BM2 Love Angel: Computers and Internet

How to deal with content thieves

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:57:19 GMT

This goes for all bloggers out there who do their best to show their point of views and use their creativity to the most, but who unfortunately, see their ideas just copied without any credits being given:

Have you been the victim of content theft on the webernets? Unfortunately, if you've been here for longer than about five minutes, you probably have. Lorelle on Wordpress has written up a fantastic three-part article on how to deal with content theft:

Part 1: tips, information and resources to help you deal with copyright infringement, the theft of your blog or website content.
Part 2: Helpful links and resources for finding stolen content and copyright infringements.
Part 3: Growing trends in content theft such as image hotlinking, website hijacking, and abusive use of feeds to replace original content without permission, as well as other copyright infringements on the rise.

Yes, there's a fair bit of reading here, but I can tell you it's well worth it. — Wendy Boswell
What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content [Lorelle on Wordpress ]

*blog on*

Angel

Link to Lifehacker

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Technorati tags: Blogs, credits, Lifehacker, Computers and Internet

You know you are addicted to blogging when…

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:31:02 GMT

I have just read this entry from the Daily Cup of Tech and I simply HAD TO post it. You will immediately see why:

"You know you are addicted to blogging when…

…your newborn baby’s crying wakes you at night and your first thought is, “I wonder if anyone has submitted a comment on the blog?”
…you don’t know how much you pay for food each month but you know how much you earned in advertising on your blog today.
…someone says, “How are you doing?” and you reply with “Check my blog.”
…your closest friends can find your blog but not your house.
…you don’t know who won the federal election because there was nothing in your RSS feeds.
…you are surprised to learn that most syndicated television shows don’t have an RSS feed.
…you learn of your upcoming divorce in a comment feed from a post entitled “Blog vs. Spouse: The Never Ending Debate”.
…asked who has had the biggest influence on your life, you respond, “Darren Rowse“.
…the house is on fire and you run past the dog and the family photo album to grab a scrap of paper with a post idea on it.
…you firmly believe that your next post will get Dugg this time for sure.
…you can submit a post to your blog from your:

computer
tablet
personal internet device
PDA
cell phone (text, photo, video, and voice)
chumby
robotic avatar
steam engine
bathroom

…your grandma says that she used to journal and you ask her, “Wordpress or TypePad?”
…you get excited because your site is unreachable!"

Are there many other addicts like me out there?

*good blogging*

Angel

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Technorati tags: blogs, Computers and Internet

Windows Vista Media Center

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:01:17 GMT

I have just read this article on the Windows Vista Team Blog and I think it is very interesting for Xbox 360 users. Check it out:

Windows Vista Media Center users, take note
If you run Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate editions (why run anything other than Ultimate?), you may notice that Windows Update contains an update for Media Center on both 32- and 64-bit systems. You can download the update directly from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site or from the Windows Download Center (x86 or x64).
I'm glad to see the arrival of the April 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista, as it resolves the following issues, some of which have annoyed me:

The video may appear to freeze when the movie begins in some DVDs
When you rotate a picture during a slide show in Windows Media Center, the wrong photo may be rotated
The cover art for recorded TV movies may not appear in the DVD library view
When you delete a picture in Windows Media Center, you may receive an error message
When you try to play a DVD by using Autoplay, you may receive an error message

The update also provides the following improvements:

Online Media support has been added for Windows Media Center on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate
Video Playlist support has been added for Windows Media Center Extenders
Improvements have been made to Online Media caching

There's also another change that affects those of you using Windows Media Center Extenders. Windows Media Center Extenders, such as the Microsoft Xbox 360, use network ports to communicate over the network to computers that are running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate. This cumulative update contains updates to Media Center programs that may have been previously configured as "approved" or "allowed" by a third-party firewall. If you use a third-party firewall, you may have to manually update your firewall to let the new versions of these programs access the ports. If you do not perform these firewall updates, you may experience failures when you try to connect the Windows Media Center Extender to the Media Center computer.

Keep on enjoying your Vista and your Xbox 360!

*have a nice day*

Angel

Link to Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista Media Center users, take note

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Technorati Tags: Windows Vista - Windows Media Center - Xbox 360 - Microsoft - Computers and Internet

Feeds made simple

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:33:00 GMT

Personally, I am someone who loves to do a lot of things at the same time. I am not productive if I just have one or two activities in my life and concentrate all my power and energy to them. I adore being multi-functional! So, I read sites and blogs, write about the coolest stuff on the market or simply share my ideas with whomever might be interested, I game (offline and online - mainly with my clanmates), I socialize with my gaming and blogging friends, I have a life (I'm sure I shocked you with this one), I go to the movies, meet 3D friends, do housework, pamper my cat all the time and I even have a job. I love being a busy bee.

