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XP and MSN Enhancements™ Windows XP and MSN Spaces Tweaks and Enhancements December 14 Pretend you're watching movies while playing your Xbox 360What do action flicks like 300, Enter the Dragon, Ocean's 13 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have in common? They all can be downloaded – in high-definition – via the Xbox Live service to watch on your television. Beginning Dec.11, Canadian Xbox 360 owners will be able to rent these full-length films and others for as little as 310 Microsoft Points for standard-definition flicks. High-definition movies start at 460 Microsoft Points. A card with 1,400 Microsoft Points is $19.99 (or 2,800 points for $39.99), available at retail outlets. With this launch, announced at the E3 Expo in July, Xbox Live Marketplace will become the first video-on-demand service to be available in six countries including Canada, U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Ireland. Movie titles, listed at Xbox.ca, range from kids' flicks (Wiggles: Getting Strong!) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Xbox 360 console starts at $299 (five games included). The Xbox Live service costs $60 a year. May 22 Cracking any Secured Office DocumentIn my research to crack a Word document (set by a past employee), the easiest way around any Microsoft document Password, is to simply open it up in OpenOffice. Many cracking programs exist, but they work slowly and buggy . . .
May 02 svchost.exe -- application error
Looking into the event log yielded the following:
The problem wasn't so much this error message, but the fact then when the dialog with the error was closed, the machine became unusable (no new executables would start). If I left the dialog open, I could use my machine "normally", but it would hang on shutdown. Something with Windows Update broke something with the Windows Installer. Reinstalling Windows Installer 3.1 didn't solve the problem, but the follow spelunked from Google saved my bacon:
UPDATE: This post has received a ton of comments. One, in particular, suggests an easier fix for this problem:
I have also had a number of people comment that the problem reappears after some time. The recommended fix, if the problem reappears, is to turn off automatic updates, and just manually go to Windows Update periodically and update your machine. Credit for this http://swigartconsulting.blogs.com/tech_blender/2006/07/index.html
February 21 Microsoft PatentA legal row between Microsoft and phone firm AT&T over patent infringements has moved into the US Supreme Court. Microsoft has appealed against a lower court decision that the firm is liable for infringements overseas. The group has already acknowledged it violated AT&T's patents on converting speech into computer code and reached a deal on domestic royalties. The case is a key one because if AT&T wins it could subject other goods sold overseas to Us patent law. In the hearing US Supreme Court justices expressed doubts over whether Microsoft should be liable for violating patents on copies of Windows sold abroad. Justice Stephen Breyer said he would be "quite frightened of deciding for you and discovering that all over the world there are vast numbers of inventions that really can be thought of in the same way that you're thinking of this one". 'Component' question Microsoft argues that it should not be held liable for infringement when software is copied by computer makers overseas. One of the main points of contention is whether software can be viewed as a component - as AT&T says it should be. Under current patent laws companies cannot ship components of a patented invention overseas for assembly. However, Microsoft says its Windows software code - which is supplied to computer manufacturers on master disks - is more like a blueprint or instructions. The case has implications beyond the technology sector and, depending on the outcome, could encourage US manufacturers to establish more research and development facilities abroad. Two lower federal courts have previously ruled in favour of AT&T. The Supreme Court is expected to decide the case by July.
