvy. It would be good if the scanner also identified not only that you are running vulnerable software, but also which version of the software you are running. Sometimes fixing one removes others, but the current implementation leaves the process unclear.

KIS 2009 also includes Parental Controls at a time when some vendors are still making this an optional download. There's also includes a virtual keyboard; however, security experts have for years warned that onscreen keyboards do not diminish the risks of keyloggers stealing your passwords. So we're surprised to see this included within a serious security product.

Missing are the nearly instant malware signature file updates available from Norton, Trend Micro, and McAfee this year. Kaspersky still sends out hourly updates.

Performance
In CNET Labs' performance tests, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, in general, scored worse than last year. However, it managed to halve its individual file scan time. In third-party, independent antivirus testing using live viruses, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 scored in the high upper ranks, although not always at the top position. On the CNET iTunes test, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 came in dead last at 276 seconds; the test system was able to load iTunes in 268 seconds. On the CNET Microsoft Office test, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 also finished dead last at 1,535 seconds. In a test scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 had better results, 245 seconds, competitive with other security suites. Although in terms of boot speed, Kaspersky was among the slowest (34.84 seconds) when compared with other suites (McAfee only took 30 seconds)

In terms of whether Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 will protect your PC, we cite results from two leading independent antivirus testing organisations. In results from AV-test.org Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 found 98 percent of the malware and 98 percent of the spyware on a test system. In the latest test results from earned an Advanced (second-highest) rating, although Kaspersky produced very few false positives compared with other antivirus applications in the same test.

Support
Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 provides an excellent context-sensitive help file. For example, if you are on the Data Files page and you click Help, you're taken to the entry for Data Files entry within the help file. It's a small touch, but one we don't see often enough. Kaspersky also delivers an excellent online FAQ and knowledge base. There are also active user forums. Finally, you can e-mail or call a toll-free number for live technical support.

Conclusion
Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 includes some significant changes to its malicious software engine and new security tools. However, we think the interface and the messaging around the new security tools could be much better. And for the price, we like to see more security tools. We look forward to next year's release.

The price listed is a one year license for a single computer. For a two year license the price is AU$132, whilst Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 for three computers is AU$89.95 for one year, or AU$160.16 for two years.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/software/security/soa/Kaspersky-Internet-Security-2009/0,139023452,339293430,00.htm

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Alcohol 120% 1.9.8.7117

Alcohol 120% is CD/DVD emulation and recording software that allows users to copy discs. Store your most used or important CDs as images on your computer and run them at 200x speed from up to 31 virtual CD or DVD drives. Alcohol is compatible with more than 99% of drives available. It supports the latest image file types including - MDS, CCD, BIN, CUE, ISO, CDI, BWT, BWI, BWS, BWA and many more.

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OutpostFirewall Pro 2009

If you are surfing the web, you need protection. Outpost Firewall Pro offers features and components found on many hardware firewalls. With malicious activities on the internet, computers are be vulnerable on the web if not adequately protected.
Installation and Configuration
Installation of Outpost Firewall Pro went flawlessly. During the installation, users are given an option for an advanced or a typical setup. These options are provided for the experienced and novice user. A key impressive part of the installation is the training mode which allows Outpost to ‘observe’ how you use your computer for a week. This excellent installation package makes the initial setup a breeze.

The user interface is basic and easy to use, supplying the end user with several critical options that provide options as good as some hardware firewalls.

The screenshots below show the 'smart' and easy setup of Outpost Firewall Pro. The installation looks for your network, creates most common rules for you and downloads critical information.
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/13572.aspx

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Inside Java : The Java Programming Language

nside Java offers a glimpse behind the Java platform, and related technologies. In this month's column, I'll show you an overview of the Java programming language.

Java - an island of Indonesia, a type of coffee, and a programming language. Three very different meanings, each in varying degrees of importance. Most programmers, though, are interested in the Java programming language. In just a few short years (since late 1995), Java has taken the software community by storm. Its phenomenal success has made Java the fastest growing programming language ever. There's plenty of hype about Java, and what it can do. Many programmers, and end-users, are confused about exactly what it is, and what Java offers.
Java is a revolutionary language

The properties that make Java so attractive are present in other programming languages. Many languages are ideally suited for certain types of applications, even more so than Java. But Java brings all these properties together, in one language. This is a revolutionary jump forward for the software industry.

Let's look at some of the properties in more detail: -

*

object-oriented
*

portable
*

multi-threaded
*

automatic garbage collection
*

secure
*

network and "Internet" aware
*

simplicity and ease-of-use

Object-oriented

Many older languages, like C and Pascal, were procedural languages. Procedures (also called functions) were blocks of code that were part of a module or application. Procedures passed parameters (primitive data types like integers, characters, strings, and floating point numbers). Code was treated separately to data. You had to pass around data structures, and procedures could easily modify their contents. This was a source of problems, as parts of a program could have unforeseen effects in other parts. Tracking down which procedure was at fault wasted a great deal of time and effort, particularly with large programs.

In some procedural language, you could even obtain the memory location of a data structure. Armed with this location, you could read and write to the data at a later time, or accidentally overwrite the contents.

Java is an object-oriented language. An object-oriented language deals with objects. Objects contain both data (member variables) and code (methods). Each object belongs to a particular class, which is a blueprint describing the member variables and methods an object offers. In Java, almost every variable is an object of some type or another - even strings. Object-oriented programming requires a different way of thinking, but is a better way to design software than procedural programming.

There are many popular object-oriented languages available today. Some like Smalltalk and Java are designed from the beginning to be object-oriented. Others, like C++, are partially object-oriented, and partially procedural. In C++, you can still overwrite the contents of data structures and objects, causing the application to crash. Thankfully, Java prohibits direct access to memory contents, leading to a more robust system.
Portable

Most programming languages are designed for a specific operating system and processor architecture. When source code (the instructions that make up a program) are compiled, it is converted to machine code which can be executed only on one type of machine. This process produces native code, which is extremely fast.

Another type of language is one that is interpreted. Interpreted code is read by a software application (the interpreter), which performs the specified actions. Interpreted code often doesn't need to be compiled - it is translated as it is run. For this reason, interpreted code is quite slow, but often portable across different operating systems and processor architectures.

Java takes the best of both techniques. Java code is compiled into a platform-neutral machine code, which is called Java bytecode. A special type of interpreter, known as a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), reads the bytecode, and processes it. Figure One shows a disassembly of a small Java application. The bytecode, indicated by the arrow, is represented in text form here, but when compiled it is represented as bytes to conserve space.