Among all the things I do and like doing, there is also my passion for keeping up with the world around me. I don't have to agree with the latest news, but I need to be aware of what is going on around me. And for that, I use RSS.

Today, I found this video that no matter how comfortable you are with feeds, you should watch it. It is called RSS in Plain English.

Many times, I still have the feeling that people are a little bit afraid of using RSS as a mean of keeping themselves updated. It is like some of those mysterious abbreviations one will never really understand or be able to use, but that will cause a lot of stress in their lives. However, it is quite the opposite and the video above explains in detail how easy and fun feeds are.

I would like to add three other readers to their list though:

http://www.netvibes.com/ - it is very visual and easy to use (it was shown by another XET during our meeting last week and I really liked it)
http://www.bloglines.com/ - the one I use most of the time, together with Google Reader
http://www.live.com/ - it has been updated frequently and the addition of Gadgets makes it even more attractive

The video is not long, clear and precise.

* enjoy it the RSS world*

Angel

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Technorati tags: RSS, feeds, CommonCraft, subscription, Computers & Internet

New cool stuff on Live Spaces

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:04:58 GMT

I have just check around whether there was already any official announcement about it, but it hasn't happened yet. However, I have to talk about the changes on Live Spaces.

The first thing that called my attention this morning was the fact that, close to the link "My Space" there was this icon, a small house. It got me curious and I went on with my search.

Once you are connected on edit mode, on the top and on the bottom of the page, there is this area in you can add modules and gadgets. I swear, it wasn't there before.

Another cool feature I have just found are the feeds per Category. Let's say that the main reason why you read my blog is because I not only post about games, but I have a particular interest in Gadgets as well. Instead of having to browse throughout all my entries to find what you are looking for, you can simply sign up for my Gadgets feeds only and Live Spaces does the rest for you.

The profile is also looking neat. Before, I didn't like it that much because no matter how you wrote your "introduction", it was nothing but a single block, no paragraphs etc. It was very confusing and not attractive at all. Now, you do have the paragraphs and it makes a major difference, at least to me.

I am wondering whether there are other smaller, or just less visible, changes around or planned. Anyway, I am happy about the things I have seen so far (mainly if I take into consideration the Live Spaces we had at about 1.5 year ago (we had to add a sandbox just to have our gamercard online, remember?). A lot has improved since then and I don't think they are stopping any time soon.

I hope you will enjoy these hints and use them. Mainly for those who are not that into HTML and so on. Now everyone can add really cool stuff to their page despite their code knowledge.

*have lots of Spaces fun*

Angel

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Technorati tags: Computers & Internet, Live Spaces, update, syndication, feeds, Category, Gadgets

The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:27:27 GMT

The title seemed a little bit suspicious to me, but my curiosity was big and I decided to check it out.

Here is the introduction to the list:

"By Christopher Null, PC World
From breakthrough hardware to time-honored software, we salute those amazing products that changed technology--and our lives--forever.
The Beatles. Citizen Kane. Muhammad Ali. Many have laid claim to being the "best ever" in their respective fields of work, but only one can top the list. And the same is true when it comes to technology.
So what's the best tech product to come out of the digital age? And what qualifies a product as being "best"? First and foremost, it must be a quality product. In many cases, that means a piece of hardware or software that has truly changed our lives and that we can't live without (or couldn't at the time it debuted). Beyond that, a product should have attained a certain level of popularity, had staying power, and perhaps made some sort of breakthrough, influencing the development of later products of its ilk.
So after considering hundreds of products and engaging in many hours of painstaking debate, PC World presents the 50 best tech products. Note that we're looking only at technology that has arisen since the dawn of the personal computer, so don't expect to see the cotton gin and the transistor radio on the list. Instead, you'll find gear that, in all likelihood, you used yourself at one point or another--and, in many cases, products you're still using today.
And, oh yeah, you may think our choices are ridiculous or that we've left out much more important products. Have at us. Smack us down righteously.
Enjoy!"

I took time to go through their list and I have to agree that I included everything I my imagination (and memory) allowed me to remember.

My personal top 5 goes like this (in no specific order):

Atari 2600
Napster
Doom
Windows 95
ICQ

The reasons for my choice are very simple. Atari 2600 was my very video game console. In the beginning, I had asked for an Odyssey due to my love at first sight for Pacman. However, it didn't take me long to realize that I had some way more powerful in my hands (don't laugh! If you were there, you know what I mean).

I am a major music fan and I like so many different styles and artists that maintaining a CD collection is almost impossible. I would need a room for my classics (probably 2 to be sincere), another for rock, a third for dance and so it would go on and on. With Napster, I had everything at the reach of my hands. Believe me, there are much more people out there with the same (weird) musical taste as me. Finding the craziest titles I could think of, was not difficult. And very important: it was FREE!