January 25 Vistas delay hit Microsoft $$The much-delayed launch of the Windows Vista operating system has hit second quarter profits at Microsoft, which has reported a 28% drop in earnings. The world's largest software maker said net profit in its second financial quarter, to 31 December, was $2.63bn - from $3.65bn a year before. However second-quarter sales rose 6% to $12.54bn from $11.8bn. It has deferred more than $1bn in sales from new upgrades of its Windows and Office software. Flagship product Microsoft shares had earlier fallen 64 cents, or 2.1%, to close on Thursday at $30.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York. Windows Vista and Office 2007, the latest editions of Microsoft's flagship products, do not hit the consumer market until Tuesday. But they have been available to business since 30 November, two-thirds of the way through the firm's second quarter. Windows runs on nine in 10 of the world's PCs - however Vista's release is two years late and its consumer launch missed the lucrative Christmas sales market. Top SearchesJanuary 24 Vista copy protectionMicrosoft has defended the digital rights management systems integrated into its new Vista operating system. It follows reports that Vista would "downgrade" the quality of all video and audio, if they were not output via approved connections on the PC. Microsoft said only the quality of "premium content" would be lowered, and only if requested by copyright holders. The measures are in place, says the firm, to protect content such as high definition movies from being copied. Vista's copy protection systems have come under fire from many quarters, including recently from Peter Gutmann, a computer science lecturer at the University of Auckland. In a report looking at the impact Vista would have on video and audio playback, he described Vista's Content Protection specification as "the longest suicide note in history". He said Vista was "broken by design" and intentionally crippled the way it displayed video. "The sheer obnoxiousness of Vista's content protection may end up being the biggest incentive to piracy yet created," he wrote. Enforced In a response to the paper, Dave Marsh, lead program manager for video at Microsoft, said many of the copy protection systems enforced by Vista were common on all playback devices. He said Vista did have the capability of downgrading video and audio quality, like other devices, but that it would only be activated "when required by the policy associated with the content being played". The copyright holders of content on HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, for example, can insist that the video be played back in high definition only if it is output via a connection that supports the HDCP protection system on a PC and a TV or monitor. That could prove a problem for many PC users whose graphics cards have a DVI or component video connection which do not support HDCP. Microsoft said that if picture quality was degraded it would still be better than current DVD quality. Mr Marsh also denied reports that the degradation would impact all video output, insisting it would only apply to premium content video. 'Very unhappy' Mr Gutmann told the News: "It's reassuring that they are saying that only the ability to playback high definition video can be revoked. "But if consumers have gone out and paid thousands of dollars on high quality, high resolution, high definition displays and find the content is downscaled or there is no picture at all, they are going to be very unhappy. "Some of the feedback I have been getting indicates that HD-DVD discs are not playing on some PCs." Mr Gutmann also highlighted the extra demands put on a computer's CPU to handle Vista's Content Protection systems. Microsoft admitted that the CPU will be taxed further but Mr Marsh said "Vista's Content Protection features were developed to carefully balance the need to provide robust protection... while still enabling great new experiences..." Mr Gutmann said it was insincere of Microsoft to lay the responsibility for the increased copy protection systems at the feet of content providers. He said: "Saying 'we were only following orders' has historically proven not to be a very good excuse. "If you have got the protection measures there, the impulse is to use the most stringent ones at your disposal. "In general, some sort of DRM is necessary, but we need to strike a balance. It's very consumer-hostile technology that is being deployed." Centrino users recieve compatibilty program for wireless NIntel Corporation today introduced the Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N network connection, an upgrade to the wireless component found inside Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology and other Intel-based laptops that helps consumers better connect to wireless networks. January 12 Cisco To Sue over iPhoneCisco Systems is suing Apple for trademark infringement in a US federal court, for using the iPhone name. Following the launch Cisco said it hoped to resolve the matter by Tuesday evening after negotiations. Apple responded by saying the lawsuit was "silly" and that Cisco's trademark registration was "tenuous at best". "We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly," Apple spokesman Alan Hely said. "There are already several companies using the name iPhone for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) products." "We are the first company to ever use the iPhone name for a cell phone, and if Cisco wants to challenge us on it we are very confident we will prevail." Cisco, which has owned the trademark since 2000, said it thought Apple would agree to a final document and public statement regarding the trademark. "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, Cisco senior vice-president and general counsel, in a statement. The firm has owned the name since it bought Infogear Technology in 2000, which registered the name. Infogear had previously used the name for several years, said Cisco. Cisco, which supplies networks, said it would seek to stop Apple from "infringing upon and deliberately copying and using" the trademark. Jon Noh, a spokesperson for Cisco told the BBC: "This issue is not about money, and it's not about the phone itself; it is about Cisco's obligation to protect its trademark in the face of Apple using it without our permission." Cisco's Linksys arm has employed the trademark since early 2006, and in December it launched its own phone, capable of connecting to the internet, called the iPhone. News of Apple's launch of its touch screen has been long awaited and Steve Jobs, the firm's head, said the phone would revolutionise the market. Shares in Apple were 1.3% lower in after-hours trade, having risen 8% after the phone was launched a day earlier. December 22 Extended Warranty for XBOX 360