Figure One - Bytecode disassembly for "HelloWorld"

The approach Java takes offers some big advantages over other interpreted languages. Firstly, the source code is protected from view and modification - only the bytecode needs to be made available to users. Secondly, security mechanisms can scan bytecode for signs of modification or harmful code, complimenting the other security mechanisms of Java. Most of all though, it means that Java code can be compiled once, and run on any machine and operating system combination that supports a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Java can run on Unix, Windows, Macintosh, and even the Palm Pilot. Java can even run inside a web browser, or a web server. Being portable means that the application only has to be written once - and can then execute on a wider range of machines. This saves a lot of time, and money.
Multi-threaded

If you've ever written complex applications in C, or PERL, you'll probably have come across the concept of multiple processes before. An application can split itself into separate copies, which run concurrently. Each copy replicates code and data, resulting in increased memory consumption. Getting the copies to talk together can be complex, and frustrating. Creating each process involves a call to the operating system, which consumes extra CPU time as well.

A better model is to use multiple threads of execution, referred to as threads for short. Threads can share data and code, making it easier to share data between thread instances. They also use less memory and CPU overhead. Some languages, like C++, have support for threads, but they are complex to use. Java has support for multiple threads of execution built right into the language. Threads require a different way of thinking, but can be understood very quickly. Thread support in Java is very simple to use, and the use of threads in applications and applets is quite commonplace.
Automatic garbage collection

No, we're not talking about taking out the trash (though a computer that could literally do that would be kind of neat). The term garbage collection refers to the reclamation of unused memory space. When applications create objects, the JVM allocates memory space for their storage. When the object is no longer needed (no reference to the object exists), the memory space can be reclaimed for later use.

Languages like C++ force programmers to allocate and deallocate memory for data and objects manually. This adds extra complexity, but also causes another problem - memory leaks. When programmers forget to deallocate memory, the amount of free memory available is decreased. Programs that frequently create and destroy objects may eventually find that there is no memory left. In Java, the programmer is free from such worries, as the JVM will perform automatic garbage collection of objects.
Secure

Security is a big issue with Java. Since Java applets are downloaded remotely, and executed in a browser, security is of great concern. We wouldn't want applets reading our personal documents, deleting files, or causing mischief. At the API level, there are strong security restrictions on file and network access for applets, as well as support for digital signatures to verify the integrity of downloaded code. At the bytecode level, checks are made for obvious hacks, such as stack manipulation or invalid bytecode. The strong security mechanisms in Java help to protect against inadvertent or intentional security violations, but it is important to remember that no system is perfect. The weakest link in the chain is the Java Virtual Machine on which it is run - a JVM with known security weaknesses can be prone to attack. It is also worth noting that while there have been a few identified weaknesses in JVMs, they are rare, and usually fixed quickly.
Network and "Internet" aware

Java was designed to be "Internet" aware, and to support network programming. The Java API provides extensive network support, from sockets and IP addresses, to URLs and HTTP. It's extremely easy to write network applications in Java, and the code is completely portable between platforms. In languages like C/C++, the networking code must be re-written for different operating systems, and is usually more complex. The networking support of Java saves a lot of time, and effort.

Java also includes support for more exotic network programming, such as remote-method invocation (RMI), CORBA and Jini. These distributed systems technologies make Java an attractive choice for large distributed systems.
Simplicity and ease-of-use

Java draws its roots from the C++ language. C++ is widely used, and very popular. Yet it is regarded as a complex language, with features like multiple-inheritance, templates and pointers that are counter-productive. Java, on the other hand, is closer to a "pure" object-oriented language. Access to memory pointers is removed, and object-references are used instead. Support for multiple-inheritance has been removed, which lends itself to clearer and simpler class designs. The I/O and network library is very easy to use, and the Java API provides developers with lots of time-saving code (such as networking and data-structures). After using Java for awhile, most developers are reluctant to return to other languages, because of the simplicity and elegance of Java.
Summary

Java provides developers with many advantages. While most of these are present in other languages, Java combines all of these together into one language. The rapid growth of Java has been nothing short of phenomenal, and shows no signs (yet!) of slowing down. In next month's column, I'll talk more about the heart of Java - the Java Virtual Machine.
http://www.javacoffeebreak.com
http://www.javacoffeebreak.com/articles/inside_java/insidejava-nov99.html

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How to convert a PDF file to Word, Excel or JPG format

One common question I’ve run across a lot these days in the office is how to convert a PDF file to Microsoft Word format (doc), Excel format (xls), or JPG picture format. Usually, people want to know how to convert a file to PDF, but it’s also nice to be able to convert back the other way. Converting to Word is actually pretty simple and can be done directly using an online file conversion service called Zamzar. Going to Excel or JPG is a two step process, but nothing very difficult to follow.

Update: There’s a much easier way to convert a PDF to JPG image format than the method I have mentioned below. Here’s how you can do it using Zamzar.com.
Convert a PDF file to JPG - Easy Way

Go to ZamZar.com, browse for your file and choose PNG format for the format to conver to under Step 2. PNG is another newer picture format that is slowly replacing the JPG format. Most programs that can open JPG files can open PNG. Zamzar automatically converts each page in the PDF document into it’s own PNG picture file. Now you can simply open Microsoft Paint (yes, all you need it Paint!) and choose File - Save As from the menu and choose JPEG from the drop down list of formats.

microsoft paint

That’s it! By the way, if youare interested in how to extract the text from a PDF document or how to convert Word files to PDF, etc, check out the links.
Convert PDF to JPG Format - Second Way

The first thing you’ll need to do is download a free software (the only one I could find) that converts PDF documents to JPEG image format automatically. Go to the Omniformat download page and download both Omniformat v8.3 and the PDF995 app. You will need to download and install PDF995 first before installing Omniformat. Once you have both programs installed, go to your Start Menu programs, find the program group Software995 and click on Omniformat.

software995.jpg

The only annoying thing about this program is that it requires you to view some ads for about 30 seconds! However, it’s better than paying $20 or $40 for a program just to do a simple conversion! It does pop up another instance of your browser window for the web site of each of the sponsors, but it does not install any spyware onto your computer (no popup ads). Once the program is loaded, you’ll see it has a section called “Watch Folders” and then a button at the bottom titled “Start Monitoring” and “Single Pass“.

pdf-to-jpg.jpg

Basically the way it works is that you need to COPY the PDF files you want to convert to JPG format to the C:\omniformat\watch folder and then press Single Pass. The program will look in that directory and convert each page of each PDF into a separate JPG file. If you click Start Monitoring, you can keep dropping PDFs into that folder and the program will automatically convert them into JPGs as long as the program is open. Note that the program DELETES the original PDF document that it uses, so that’s why you need to COPY the PDF document to the watch folder, not move it! You should now see your converted files like below:

pdf-to-jpg-convert.jpg
Convert your PDF to a Word document

Go to Zamzar.com and click the Browse button next to Step 1 and choose your file. By default, Step 2 will be set to DOC format, but you can choose to convert your PDF to other file types such as TXT, HMTL, RTF, etc. Type in your email address for Step 3 and click Convert.

file conversion

You should receive an email within a few minutes with a download link to your converted file. I have tried out this service on some pretty complex PDF documents with text in multiple columns, multiple images, etc and have been very impressed with it’s conversion accuracy.
Convert a PDF file to Excel format

We will again follow the steps above using Zamzar, but this time choose TXT as the format you want to convert to. Unfortunately, you can’t convert straight to Excel format, so we’ll have to go through the intermediary TXT format. Once you have downloaded the TXT file and saved it on your computer, open Microsoft Excel and go to File - Open and change the Files of Type combo box to All Files.

convert pdf to excel

Now you should see the converted text file in the list of files. Choose it and click Open. You’ll now be brought to the Text Import Wizard. You have to open the file in this manner because if you simply right-click and say Open With Excel, all of the text for each row will appear in the first column and not be separated.

