Rblprd’s Blog

This is probably one of the most used little hacks I have found on the net

From the Hall: GmailThis!
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
 GmailThis!

What is GmailThis! ?

GmailThis! is an easy way to make a Gmail email without visiting mail.google.com. Once you add the GmailThis! link to your browser's toolbar, emailing will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking GmailThis! creates a mini-interface to Gmail prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then email or save as draft from within GmailThis!

Big, Important News! Recent changes in Gmail have broken GmailThis! in Safari and Firefox (and possibly more, those are all I've tested in). I updated the script, delete the old one and use this new link the same old way!

Enjoy big sound from a small, portable speaker. Play music from your stereo Bluetooth® (A2DP)-enabled phone on the Pure-Fi Mobile™ wireless speaker. Or use as a wireless speakerphone.

Maintain is proud to announce the release of Cocktail 4.1.2 (Leopard Edition). Cocktail 4.1.2 (Leopard Edition) is the latest maintenance update for Cocktail (Leopard Edition). It adds possibility to disable dictionary and calculator results in Spotlight, improves performance of Pilot scheduler and fixes other bugs discovered in the previous release.

John Maisey has released version 1.4 of YAI. YAI is a plug-in for Apple Mail that translates and automatically transfers Exchange style meeting invitations to iCal. It corrects incompatibilities between Microsoft Exchange style meeting invites and what Mail/iCal interprets.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. today announced the release of Check Point Full Disk Encryption for Mac OS X, the industry's first full-disk encryption solution with pre-boot authentication to support the Mac OS. Check Point Full Disk Encryption now supports all major laptop and desktop operating systems, including Mac OS X version 10.4.5 Tiger through Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard.

Redwood City, California - Check Point(R) Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced the release of Check Point Full Disk Encryption for Mac OS X, the industry's first full-disk encryption solution with pre-boot authentication to support the Mac OS. Check Point Full Disk Encryption now supports all major laptop and desktop operating systems, including Mac OS X version 10.4.5 "Tiger" through Mac OS X version 10.5 "Leopard."

Check Point encryption products support more end-user platforms than any other solutions in the industry, from Windows, Linux and Mac OS based laptops to Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm and PocketPC based smartphones and PDAs. Today, regardless of the operating systems, customers receive encryption technology from Check Point that is recognized as a data security leader in the latest Gartner Mobile Data Protection Magic Quadrant.

"Enterprises and organizations have to secure 100 percent of their laptops and desktops to be fully protected," said Bob Egner vice president of product management at Check Point. "Check Point recognizes that Mac OS has an important and growing place in the enterprise and is proud to offer enterprise customers endpoint solutions that cover all platforms and work in mixed environments."

"We're delighted that Mac users in industries like government and healthcare who value high-quality encryption technologies have a strong solution that supports Leopard, the world's most advanced operating system," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "Leopard is Apple's most secure OS release ever, and Check Point's encryption solution nicely complements features already present in Mac OS X."

Check Point Full Disk Encryption is quick and easy to deploy, scales to any size organization and is proven in every type of industry and government agency around the world. Customers benefit from easy to use features and centralized management across diverse operating systems, significantly simplifying the implementation and use of full-disk encryption in mixed environments.

"Rarely will large-scale businesses and organizations have just one endpoint operating system," said Steve Snider, president at Cadre Computer Resources Co. "Security solutions, like Check Point Full Disk Encryption, that support multiple platforms not only are easier to deploy and manage, but improve the level of end point security throughout the organization."

Features and benefits of Check Point Full Disk Encryption include:
* Industry-leading full-disk encryption protects lost or stolen data
* Pre-boot authentication requires username and password before the operating system loads, increasing security
* Automatic and transparent operation has minimal effect on end users' productivity
* Centralized management simplifies setup and administration, providing lowest total cost of ownership
* Multi-certified cryptography engine addresses adherence to state and federal privacy laws
* Scalable deployment meets the needs of any size enterprise, business or government agency

"Whether a mixed environment consisting of Windows, Linux and Mac based computers or a network comprised of a single OS, Check Point Full Disk Encryption provides total security to customers with the industry's leading encryption technology," concluded Egner. More information on Check Point data security solutions can be found at their website.