Microsoft Corp. is extending its warranty on the Xbox 360 video game console to one year from the previous limit of 90 days. And the change announced Friday applies to both future and present owners. The one-year warranty matches what Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co., already offer on their latest video game consoles, the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. Microsoft said it extended the deal to make its U.S. and Canadian warranty consistent with what it offered in many other countries. Customers who already have paid repair bills on Xbox consoles that they've owned for less than one year will automatically get refunds, Microsoft said in a statement. This autumn, Microsoft acknowledged that a glitch in the Xbox's online update system damaged a small number of customers' consoles before the problem was quickly fixed. At least one customer has sued over the incident. Microsoft said the new warranty was not a response to that case or any other repair claims. December 20 The iPhone.....but not from AppleAfter months of speculation that Apple Computer was about to add a cellular phone to its long line of "i"-products, the giant computer maker has been beaten to the punch by Cisco Systems Inc. Linksys, a division of Cisco, released the iphone 1/18/06. The new device is a telephone that works over the wireless network within a person's home to make cheap phone calls over the Internet. Marketing analysts say that the new product could pose problems for Apple -- which, until now, has had a monopoly on the "i"-brand with popular items such as its iPod line of MP3 players. "This is going to make it trickier for Apple to establish their own iPhone -- it's going to have to look, feel and sound very different in order to be distinguished from the Cisco one," said David Dunne, a marketing expert at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. "In business, there is a certain amount of first-mover advantage. People remember the first thing they see." With the announcement, Cisco revealed that it has been holding onto the registered name of "iPhone" since it took over a company called Infogear in 2000. Infogear had released a previous version of the iPhone in 1997, but sales of the phone were not impressive. Mr. Dunne said Cisco's new product is likely a calculated attempt to benefit from the popularity of the "i"-brand established by Apple. "It looks as if they're basically trying to sow a little bit of confusion and defend their own franchise," Mr. Dunne said of Cisco, adding the company is also looking to benefit from Apple's copyright miscue. "In hindsight, not locking in the trademark on iPhone seems like quite the misstep on Apple's part." Gadget lovers have been eagerly anticipating a phone offering from Apple for months. Aside from iPod, the company already has its iBook laptop computers, its iTunes music store, an iMac line of computers and numerous "i" accessories such as the iSkin cover for iPods. Mr. Dunne said Apple has been trying to plug its "i"-products as a free-standing brand, but they may have to change tactics. "They may have to reintroduce the Apple brand name," he said, noting the company could opt to trademark their own future phone as an "Apple iPhone" in order to differentiate it from the Cisco product. While Apple has not confirmed that it is working on a mobile phone, company chief executive Steve Jobs is expected to make an announcement about the company's move into cellular telephones at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco on Jan. 9.
December 15 Nintendo To Replace Wii WandTOKYO — Nintendo said Friday it will replace 3.2 million straps for its popular Wii computer game controllers after receiving a rash of reports that the device flew out of the hands of players. The voluntary exchange program is a bittersweet development for Nintendo — a costly hitch in its three-way battle with Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, but also confirmation of its enthusiastic reception worldwide. The Wii's signature wand-like remote controller is used to mimic the motions of a tennis racket, golf club or sword, depending on the game. But soon after the Wii went on sale last month, people started reporting cases of the controller's strap breaking as they waved it about vigorously. Nintendo will allow customers to exchange the old straps, which have a 0.024 inch diameter, for a beefed up strap that has a diameter of 0.04 inch, company spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said. The worldwide exchange is expected to cost the company several million dollars. "People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing Wii sports, and in some cases the control would come loose from their hands," Minagawa said. "The new strap will be almost twice as thick.'' The control wand is one of the unique features of the Wii, which Nintendo introduced as its counterchallenge in a fierce competition with Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360. Nintendo is hoping the easy-to-control wand will appeal to a wider crowd of players — not just young men. Customers can exchange the straps through their local Nintendo service centers, Minagawa said. Wii's debuts were soon followed by reports of smashed glass and damaged television sets, while another fan apparently sprained and cut a finger on her right hand while trying to rally for a comeback victory in Wii baseball. But the offbeat stories of Wii controllers going ballistic haven't hurt sales. The market research company NPD Group estimated that U.S. consumers bought 476,000 Wiis in the two weeks following its Nov. 17 launch. That beat Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 console, which sold just under 200,000 units amid widespread shortages. Nintendo has delivered more machines so far to consumers than Sony has, partly because of Sony's production problems. Nintendo has shipped about 400,000 Wii machines