For Step 1, choose Delimited from the two options listed.

convert pdf to word

Click Next and check off the Space checkbox as one of the delimiters. Each value should now be separated by a vertical line, indicating it’s going to be in a separate column.

convert pdf to jpg

Click Next and then click Finish. You can now save the file as an Excel file by going to File - Save As. There are a few drawbacks, however, as this conversion does not always work perfectly! For example, if the original Excel sheet had a column where there was text with spaces included, each word will be separated into it’s own column! Also, you won’t see any formulas or functions that may have been in the original Excel sheet, only the text.

It’s as easy as that! You can use many other image editing programs also such as Photoshop, Corel, etc, etc, but I chose Paint because that is universally available on just about every Windows computer.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-convert-a-pdf-file-to-word-excel-or-jpg-format/
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Testing your internet download speed

Speed tests help you determine your real internet download speed. Some download speed tests want you to pay a fee to access them but there are yet many others for free.

Internet connection
test software is currently very popular. Whether it is software or web based there are many users flocking to sites that can test just how fast your Internet connection is.

You may get different results running the same test twice. Some of these tests measure how fast data can travel to and from your computer. These types of speed tests don't measure theoretical speed yet they count how long it takes to send and receive data from packets.

The varying speeds from the first time a test is run and the second can be due to internet congestion. If your test is not traced thru the same path it was originally then the 2nd test isn't timing the same lap so to speak.

So why should you actually test your Internet connection speed? Well as we all know ISP's offer many different packages of connectivity speed. Of course you still connect through the same connections as any other user. Your ISP actually limits your connection through a QOS(Quality of Service) file.

By using an Internet speed test utility you can monitor what connection speed you are actually getting, but don't forget the statement I previously made about how these values can differ.

There are several speeds tests available in google, just search for internet speed test to see a few of the top ones.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Testing-your-internet-download-speed/198248
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SmartDraw 2009 features advanced PowerPoint integration, mind mapping enhancements

SmartDraw.com has just launched SmartDraw 2009, a new version of its popular diagramming and mapping software that features a wealth of improvements - including the ability to animate or “sequence” your diagrams when exporting them to PowerPoint, and several new mind mapping enhancements.
What is sequencing and how does it work?

Sequencing in SmartDraw 2009 is the ability to reveal parts of your diagram, one mouse click at a time, so as not to overwhelm your audience. For example, sequencing could be used to display each quadrant of a 2×2 matrix and its contents, one at a time, in much the same way as you can control how individual text and image elements are transitioned into a PowerPoint slide.

This new functionality is available via a new PowerPoint tab in the SmartDraw 2009 ribbon toolbar. Many types of diagrams in SmartDraw 2009 are “pre-sequenced” so they will display their contents in the most advantageous way possible when you export them to PowerPoint. You can also manually tweak what appears at each step in your diagram’s sequencing by selecting a “frame” number from a drop-down list and then manually editing your diagram’s content in that step of the animation. The “what’s new” page on the SmartDraw website contains a brief video demonstration that clearly depicts how this works. It looks very simple and intuitive to work with.
Enhanced mind mapping capabilities

For a number of years, SmartDraw has been able to create rudimentary mind maps. With each new version, the developer has added new capabilities to create this type of diagram, and SmartDraw 2009 is no exception. The upgrade page contains a video that shows how these new capabilities work:

Automatic styling: This new capability, which can be toggled on and off, automatically alters the size and shape of topics to correspond to the level they are within a map. For example, let’s say you drag and drop a sub-topic from the fourth to the second level of your mind map. The topic’s shape, color and font style changes to match the style of other second-level topics.

Promote and demote commands: The mind map dialog box in SmartDraw 2009 now includes buttons that enable you to promote and demote topics within your map, one level up or down.

Show and hide detail: Topics which have sub-topics now display an icon. Clicking on it collapses the levels below it. This is pretty rudimentary functionality for most mind mapping programs. I’m surprised it took SmartDraw this long to add it to this program.

Export to outline: Another new button in the mind map dialog box exports your map to a text (.txt) format, with topics indented based on their level within your mind map. SmartDraw says this makes it easy to share your map with others - but actually it only shares the information that you have gathered and organized. I’m still not sure if you can actually export a mind map in other formats. I’ll have to take a closer look at this when I receive a copy of the program from the developer.
Other new features

While sequencing is the most important new feature in SmartDraw 2009, it’s not the only one. Here is a summary of some of the other new and improved capabilities of this robust diagramming program:

* Smarter flowcharts: You can now insert split paths in your flowcharts (where one step in a process splits into 2 or more sub-processes) with a single mouse click.
* Enhancements to project management charts: SmartDraw 2009 enables you to insert dependencies into Gantt charts, group tasks, add milestones and assign resources to tasks.
* Smarter organizational charts: Similar to the functionality in a mind map, you can now click an icon to hide or show branches within your organizational charts.
* 3D charts: SmartDraw’s bar and area charts can now be rendered in 3D, a big plus for presenting data in business presentations.

Conclusion

From what I can see, SmartDraw 2009 looks like a worthy upgrade to this powerful diagramming program. I hope to get a copy to play around with soon, and I’ll let you know what I think. I wasn’t that impressed with SmartDraw 2008, and the way its new diagram wizard tied my hands behind my back. Hopefully this new version has corrected that!


http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/smartdraw2009/

Crash course on Sony Vegas

This is a small tutorial for users who have never used Vegas before and would like to create a video project quickly without putting too much information on their heads…

Installation and Capture

So, install the version of Sony Vegas you need. Movie Studio will deal with DV content, Movie Studio Platinum with HDV/AVCHD content, and Vegas Pro is the professional HD version. Make sure you got at least 768 MBs of RAM for DV and 1+ GB for HDV/HD available.

Open the application. Place your camcorder in “Play” mode (rather than the “recording” mode) and connect it via USB (for AVCHD), or the Firewire (also called iLink and IEEE1394) cable to the appropriate port on your PC. If you don’t have such a port on your PC, then you can’t continue uploading your DV content to the PC. All Macs come with one, but most PCs don’t. If you don’t want to work with a camera but pre-existing videos/pictures on your drive, load them by clicking the “Import Media…” button in the “Project Media” window tab.