Pricing and Availability:
Check Point Full Disk Encryption for the Mac is available immediately and can be purchased through the Check Point worldwide network of value-added resellers. For Check Point Full Disk Encryption pricing, visit https://pricelist.checkpoint.com. To find a Check Point partner, visit their website.

Check Point's pure focus is on information security. Through its NGX platform, Check Point delivers a unified security architecture to protect business communications and resources, including corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company also offers market-leading endpoint and data security solutions with Check Point Endpoint Security products, protecting and encrypting sensitive corporate information stored on PCs and other mobile computing devices.

Check Point's award-winning ZoneAlarm solutions protect millions of consumer PCs from hackers, spyware and identity theft. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of Check Point partners around the world and its customers include 100 percent of Fortune 100 companies and tens of thousands of businesses and organizations of all sizes.

Check Point: http://www.checkpoint.com
Full Disk Encryption: http://www.checkpoint.com/products/datasecurity/index.html
Purchase Link: http://partners.us.checkpoint.com/partnerlocator/
Check Point Partners: http://partners.us.checkpoint.com/partnerlocator/

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is the leader in securing the Internet. Check Point offers total security solutions featuring a unified gateway, single endpoint agent and single management architecture, customized to fit customers' dynamic business needs. This combination is unique and is a result of our leadership and innovation in the enterprise firewall, personal firewall/endpoint, data security and VPN markets. (C)2003–2008 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aero Quartet has released version 3.7 of SimpleMovieX, the lightweight Mac OS X movie editor. With a feature set roughly similar to QuickTime Pro, SimpleMovieX extends editing capabilities to other popular video formats AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. This new version improves support of iTunes library, as movies metadata, languages and artwork are now preserved through editing and saving. It also brings a significant speed increase to editing and chapter tasks.

Brainjuice announced today that Blogo 1.1, the latest version of its weblog editor for Mac OS X, is now available to the public for download. Blogo makes posting easy even for users with no knowledge of HTML, and now includes support for the WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, TypePad, MovableType, and typo weblog systems. In addition to Drupal, the application has also added Twitter to its growing list of supported services.

ROADandTRACK.com -- Road Tests - Road Test: 2008 smart fortwo (3/2008)
Road Test: 2008 smart fortwo
Europe's city car comes to America, three pistons gnashing away. Is it a good fit?

By Andrew Bornhop • Photos by Guy Spangenberg
March 2008

2008 smart fortwo

Is this some sort of cruel joke, having the largest guy on staff (all 6 ft. 4 in. of me) write the road test of the smallest production car we've ever tested? If so, it didn't work. Interior space is far from a problem in the smart fortwo; rather, it's one of the new city car's strong points. Built at a Daimler-owned factory in France, the smart fortwo is a model of packaging efficiency, able to comfortably accommodate two large adults and a couple of suitcases in a tidy overall package that's 39.5 in. shorter than a Mini. Parked nose to tail, two smarts take up less space than a Chevy Suburban. That's short, and the upright car is about as tall (60.7 in.) as it is wide (61.4 in.).

If the smart looks familiar to you, it should. It's been on sale for nearly a decade in Europe, and it has proven to be popular in places like Rome and Paris where they can be parked perpendicular to traffic on the sides of narrow city streets. That probably won't be allowed in the U.S., where the mildly restyled and slightly larger second-generation fortwo went on sale in January at approximately 70 smart centers across the nation, most in large cities and affiliated with a Mercedes dealer.

So, is the U.S. ready for the innovative smart, with its cute styling, tiny footprint and fuel-efficient 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine? Let's find out.

On the road, the smart — with its sturdy exoskeleton-style chassis, strut front suspension and semi-independent U-shaped De Dion rear axle — doesn't feel toyish or like a golf cart. It's clearly well engineered, and the high seating position and large windshield make the car seem almost conventional...provided you keep looking forward and forget about how close you are to the back bumper. The smart cruises on the freeway at 65 mph with good stability and ease, its rear-mounted Mitsubishi-built inline-3 humming along quietly at 3250 rpm and its rack-and pinion steering exhibiting a strong self-centering tendency. The ride is firm, not overly so, though lacking some compliance.

Around town, we love the tight turning radius and ability to park just about anywhere. But the urban environment also brings to light the car's main flaw — its 5-speed "automated manual" gearbox, which can shift on its own or be shifted via paddles behind the steering wheel. Like a standard automatic, some creep is built in, meaning the fortwo will inch forward when the driver lifts off the brake. That's natural, but the 1–2 shift that follows is far from that, so slow and prolonged that the driver and passenger actually tilt forward in their seats as they wait for the next gear to be engaged and acceleration to return to normal. It's a bother, to say the least.