in Japan and more than 600,000 in North America. Sony readied just 100,000 PS3 machines for the Japanese launch and 400,000 consoles for its U.S. debut. Sony has promised 2 million PS3s worldwide by year's end, while Nintendo is targeting 4 million Wii units in the same period. Selling machines in high volumes is crucial in the gaming business because hot-selling formats attract software companies to make more games, which in turn boost console sales. Separately Friday, Nintendo also said it would replace 200,000 AC adapters for its DS and DS Lite consoles in Japan. Nintendo said the move would not affect adapters overseas, and officials expected only a small impact on earnings. December 13 $100 LaptopJOHN MARKOFF CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—When computer industry executives heard about a plan to build a $100 laptop for the developing world's children, they generally ridiculed the idea. How could you build such a computer, they asked, when screens alone cost about $100? Mary Lou Jepsen, the chief technologist for the project, likes to refer to the insight that transformed the machine from utopian dream to working prototype as "a really wacky idea.'' Jepsen, a former Intel chip designer, found a way to modify conventional laptop displays, cutting the screen's manufacturing cost to $40 while reducing its power consumption by more than 80 per cent. As a bonus, the display is clearly visible in sunlight. That advance and others have allowed the nonprofit project, One Laptop Per Child, to win over many skeptics over the last two and a half years. Five countries — Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria and Thailand — have made tentative commitments to put the computers into the hands of millions of students, with production in Taiwan expected to begin by mid-2007. The laptop does not come with a Microsoft Windows operating system or even a hard drive, and the screen is small. The cost is now closer to $150 than $100. But the price tag, even compared with low-end $500 laptops now widely available, transforms the economic equation for developing countries. That has not prevented the effort, conceived by Nicholas Negroponte, a prominent computer researcher, from becoming the focal point of a debate over the value of computers to both learning and economic development. The detractors include two computer industry giants, Intel and Microsoft, pushing alternative approaches. Intel has developed a $400 laptop aimed at schools as well as an educational program that focuses on teachers instead of students. And Bill Gates, Microsoft's chair and a leading philanthropist in poorer countries, has questioned whether the concept is "just taking what we do in the rich world and subsidizing its use in the developing world.'' Negroponte, the founding director of the MIT Media Laboratory, said he was bemused by the attention his little machine is getting. It is not the first time he has been challenged for proclaiming technology's promise. "It's as if people spent all of their attention focusing on Columbus' boat and not on where he was going," he said in an interview here. "You have to remember that what this is about is education.'' Seymour Papert, a computer scientist and educator who is an adviser to the project, has argued that if young people are given computers and allowed to explore, they will "learn how to learn.'' That, Papert argues, is a more valuable skill than traditional teaching strategies that focus on memorization and testing. The idea is also that children can take on much of the responsibility for maintaining the systems, rather than relying on or creating bureaucracies to do so. "We believe you have to leverage the kids themselves," Jepsen said. "They're learning machines." As an example, she pointed to the backlight used by the laptop. Although it is designed to last for five years, if it fails it can be replaced as simply as batteries are replaced in a flashlight. It is something a child can do, she said. That philosophy, at the heart of the project's world view, has stirred criticism for its focus on getting equipment to students rather than issues like teacher training and curriculum. "I think it's wonderful that the machines can be put in the hands of children and parents, and it will have an impact on their lives if they have access to electricity," Larry Cuban, a Stanford University education professor, said in an interview. "However, if part of their rationale is that it will revolutionize education in various countries, I don't think it will happen, and they are naive and innocent about the reality of formal schooling.'' One factor setting the project apart from earlier efforts to create inexpensive computers for education is the inclusion of a wireless network capability in each machine. The project leaders say they will employ a variety of methods for connecting to the Internet, depending on local conditions. In some countries, like Libya, satellite downlinks will be used. In others, like Nigeria, the existing cellular data network will provide connections, and in some places specially designed long-range Wii-Fi antennas will extend the wireless Internet to rural areas. When students take their computers home after school, each machine will stay connected wirelessly to its neighbours in a self-assembling "mesh" at ranges up to a third of a mile. In the process each computer can potentially become an Internet repeater, allowing the Internet to flow out into communities that have not previously had access to it. "The soldiers inside this Trojan horse are children with laptops," said Walter Bender, a computer researcher who served as director of the Media Laboratory after Negroponte and now heads software development for the laptop project. Each machine will come with a simple mechanism for recharging itself when a standard power outlet is not available. The designers experimented with a crank, but eventually discarded that idea because it seemed too fragile. Now they have settled on several alternatives, including a foot pedal as well as a hand-pulled device that works like a salad spinner. Jepsen's display, which removes most of the colour filters but can operate in either colour or monochrome modes, has made it possible to build a computer that consumes just two watts of power, compared with the 25 to 45 watts consumed by a conventional laptop. The ultra-low-power