To capture content from a camera instead, click “File”, and then “Capture Video”. In the new dialog popping up, select either “DV” or “HDV” depending on what kind of camera you got. Pressing the <<>

Click the menu "File" and then "Project Properties". Using the template list select the one that's representative for your footage. For example, if the camera you captured footage from is NTSC HDV, you select the 1080/60i template.

The Timeline

Now, from the clips available in the “Project Media” tab, select the scene/clip you want and drag and drop it in the timeline above it by aligning the clip with the track called “Video”. Save your project from “File” and “Save As” (in fact, save often). After that, you can click to the clip you placed in the timeline, and you can preview it by clicking the “play” button below the timeline. Vegas is pretty slow playing back video from the timeline in real time, so don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with your PC.

You can also drag-n-drop more clips next to each other, you can drag them left and right to align them the way you want to, and you can even put a small part of a clip on top of another which will automatically create a nice looking transition! Make sure there is no space between clips though (you will get a teal colored line when you place a clip perfectly next to another clip). You can also add external videos and clips (and even pictures too, although make sure pictures have smaller size than 1920×1080), by loading them into your project by clicking the “Import Media…” button in the “Project Media” tab (second from the left) and then dragging them to the timeline too.

Editing

Now, if you want to edit one of your clips in the timeline, select it by clicking once with the mouse, and then press “S”. This will “split” the clip at that point that the mouse pointer was. You can choose to keep both pieces and move them around, or select one and press the “DEL” key on your keyboard to remove it from the timeline. To make some slow or fast motion, just place your mouse cursor at the edge of a clip in the timeline (the cursor becomes a rectangle with a two-way arrows) and by pressing and holding the CNTRL key, drag the clip left or right.

If you don’t want voice to be heard on a particular clip, select that audio by clicking on it once, press “U”, and then press the “DEL” key. This will keep the video and will remove the audio part. Don’t worry, the original clip files on the “Project Media” placeholder are not modified when you do such changes, only the copies in the timeline are. You can also drag ‘n’ drop an mp3 audio file to the track called “Music” and align it where you want horizontally (and split it off too by clicking “S” after selecting it, if you don’t want the full song but just a part of it).

Effects

To add some text press the “Media Generators” tab (next to the “Project Media”), click “Text” from the list, and then select the kind of text effect you like. Drag n drop it to the timeline, also in the “video” track. You can make it last less time by resizing the text clip (simply drag it to the left from its far-right side). You can modify the actual text in it using the pop up window that will come up, or by right clicking to it and selecting “Edit Generated Media”.

To add some special or coloring effects, click the “Video FX” tab, select one from the list, and then drag n drop it to the clip you want in the timeline. To edit later that effect, press the little “+” icon on the right of each clip and its properties will pop up again. Same drag ‘n’ dropping goes for the transition effects too (found in the “Transition” tab), which can only be placed between two clips in the timeline (make sure there is no space between these clips in the timeline). To remove a transition it can only be done by putting the cursor on it and pressing CNTRL and / (in the numeric keypad).

Export

After you have an arrangement you like in the timeline, it’s time to export. Click “File”, and “Render As”. From the “Save As Type” select “MainConcept MPEG-2″ for video and “AC3″ for audio if you are exporting for DVD (again select the type of DV camera you got in the templates available for this filetype), or “Sony AVC/AAC” with the “PSP full screen” template for YouTube export or the iPod/PSP, or use the “Windows Media Video” with an appropriate template for computer viewing or Xbox360 purposes. For WMV, choose “3 Mbps video” template for DV cameras, or the right kind of HDV template for HDV cameras. If you get “jaggies” on the PSP and WMV videos produced, then modify the “project properties” dialog under “File”, to have a “field order” of “None (Progressive Scan)” (more info on de-interlacing here). The mpeg2 export will have jaggies regardless, that’s normal.

Now be patient for the encoding to take place, and be merry with the result! Using Vegas is easy! If you need more help, click on the “Help” menu and select the “Show me how” option. This has interactive tutorials, really easy to follow!

Update: Some Vegas tips and tricks here. Exporting in HD 720p with Vegas here.

http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/09/19/crash-course-on-sony-vegas/

Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9.0a Portable(exclusive)

Complete Video and Audio Production
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download for free:
http://rapidshare.com/files/174169580/www.myegy.com_.Portable_Vegas_Movie_Studio_Platinum_9.0a_build_85.byzizodragon.rar

video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=814mZHZmJnk

Computer Science Education: Where Are the Software Engineers of Tomorrow?

It is our view that Computer Science (CS) education is neglecting basic skills, in particular in the areas of programming and formal methods. We consider that the general adoption of Java as a first programming language is in part responsible for this decline. We examine briefly the set of programming skills that should be part of every software professional’s repertoire.

---

It is all about programming! Over the last few years we have noticed worrisome trends in CS education. The following represents a summary of those trends:

1. Mathematics requirements in CS programs are shrinking.
2. The development of programming skills in several languages is giving way to cookbook approaches using large libraries and special-purpose packages.
3. The resulting set of skills is insufficient for today’s software industry (in particular for safety and security purposes) and, unfortunately, matches well what the outsourcing industry can offer. We are training easily replaceable professionals.

These trends are visible in the latest curriculum recommendations from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Curriculum 2005 does not mention mathematical prerequisites at all, and it mentions only one course in the theory of programming languages [1].

We have seen these developments from both sides: As faculty members at New York University for decades, we have regretted the introduction of Java as a first language of instruction for most computer science majors. We have seen how this choice has weakened the formation of our students, as reflected in their performance in systems and architecture courses. As founders of a company that specializes in Ada programming tools for mission-critical systems, we find it harder to recruit qualified applicants who have the right foundational skills. We want to advocate a more rigorous formation, in which formal methods are introduced early on, and programming languages play a central role in CS education.

Formal Methods and Software Construction

Formal techniques for proving the correctness of programs were an extremely active subject of research 20 years ago. However, the methods (and the hardware) of the time prevented these techniques from becoming widespread, and as a result they are more or less ignored by most CS programs. This is unfortunate because the techniques have evolved to the point that they can be used in large-scale systems and can contribute substantially to the reliability of these systems. A case in point is the use of SPARK in the re-engineering of the ground-based air traffic control system in the United Kingdom (see a description of iFACTS – Interim Future Area Control Tools Support, at ). SPARK is a subset of Ada augmented with assertions that allow the designer to prove important properties of a program: termination, absence of run-time exceptions, finite memory usage, etc. [2]. It is obvious that this kind of design and analysis methodology (dubbed Correctness by Construction) will add substantially to the reliability of a system whose design has involved SPARK from the beginning. However, PRAXIS, the company that developed SPARK and which is designing iFACTS, finds it hard to recruit people with the required mathematical competence (and this is present even in the United Kingdom, where formal methods are more widely taught and used than in the United States).