My passion for games and computers is almost as old as myself. It is kind of hard to precise the date when it all started. However, my idea of gaming has changed a LOT after experiencing Doom. Before it, we had more or less cubes that we described like animals, cars, people and anything else the title suggested us to. That blood spitting all over the place (with all the respect for Gears of War), the fact that we were able to follow the mood of the character and the monsters (scary creatures), they all contributed to this amazing and unforgettable shooter.

In my computer, I owned a DOS one for some years. My uncle had one too at that time and we enjoyed showing the newest "tricks" to each other. When I went to High School, Windows 3.11 Operation System everyone dreamed about. It was so much cooler with all those easy-to-access windows. I loved it. In 1997, I decided getting myself another home PC with a Windows OS as well. Its name was Windows 95. Oh Lord! How cool was that? The colors were so amazing and I could do so much with it. I remember I got a copy of the game Full Throtle with my PC. What graphics!!! Pure fun (XBL Arcade people: have you ever thought about ressurrectin Full Throtle - I would buy it!). Many other Windows versions came after it. I love the Vista I am using right now, but the 95 will always have a special place in my heart.

Even though I still have some messaging programs installed on my laptops, I rarely use them nowadays. I generally have so much to do online that chatting has become difficult. By the end 90's until about begin 2002 things were pretty much different though and the main reason for that was ICQ. At the time, I completely ignored all other AIM programs that started to come up later. Mirabillis had everything I could ever dream about and I was always using it.

And you? Do you have a list as well?

*for the good memories*

Angel

Link to The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time

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Technorati tags: Tech Products, Computers & Internet, 50 best, top 5

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Guidance Pages now available in 8 new languages

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:47:41 GMT

From the Windows Vista Team Blog:

Hi all,
We are happy to announce the availability of Windows Vista Hardware Assessment guidance pages in 8 new languages in addition to the already-available US English version. The list of localized web sites is listed below, please click the individual link to visit your language of choice:

US English
Brazilian Portuguese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Espana (Spanish)
Latin America Spanish
Russian

For more information about Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v1.0, you may also visit the original blog post last month:
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/02/20/windows-vista-hardware-assessment-1-0-released.aspx
Baldwin Ng (Product Manager, Solution Accelerators Team - baldwin.ng@microsoft.com )

Link to Windows Vista Team Blog

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Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Computers & Internet

The Windows Vista Gadgets Competition on Code Project

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:17:10 GMT

From the Windows Vista Team Blog:

We're only one month into the Windows Vista Gadgets Competition on Code Project, and already developers have exceeded our expectations in finding new ways to enhance the Windows Vista Sidebar experience via Gadgets. Some of the cooler gadgets include a daily Dilbert cartoon display and a tool that places your email Inbox at your fingertips. At this point we've already received dozens of contest entries and we're expecting even bigger things to come. It's pretty easy to make a gadget if you're a professional -- or even an amateur -- developer, and prizes ranging from cash to Zune player (not to mention promotion on the Code Project site) provide good incentive to take the plunge and try your hand.
If you're interested in building an innovative creation for Windows Vista Sidebar, check out the how-to articles here. And if you want to offer your opinion on contest entries, you can join the site and post your thoughts to the forums.
Here's a sampling of who's been recognized for their creations thus far:
.NET Interop for Gadgets – A C# GMail Inbox Reader Example by Acoustic
How to call absolutely any .NET code from your Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget.
A Vista sidebar gadget to provide weather information by bodrick
This article will show the different capabilities of the Windows Vista sidebar, including settings, fly-outs, different states when docked and undocked, and pulling in live data feeds over the internet.
Daily Dilbert 1.0*: A Sidebar gadget for Windows Vista by Quartz...
Daily Dilbert is a simple Windows Vista sidebar gadget which delivers the daily dilbert cartoon on your desktop.
(*Note that there’s already an updated, improved version of this gadget posted.)
A Gadget for Browsing the Astronomy Picture of the Day by Michael Dunn
This article shows a Windows Vista Sidebar gadget that you can use to browse the APOD site and view previews of each day's picture.
Windows Vista Weather SideShow by Dr.Luiji
WeatherSideShow - A SideShow application that communicates with a weather Web service.
This contest runs for the next two months -- keep an eye on the entrants and their innovations!

Why don't you give it a try?

*happy Vista*

Angel

Link to Windows Vista Team Blog

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Technorati Tags: Vista - competition - Computers and Internet

HD, the Vista photographer

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:53:51 GMT

Today I was checking the two new wallpapers released for Vista and I decided to search for other kind of information: the photographer.