operation is possible because of the lack of a hard drive (the laptop uses flash memory, which has no moving parts and has fallen sharply in cost) and because the Advanced Micro Devices microprocessor shuts down whenever the computer is not processing information. The designers have also gambled in designing the laptop's software, which is based on the freely available Linux operating system, a rival to Microsoft's Windows. Dispensing with a traditional desktop display, the software substitutes an iconic interface intended to give students a simpler view of their programs and documents and a maplike view of other connected users nearby. A video-camera lens sits just to the right of the display, for use in videoconferencing and taking digital still photos of reasonable quality. The computer comes with a stripped-down Web browser, a simple word processor and a number of learning programs. For email, the designers intend to use Google's Web-based Gmail service. Negroponte has been a globetrotting salesman for the project, winning Libya's participation when he was summoned by Col. Moammar Gadhafi to a meeting in a desert tent on a sweltering August night. But there have also been setbacks. The Indian Education Ministry rejected a proposal to order a million computers, noting that the money could be better spent on primary and secondary education. Negroponte said he had been re-energized by the recent arrival of the first 1,000 working prototypes. The prototypes, he said, will give him new ammunition to convince government leaders that his tiny machines can be a positive force for social development. He said a program would be created to enable those in the developing world to underwrite a laptop for a child in a designated country and to correspond with the recipient by email as a sort of ``glorified pen-pal program." "Ours is really designed for developing nations — dusty, dirty, no or unreliable power and so on.'' In his two decades as director of the Media Laboratory, Negroponte often faced criticism because the institution's impressive demonstrations of technology only occasionally led to commercial applications. "He has spent his whole career being accused of being all icing and no cake," said Michael Hawley, a computer scientist and one of Negroponte's former students. To that kind of scoffing, he said, the laptop's success would be Negroponte's best retort. Microsoft Releases PatchesMicrosoft Corp. put out three software patches Tuesday that fix problems carrying a "critical" rating, the company's highest threat level. All three could let an attacker remotely run code on a victim's computer. The patches close holes in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, its Windows Media Player program and its Visual Studio 2005 development software. Four other patches, for vulnerabilities deemed "important," also were released for Windows and its Outlook Express e-mail program. Computer users with Microsoft's automatic updates feature enabled in Windows do not have to do anything to get these seven repairs. Others should visit Microsoft's security Web site. Redmond-based Microsoft is still working on a patch for a flaw disclosed last week in multiple versions of its widely used Word word processor. Microsoft had said it was looking into small-scale reports that hackers had used the vulnerability to take control of computers by sending a rigged e-mail attachment. Alex Shipp, a researcher for antivirus vendor MessageLabs Ltd., which claims to have discovered the Word flaw, said it appeared that vulnerability was being used by just one criminal outfit in "highly targeted attacks." So far, Shipp said, the overall impact of the flaw is low. QC Man without a pulseA patient in Montreal has become the first living Canadian without a heartbeat. Last month he was given a brand new mechanical heart that pumps blood continuously using a turbine suspended in a magnetic field. The medical breakthrough was announced by Dr. Renzo Cecere and Dr. Nadia Giannetti at a news conference at McGill University Health Centre on Wednesday. With them was Gerard Langevin, the 65-year-old Quebec man who became the first patient to undergo successful implantation of the pump after surgery on Nov. 23. The device has a turbine that pumps blood from the left ventricle to the aorta. From there the blood is distributed to the rest of the body by the continuous flow pump which is powered by batteries located in pouches on Langevin's body. "A continuous flow pump does not produce any pulsation," Cecere told CTV News. "In fact there is only one moving part that is levitated within a magnetic field and therefore there is no friction within that pump, and in the absence of friction there is no wear and tear on the components and if there is no wear and tear we expect this pump will last for a very long time." Though the device is still in the trial stages and the research is only being done on "end stage" heart patients, the doctors said they believe the technology will change the way heart patients are treated, providing an alternative to heart transplant surgery. Predicted to last up to 10 years, the Heartmate II should outlast other similar devices, and should match the life expectancy of a transplanted human heart. Prior to the surgery the patient was very sick, had lost more than 20 pounds, and had very low blood pressure, said Giannetti. He has made significant improvement since receiving the device, however. "He sailed through the surgery, and you have to understand he was very sick going into the surgery and this is very difficult surgery," Giannetti told reporters. "He sailed through it and he's recovering very nicely and I expect he's going to go on a very long time with this pump." Langevin admitted that prior to the operation he felt his time was up after he suffered his second heart attack this summer. He had his first in 2002. "I was finished... I had no time left... I probably had only a few months left to live,'' Langevin said. He admitted he was afraid and hesitant about having the implant. "My wife pushed me a lot to have the operation and I don't regret it.'' The cost of the transplant was $100,000. The MUHC is paying for the procedure. The Toronto General Hospital also took part in the study. The device has yet to be approved for use in either Canada or the U.S. |
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