Another formal approach to which CS students need exposure is model checking and linear temporal logic for the design of concurrent systems. For a modern discussion of the topic, which is central to mission-critical software, see [3].

Another area of computer science which we find neglected is the study of floating-point computations. At New York University, a course in numerical methods and floating-point computing used to be required, but this requirement was dropped many years ago, and now very few students take this course. The topic is vital to all scientific and engineering software and is semantically delicate. One would imagine that it would be a required part of all courses in scientific computing, but these often take MatLab to be the universal programming tool and ignore the topic altogether.

The Pitfalls of Java as a First Programming Language

Because of its popularity in the context of Web applications and the ease with which beginners can produce graphical programs, Java has become the most widely used language in introductory programming courses. We consider this to be a misguided attempt to make programming more fun, perhaps in reaction to the drop in CS enrollments that followed the dot-com bust. What we observed at New York University is that the Java programming courses did not prepare our students for the first course in systems, much less for more advanced ones. Students found it hard to write programs that did not have a graphic interface, had no feeling for the relationship between the source program and what the hardware would actually do, and (most damaging) did not understand the semantics of pointers at all, which made the use of C in systems programming very challenging.

Let us propose the following principle: The irresistible beauty of programming consists in the reduction of complex formal processes to a very small set of primitive operations. Java, instead of exposing this beauty, encourages the programmer to approach problem-solving like a plumber in a hardware store: by rummaging through a multitude of drawers (i.e. packages) we will end up finding some gadget (i.e. class) that does roughly what we want. How it does it is not interesting! The result is a student who knows how to put a simple program together, but does not know how to program. A further pitfall of the early use of Java libraries and frameworks is that it is impossible for the student to develop a sense of the run-time cost of what is written because it is extremely hard to know what any method call will eventually execute. A lucid analysis of the problem is presented in [4].

We are seeing some backlash to this approach. For example, Bjarne Stroustrup reports from Texas A & M University that the industry is showing increasing unhappiness with the results of this approach. Specifically, he notes the following:

I have had a lot of complaints about that [the use of Java as a first programming language] from industry, specifically from AT&T, IBM, Intel, Bloomberg, NI, Microsoft, Lockheed-Martin, and more. [5]

He noted in a private discussion on this topic, reporting the following:

It [Texas A&M] did [teach Java as the first language]. Then I started teaching C++ to the electrical engineers and when the EE students started to out-program the CS students, the CS department switched to C++. [5]

It will be interesting to see how many departments follow this trend. At AdaCore, we are certainly aware of many universities that have adopted Ada as a first language because of similar concerns.

A Real Programmer Can Write in Any Language (C, Java, Lisp, Ada)

Software professionals of a certain age will remember the slogan of old-timers from two generations ago when structured programming became the rage: Real programmers can write Fortran in any language. The slogan is a reminder of how thinking habits of programmers are influenced by the first language they learn and how hard it is to shake these habits if you do all your programming in a single language. Conversely, we want to say that a competent programmer is comfortable with a number of different languages and that the programmer must be able to use the mental tools favored by one of them, even when programming in another. For example, the user of an imperative language such as Ada or C++ must be able to write in a functional style, acquired through practice with Lisp and ML¹, when manipulating recursive structures. This is one indication of the importance of learning in-depth a number of different programming languages. What follows summarizes what we think are the critical contributions that well-established languages make to the mental tool-set of real programmers. For example, a real programmer should be able to program inheritance and dynamic dispatching in C, information hiding in Lisp, tree manipulation libraries in Ada, and garbage collection in anything but Java. The study of a wide variety of languages is, thus, indispensable to the well-rounded programmer.

Why C Matters

C is the low-level language that everyone must know. It can be seen as a portable assembly language, and as such it exposes the underlying machine and forces the student to understand clearly the relationship between software and hardware. Performance analysis is more straightforward, because the cost of every software statement is clear. Finally, compilers (GCC for example) make it easy to examine the generated assembly code, which is an excellent tool for understanding machine language and architecture.

Why C++ Matters

C++ brings to C the fundamental concepts of modern software engineering: encapsulation with classes and namespaces, information hiding through protected and private data and operations, programming by extension through virtual methods and derived classes, etc. C++ also pushes storage management as far as it can go without full-blown garbage collection, with constructors and destructors.

Why Lisp Matters

Every programmer must be comfortable with functional programming and with the important notion of referential transparency. Even though most programmers find imperative programming more intuitive, they must recognize that in many contexts that a functional, stateless style is clear, natural, easy to understand, and efficient to boot.

An additional benefit of the practice of Lisp is that the program is written in what amounts to abstract syntax, namely the internal representation that most compilers use between parsing and code generation. Knowing Lisp is thus an excellent preparation for any software work that involves language processing.

Finally, Lisp (at least in its lean Scheme incarnation) is amenable to a very compact self-definition. Seeing a complete Lisp interpreter written in Lisp is an intellectual revelation that all computer scientists should experience.

Why Java Matters

Despite our comments on Java as a first or only language, we think that Java has an important role to play in CS instruction. We will mention only two aspects of the language that must be part of the real programmer’s skill set:

1. An understanding of concurrent programming (for which threads provide a basic low-level model).
2. Reflection, namely the understanding that a program can be instrumented to examine its own state and to determine its own behavior in a dynamically changing environment.

Why Ada Matters

Ada is the language of software engineering par excellence. Even when it is not the language of instruction in programming courses, it is the language chosen to teach courses in software engineering. This is because the notions of strong typing, encapsulation, information hiding, concurrency, generic programming, inheritance, and so on, are embodied in specific features of the language. From our experience and that of our customers, we can say that a real programmer writes Ada in any language. For example, an Ada programmer accustomed to Ada’s package model, which strongly separates specification from implementation, will tend to write C in a style where well-commented header files act in somewhat the same way as package specs in Ada. The programmer will include bounds checking and consistency checks when passing mutable structures between subprograms to mimic the strong-typing checks that Ada mandates [6]. She will organize concurrent programs into tasks and protected objects, with well-defined synchronization and communication mechanisms.

The concurrency features of Ada are particularly important in our age of multi-core architectures. We find it surprising that these architectures should be presented as a novel challenge to software design when Ada had well-designed mechanisms for writing safe, concurrent software 30 years ago.

Programming Languages Are Not the Whole Story

A well-rounded CS curriculum will include an advanced course in programming languages that covers a wide variety of languages, chosen to broaden the understanding of the programming process, rather than to build a résumé in perceived hot languages. We are somewhat dismayed to see the popularity of scripting languages in introductory programming courses. Such languages (Javascript, PHP, Atlas) are indeed popular tools of today for Web applications. Such languages have all the pedagogical defaults that we ascribe to Java and provide no opportunity to learn algorithms and performance analysis. Their absence of strong typing leads to a trial-and-error programming style and prevents students from acquiring the discipline of separating design of interfaces from specifications.