I like photography. I do not have any specific equipment or any ambition to invest in it, but I also believe that an imagine speakes more than 1,000 words and that is what got me curious.

Luckily, Hamad Darwish is much more accessable that I thought he would be and he even has a page on Flickr. His work is indeed amazing. He also has a site where one can download his Vista work as well.

Hope you will like it!

*happy Vista*

Angel

Source: Flickr

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Technorati Tags: Vista - photography - Hamad Darwish - wallpaper

MSN Reporter

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:11:31 GMT

You girls and guys have probably realized how I love all this talk about RSS, Technorati, digg it and so on. I can't imagine life without my dearest Bloglines anymore. It makes following the news so easy that I can't let it go anymore.

And of course that everytime I read on a new site for sindication, I jump up and down. Now imagine if this site is a part of MSN? Simply great!

The name is MSN Reporter and it has been tested in the Netherlands, Norway and, and, and BELGIUM!!! It works pretty much like Digg, but with a cool difference: you don't need to sign up or have a profile with them. You see something cool (or even uncool), you want to share and give thumbs up (or down); just go the MSN Report, fill in some information (online address of the news and the name of the poster are mandatory) and you are done. Simple, fast and efficient.

The site has been online for about two months in Beta testing and it already receives about 1 million visitors per month.

Wouldn't it be awesome to see this project grow all over the globe?

Have I finally convinced you of making use of vote-on-news sites? ;-)

*happy geeking*

Angel

Source: Techcrunch

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Technorati Tags: MSN Reporter - vote-on-news - MSN - Microsoft - Digg

3 Maxell Vista Certified webcams, Looking for WOW!

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:10:37 GMT

If you don't want to have to struggle with drivers and Vista like I did yesterday, these cameras are a solution for you.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find that much information about these babies, but for those who have been facing issues with their equipaments, why not keeping a track on them?

So what do you think? Are you ready for WOW?

*happy Vista everyone*

Angel

Source: Akihabaranews.com

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Technorati tags: Vista, camera, Maxell, WOW

The most annoying aspects of Windows Vista

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:15:51 GMT

I haven't had time to tell you, but yesterday I finally managed to buy Vista.

Unfortunately my idea of updating my Media Center went down the drain when I couldn't change the language of my update according to the makers of my laptop and, I couldn't download a new on Microsoft site (the service is USA only).

So, after hours of frustation, I went out yesterday, had my hair cut and went for it (I don't think I have told you it yet, but I got annoying ulcer(s) again and because of that I have been home for the past few days - unfortunately, the rest hasn't helped in my recovery yet).

I ended up buying a complete version of the Home Premium in English. Yeah! I can finally understand all the menus again. However, reinstalling the drivers from my in-buid camera and microphone. I was done at about 3AM and besides having the computer running stable, I didn't have anything else. You can't imagine how much I shouted, complained and went nuts here.

Today, I found an article that I had to share with you. Sometimes, it feels better when you know you are not alone. Please enjoy The Most Annoying Things About Windows Vista.

*game on everyone*

Angel

Source: Lifehacker

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Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Computers, Internet, PC World

FYI: I am not a Vista hater. It is running and I am not going to uninstall it, however I won't deny that I have been facing some challenges.

Windows Mobile 6

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 11:06:26 GMT

Since I started checking the rumors on the Windows Mobile, I got interested. It is already in my Gadgets Wishlist.

The features announced are amazing and I think it promisses a lot. The OS has a Standard (new name give to the old Smartphone) and Professional version (that used to be known as Pocket PC Phone Edition).

I am looking forward next Monday's news....

Source: Engadget

*nice weekend everyone*

Angel

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Technorati Tags: Windows Mobile 6 - Engadget - Live - Standard - Professional - gadget - handheld - BM2 Love Angel - Microsoft

In a blog mood

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:26:00 GMT

Hi everyone!

I am spending the day at home again due to me not feeling well.

And you know what happens when I am not feeling that well? One, I start cleaning up the place, which is about to start in a minute or two; two, I surf the Internet. There is not really a preference, but that is how it happens most of the time.

Results for today so far

I finally got enough patience to set links to Digg it, Reddit and Del.icio.us under my blog entries. I am not going to do it on all my entries (surely not after being around for more than an year), but from now, I will keep them constantly there.
Be a nice supporter of this friend of yours and use them, pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase!
I also added the possibility of having my Technorati Tags per entry.

Looking cool, isn't it?

I have been playing on doing it for months already and I am very glad this day came.

*happy gaming and blogging everyone*

Angel

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Technorati Tags: Xbox - 360 - BM2 - Love - Angel - blogging - Technorati - tags - Reddit - Del.icio.us - Digg - it