However, teaching the right languages alone is not enough. Students need to be exposed to the tools to construct large-scale reliable programs, as we discussed at the start of this article. Topics of relevance are studying formal specification methods and formal proof methodologies, as well as gaining an understanding of how high-reliability code is certified in the real world. When you step into a plane, you are putting your life in the hands of software which had better be totally reliable. As a computer scientist, you should have some knowledge of how this level of reliability is achieved. In this day and age, the fear of terrorist cyber attacks have given a new urgency to the building of software that is not only bug free, but is also immune from malicious attack. Such high-security software relies even more extensively on formal methodologies, and our students need to be prepared for this new world.

References

1. Joint Taskforce for Computing Curricula. “Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report.” ACM/AIS/ IEEE, 2005 .
2. Barnes, John. High Integrity Ada: The Spark Approach. Addison-Wesley, 2003.
3. Ben-Ari, M. Principles of Concurrent and Distributed Programming. 2nd ed. Addison-Wesley, 2006.
4. Mitchell, Nick, Gary Sevitsky, and Harini Srinivasan. “The Diary of a Datum: An Approach to Analyzing Runtime Complexity in Framework-Based Applications.” Workshop on Library-Centric Software Design, Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications, San Diego, CA, 2005.
5. Stroustrup, Bjarne. Private communication. Aug. 2007.
6. Holzmann Gerard J. “The Power of Ten – Rules for Developing Safety Critical Code.” IEEE Computer June 2006: 93-95.

Note

Several programming language and system names have evolved from acronyms whose formal spellings are no longer considered applicable to the current names for which they are readily known. ML, Lisp, GCC, PHP, and SPARK fall under this

Dr. Robert B.K. Dewar, AdaCore Inc. Dr. Edmond Schonberg, AdaCore Inc.




http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/CrossTalk/2008/01/0801DewarSchonberg.html

Rapidshare's future in doubt following legal defeat

The popular file-sharing service may be forced to shut down if it can not control the uploading of pirated music to its service after a German court ruling.

The German equivalent of the RIAA, GEMA, won a legal battle in district court in Düsseldorf last week which found that Rapidshare should be held responsible for the uploading of infringing material to its site.

Rapidshare has maintained that it could not be held responsible for the actions of its users, a now common defense among peer-to-peer services embroiled in such legal battles.

However, like other cases, courts worldwide have tended to side with the rights holders. Under the terms of the ruling, Rapidshare will be forced to prevent the material from even appearing on the service, rather than being allowed to take it down after the fact.

GEMA praised the ruling in a press release --that incidentally came out even before the actual results were
handed down-- calling it a "milestone decision."

"It sends out a clear signal that any services, which derive financial benefit from unlawful uses of our works, will have to take extensive measures to protect the rights owners and cannot simply evade liability by referring to the action of individual users," CEO Harald Heker said in a statement.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Rapidshares_future_in_doubt_following_legal_defeat/1201628567

Using PowerPoint in Dual Monitor Projector

Need to display your presentations on multiple screens in two different views? Check out this guest article by Paul Iordanides on doing this native in PowerPoint or with iosysoft's PowerPoint Controllers.

You've been there before. You're giving a presentation to an important group of clients, and while addressing a particular slide, you suddenly forget what you were going to say. You look at your laptop and you see the same display that the projector is showing. You wrote these great notes in PowerPoint, but in "Slide Show" mode you can't see them. This presentation is important to your company and your career. What can you do? You can run PowerPoint in "Dual Monitor" mode. Let me show you how.

New in PowerPoint(TM) 2000 and included in PowerPoint(TM) XP is support for the dual-monitor capabilities that are built into Windows(TM) 98, Windows(TM) Me, Windows(TM) 2000 and Windows(TM) XP (also called "multimonitor support"). If you have a computer with two monitors (or a monitor and a projector), you can run a slide show and edit your presentation at the same time. You can see your whole presentation, including speaker notes, while your audience sees only the slides - and you can make changes to your presentation on the fly, without ever exiting the slide show. PowerPoint(TM) 97 users can also have dual monitor capabilities with iosysoft's PPC-97, ( Link Needs To Be fixed ).

Hardware: What you need

You'll need either a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) or AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) video card for each monitor in order to be able to use the dual-monitor features of Windows. Another option is multi-port video boards that give you the ability to use dual monitor mode, but use only one PCI or AGP slot. A good source for multi-port boards is Appian Graphics, ( http://www.appian.com). I have used several of their boards with good success. If you are using a laptop, it must have a video chipset that handles dual monitors. Be aware that a "monitor out port" does not indicate that your laptop is configured with the dual monitor feature. Check with your laptop vendor to see if your particular laptop has this capability. If not, you can use a PCMCIA video board. Appian's Traveler works nicely.

Run a Slideshow and Edit a Presentation at the Same Time

By using the dual-monitor feature, you can set up one monitor to display the main PowerPoint window and the second monitor (or projector) to display a full-screen slide show. Once you've configured this, you can run the slide show on one monitor, and view or edit the presentation on the other. Each screen behaves as it normally would. You move from one monitor to the other by moving the mouse.

The dual-monitor feature lets you do the following:

View your outline, slides, and speaker notes in normal view while the audience sees only slides Normal view is the default view for editing presentations in PowerPoint 2000/Xp. This view let you see your slides, outline, and notes at the same time. When you display your presentation in normal view on one monitor, you can see the slide that your audience sees, as well as your notes to remind you what you what it is you wanted to say.

View upcoming slides and speaker notes without advancing the slide show In normal view, you can move around in the presentation to see upcoming slides and speaker notes without advancing the slide show on the second monitor. When you do advance the slide show, the presentation in normal view on the first monitor matches up to the slide shown on the second monitor.

Step-by-Step Procedures

You must be running the Microsoft Windows(TM) 98, Windows(TM) Me, Microsoft Windows(TM) 2000, or Windows(TM) Xp operating system and have either a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) or AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) video card for each monitor in order to use these procedures.

Configure the system to recognize two monitors

If you are using Windows 98 or Windows Me do this:

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Display icon.

3. On the Settings tab, click the image of the second monitor, and then select the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor check box.

f you are using Windows 2000 or Windows Xp do this:

On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

1. Double-click the Display icon.

2. On the Settings tab, click the image of the monitor you want to use as the primary monitor.

3. Select the Use this device as the primary monitor check box.
   This automatically selects the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor check box for this monitor.

4. Click the image of the second monitor and then select the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor check box.

Set up PowerPoint to run on two monitors

1. On the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show.

2. In the Show on list, click the monitor you want the slide show to appear on.
   The slide show will run in full screen on the monitor you choose in step 2. The presentation will appear in normal view on the other monitor.

Using iosysoft's PowerPoint Controllers

Iosysoft produces multi-monitor PowerPoint Controllers. Listed below are the individual products.

• PPCwin

  PPCwin is used with Powerpoint 2000/Xp to control PowerPoint in dual monitor mode. You can load the slideshow directly and go backward and forward and jump around in the slideshow, without having to click in the show display. PPCwin tells you what slide you are on and how many slides are in the slideshow. You can read your notes, make notes with meeting minder, or edit your slides. If you use Powerpoint XP, your audience never sees that "Starting Slide Show" screen. Works with Win98, Win Me, Win2000 and Win Xp.

  

• PPC-97

  Same as PPCwin, but for PowerPoint 97 that has no options for dual monitors.

• PPCKiosk

  Same as PPCwin but has a built in timer. You set the timer and run the slide show in a continuous loop. While the slide show is running, you can run other software (even the Command Prompt) while not disturbing the show. Used in a single monitor kiosk with PowerPoint.

• MultiShow

  MultiShow allows the showing of three PowerPoint shows at the same time. A four port video board is required (or two, two port boards). Take a look at http://www.appian.com. The show is script driven. A script generator is also included. You are also able to control the shows with input to the serial port from another computer or other controllers.

• MultiShow Kiosk

  Same as MultiShow, but with three individual timers.

• MultiShow Plus

  Same as MultiShow, but allows up to eight shows at once. Requires multiple multi port boards.

• MultiShow Plus Kiosk

  Same as MultiShow Plus, but with eight individual timers. Requires multiple multi port boards.

http://www.onppt.com/ppt/article1026.html

What is Win32 Heur and How to Remove Win32 Heur Virus From Your Computer

Computer infected with a virus? People often ask me what is Win32 Heur? Win32 Heur or Win32/Heur is actually a deadly trojan virus that releases a firestorm of malicious activity throughout your computer. If you have come under the attack of this virus then you need to remove Win32 Heur as soon as possible.

A trojan virus is a malicious file or program that gets onto your system by pretending to be benign or desirable. These can be acquired several ways. Among them are:

• Through online P2P networks. Be very careful when downloading files from programs like Bearshare and Limewire. Try to avoid any exe files and video codec installers. These are the most frequent methods of infection.

• Installing any free or low cost programs and applications. Very often these programs are free for a reason. They come bundled with spyware, adware, and viruses. Always perform a quick scan of your computer after installing new software off the net.

• Visiting a website that had planted viruses or browser hijackers that force infected your computer. You are probably well aware of this problem as a bunch of pop ups appear and your browser is redirected. Without excellent real time virus and spyware protection, malware like the Win32 Heur virus can sneak onto your system.

Once your computer is infected, viruses can do a couple of dangerous things that can cause a lot of damage. First they use spyware and keyloggers to record private information like passwords, credit card, and bank account numbers. This is why identity fraud is the fastest growing crime on the internet. Don't allow yourself to become the next victim.

The other dangerous side effect is the corruption of your registry and possible collapse of your computer. The virus can inhabit your registry and alters vital system files. This can cause computer crashing, the windows blue screen, and other malfunctions. It could cost hundreds or even thousands to get it repaired or buy a new system.

In order to remove the virus you need a Win32 Heur removal program. Fortunately I have found one that can not only remove Win32 but also provide real time protection to protect you against future threats.

Scan your computer for free below!

Spyware and viruses killing your computer? Don't get mad get even! Kill those baddies and scan your computer for free with the best spyware remover on the market today!

Jim Marshall is an expert computer technician with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Since his own computer was destroyed by malicious software, he has been studying anti-spyware, adware, and malware systems for years. His website details the comprehensive results of this research, ranking the best anti spyware programs available.

http://www.spyware-fix.net/index.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Marshall

How to partition and format a hard disk by using Windows XP Setup program

This article describes how to partition (prepare) and format a hard disk before you install Windows XP using the Windows XP Setup program. This article also contains things to consider before you partition or format your hard disk, and links to resources that can help you troubleshoot if problems occur. This article is intended for an advanced user.

You can use other methods to partition and format the hard disk before you install Windows XP, such as the Fdisk and Format tools. For additional information about how to use Fdisk and Format to partition and format your hard disk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
255867 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/ ) How to use the Fdisk tool and the Format tool to partition or to repartition a hard disk
If your computer is already running Windows XP, and you want to create partitions other than the System or the Startup partitions, you can use the Windows XP Disk Management tools. For additional information about how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition and format your hard disk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309000 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000/ ) How to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP
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MORE INFORMATION
Before you partition and format the hard disk Before you partition and format yo...
Before you partition and format the hard disk
Before you partition and format your hard disk, make sure that you do the following:
Prepare the hard disk according to the manufacturer's instructions
If you are using a SATA hard disk, skip this step and go to the "Determine the type of file system that you want to use" section. If you are using an IDE hard disk, set the jumpers and the cabling according to the role of the hard disk (for example, master or subordinate) and make any required BIOS (or CMOS) changes. To set the jumpers and cabling, and make any required BIOS or CMOS changes, see the documentation that was included with your hard disk and motherboard, or contact the manufacturers.
Determine the type of file system that you want to use
You can use either the NTFS or FAT file systems. NTFS is the preferred file system to format the hard disk unless you want to run an earlier version of Windows that cannot read NTFS partitions. For additional information about the differences between the FAT and NTFS file systems, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
100108 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/100108/ ) Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS file systems
310525 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525/ ) Description of the FAT32 file system in Windows XP
If the hard disk already contains data, back it up
Make sure that you back up all your important data before you continue. When you partition and format a hard disk, all the data on that partition is permanently deleted. You can view current partition information without deleting your data. For additional information about how to use the backup utility or the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
320820 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820/ ) How to use the Backup utility to back up files and folders in Windows XP Home Edition
309340 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309340/ ) How to use Backup to restore files and folders on your computer in Windows XP
293118 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293118/ ) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
306186 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306186/ ) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard from CD-ROM
306187 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306187/ ) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard Disk in Windows XP
If the hard disk has a drive overlay or a disk management program, make sure that it is compatible
If your computer uses drive overlay software for large hard disk support, do not use the Windows XP Setup program to partition or to format the drive until you have verified that Windows XP is compatible with the software. If you have drive overlay software installed, contact the software manufacturer to find out whether it is compatible with Windows XP. If you are not sure whether you have drive overlay software installed, contact the manufacturer of your hard disk drive or motherboard.
If you have software that you want to reinstall, verify that you have the disks
Make sure that you have the original CDs or floppy disks so that you can reinstall the software programs after you partition and format your drive. If you purchased an upgrade for a program, make sure that you have the full version of the original program. Many upgrades for programs require a compliance check before you can install the upgraded product. If you cannot find the original CDs or floppy disks, contact the software manufacturer before you continue.
If you have updated device drivers for peripheral devices, back them up
If you have installed an updated device driver for your peripheral devices (for example, modems and printers), make sure that you back up the new driver for the device to a location other than the drive that you want to format and partition so that you can reinstall it after you install your operating system.
Configure your computer to start from the CD or DVD drive
To start your computer from the Windows XP CD, your computer must be configured to start from the CD or DVD drive. In some cases, you may have to modify your computer's BIOS settings to set this configuration. For information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD or DVD drive, see the documentation that is included with your computer, or contact the computer manufacturer.

If you have a computer that cannot start from the CD or DVD drive and you need to start your computer from the startup disk, make sure that you have the floppy setup disks so that you can run the Setup program from the floppy disk drive.

Note You can obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks from Microsoft, but only by download. We provide the Setup boot disks so that you can run the Setup program on computers that cannot use a bootable CD-ROM. If you can start your computer from a CD-ROM or from a network-based installation, we strongly recommend that you use those installation methods instead. Future products will no longer support installation by using the Setup boot disks.
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How to partition and format the hard disk using the Windows XP Setup program
You can use the Windows XP Setup program to partition and format the hard disk. To do this, use the following steps:
Step 1: Partition the hard disk

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD or DVD drive, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer to start the Windows XP Setup program.

Note If you are using the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each additional disk when you are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert each disk.
2. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD or DVD drive.
3. If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver. For more information about how to use F6 to supply a third-party OEM device driver while the Windows Setup program is running, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
314859 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314859/ ) Limited OEM driver support is available with F6 during Windows XP Setup
4. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.

Note If you are using the Setup disks (six bootable disks), the setup prompts you to insert the Windows XP CD.
5. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
6. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
7. All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select an existing partition, or create a new partition by selecting the non-partitioned space where you want to create a new partition. You can also press C to create a new partition using non-partitioned space.

Note If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition. You can press D to delete an existing partition, and then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each existing partition that you want to include in the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining non-partitioned space, and then press C to create the new partition.
8. To create the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER. To specify the partition size, type the size in megabytes (MB) for the new partition, and then press ENTER.
9. If you want to create additional partitions, repeat steps g. and h.
10. To format the partition and install Windows XP, go to step 2.

If you do not want to install Windows XP, press F3 two times to exit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining steps in this article.

To format the partition without installing Windows XP, use a different utility.

Step 2: Format the hard disk and install Windows XP

1. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.
2. Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from the following options:
* Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
* Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
* Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
* Format the partition by using the FAT file system
* Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
Notes
* If the selected partition is a new partition, the option to leave the current file system intact is not available.
* If the selected partition is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB), the FAT file system option is not available.
* If the selected partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm).
* If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.
* If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on a different partition, you are prompted to select a file system for both the System and Startup partitions.
3. Press ENTER.
4. After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to install Windows XP. After the Windows Setup program is finished and you have restarted the computer, you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to create or format more partitions. For additional information about how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition and format your hard disk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309000 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000/ ) How to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP

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Additional notes
Before you can install an operating system such as Windows XP, you must first create a primary partition on the first physical hard disk (Disk 0) on your computer. Then, you can format a file system on that partition to create what is called the System partition.

Or, you can create a separate partition for the operating system on any physical hard disk. This is known as the Startup partition. The System partition on Disk 0 can also be used as a Startup partition.
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http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348

Steps for Effective Banner Design

Banner are great way of marketing anything. But most people ignore some important factors that can be helpful in making banners with long lasting impact on visitors. Few simple steps to consider while banner design are as follows:

Standard Size: Never ignore the size of you banner, creating an ad that is larger than standard is not the way to get attention. Keep you banner design standard with a bold heading, nice good. Such a banner would attract more attention than any web banner design

Flash Animation: Banners with flash animation are more attractive than normal graphic banners. People prefer top click flash banner design more as compared to normal graphic design.

Color: Keep colors that are attractive, eye catching but also make sure that colors are easy to look at. Also keep the colors of your banner design same as of your website. Banners should have same look and feel as of your website.

Call to Action: It’s highly suggested to use call to action like call now, click here, buy now, download etc. Call to action word increases the conversion rates dramatically and using them into won’t hurt you anyway.

Get Others Opinion: You may also show your sample designs to your friends etc and get there opinion before finalization of your banner.

Use Latest Tools: With lots of tools like Bannerdesignerpro you can design attractive flash animated banners with ease and consuming little time. Bannerdesignerpro is animated banner maker software that comes with lots of free banner design templates with latest trends in banner design.

http://www.articlebasement.com/articles/61974/1/Steps-for-Effective-Banner-Design/Page1.html

Automated Source Code Analysis

Introduction:

Automated source code analysis is technology aimed at locating and describing areas of weakness in source code. Those weaknesses might be security vulnerabilities, logic errors, implementation defects, concurrency violations, rare boundary conditions, or many other types of problem-causing code.

The name of the associated research field is static code analysis. This is differentiated from more traditional dynamic analysis techniques such as unit or penetration test by the fact that the work is performed at build time using only the source code of the program or module in question. The results reported are therefore generated from a complete view of every possible execution path, rather than some aspect of a necessarily limited observed run time behavior.

Perhaps the most obvious question confronting any new developer-facing technology is: why?

• Why should developers use a new tool when they already have so many to choose from?
• What makes this technology compelling enough to make me want to add it to my already bloated
build chain?
• And what does it do, anyway?

This paper will answer these questions, and more. But for the moment just consider the fact that at time of writing, 80% of the Fortune 500 have already deployed, or are currently engaged in deploying, some kind of automated source code analysis. The reasons for doing so can be stated in as many ways as there are people answering the question, but the basic principle can be found in all of these deployments:

• Tell me what’s wrong with my code before I ship it – don’t let me be the guy responsible for shipping a killer vulnerability or bug into the wild.

There are other compelling reasons, such as:

• Make my existing processes for code review more effective through automation
• Enhance my existing QA resource with 100% coverage of all boundary conditions
• Help me protect my brand as we go to market with new products

But the bottom line remains the capability of this technology to afford developers the ability to scrub their code of obvious and not-so-obvious weaknesses as they work, before they submit their code for check-in and more formal down-stream validation procedures.
Introduction to the technology:

The process of automated source code analysis involves building a rich representation or model of the provided code (akin to a compilation phase), and then simulating all possible execution paths through that model, mapping out the flow of logic on those paths coupled with how and where data objects are created, used and destroyed.

Once the projection of code paths and the mapping of data objects are available, we can look for anomalous conditions that either will or might potentially cause exploitable vulnerabilities, execution failure, or data corruption at run time.

There are two major families of checking capability typical to this type of analysis: abstract syntax tree (AST) validation and code path analysis. The former case is most frequently applied to validation of the basic syntax and structure of code, whereas the latter is used for more complete types of analysis that depend on understanding the state of a program’s data objects at any particular point on a code execution path.

http://www.articlefeeder.com/Computers/Automated_Source_Code_Analysis.html