What's more, for maximized fuel economy, the Getrag gearbox upshifts in quick succession, meaning the fortwo is frequently already in 4th gear by 30 mph, at which point the reasonably torquey engine (which puts out 70 bhp at 5800 rpm and 68 lb.-ft. of torque at 4500 rpm) begins to lug and starts emitting sounds that are agricultural in character. Further, the gearbox doesn't like to downshift during mild acceleration; it takes a complete flooring of the accelerator to drop down a gear or two, an annoying trait that may negate any fuel savings in this car with such an emphasis on fuel economy. The EPA figures of 33 mpg city and 40 mpg highway may not seem that impressive at first, but they're good when compared with those of other economy cars in the tougher 2008 tests. By "old" EPA numbers, the fortwo is rated at 40 city/45 highway.

Although most drivers gradually get accustomed to the fortwo's lethargic automatic shifting, most of us settled on shifting the car manually via the paddles, and lifting off the throttle each time to make it feel more like a conventional manual gearbox, something that the fortwo sorely needs. That, or perhaps a conventional automatic.

Safety is a natural concern, and Mercedes-Benz maintains that the fortwo meets all the company's strict requirements, and that 10 years of European crash data have further proven the smart to be a safe car. The company likens the exposed "tridion" safety cell of the fortwo (the exposed silver areas on our test car) to the hard shell of a walnut, to which are bolted energy-absorbing crash boxes front and rear. A double-plate made of high-strength steel protects the driver's feet, while reinforced side skirts stretching between the front and rear wheels add protection in a side crash. U.S. cars benefit from two dual-stage frontal airbags and a head/thorax side-impact bag in each seat.

For the most part, impact loads are directed below the high passenger cabin. In a rear impact, the transverse-mounted engine and transmission slide under the cockpit to absorb energy. And in side crashes, smart says the short 73.5-in. wheelbase of the fortwo means almost all impacts will involve the striking of a wheel, again transmitting loads below and away from the passenger compartment.

On the down side, the high seating position raises the fortwo's center of gravity, the last thing you want in a tall and narrow vehicle with a short wheelbase. Hence, the fortwo has 1-in.-wider rear wheels and tires, tuned with a healthy dose of negative camber to keep the smart from oversteering at all costs. That, with Mercedes' ESP stability control as the final arbiter, means the fortwo can't do anything untoward, and the Stuttgart company likes to keep it that way by not allowing the driver to switch the system off.

Although studies have shown that stability control systems are the second biggest savers of lives (after seatbelts), ESP wreaked havoc in our tests. On our 200-ft. skidpad, the fortwo understeered its way to a 0.72g rating, our driver doing his best to keep ESP right on the cusp of intervening. In the slalom, ESP was simply too active, limiting the fortwo to a 57.6-mph weave that earns it the distinction of being the slowest slalom car in our Road Test Summary, booting the Rolls-Royce Phantom from that spot. Shifted manually right before the 6500-rpm fuel cut-off point in each gear, the smart hits 60 mph in 13.3 seconds, another performance that puts it at the bottom of the pack.

In the grand scheme of things, however, the smart fortwo is not about skidpad, slalom figures and 0–60 times; it's a new experiment in urban transportation and should be viewed in that light. We praise both its space efficiency and its fuel efficiency, and think it makes a lot of sense in tight urban areas such as New York City and San Francisco, where parking can be a nightmare. Heck, it even has a feature to prevent the car from rolling back when starting on steep hills. The fortwo also bursts with personality, enhanced by a lively interior that's of reasonably good quality but is clearly built to a price point, as the abundant hard plastics indicate. As such, it says something about its owner. That you're willing to try new things. And thanks in part to the car's SULEV rating, that you like the idea of reducing your carbon footprint without, say, buying a Prius.

So, is the U.S. ready for the smart? Definitely. In fact, 30,000 people have already plunked down $99 to get a spot in line to buy one. But do us a favor. Test drive one first. Then drive a 3-door Toyota Yaris. You might prefer a more conventional approach to economical urban transportation, even though it's not quite as fuel-efficient. Right now, we lean in that direction, but if smart equips the new fortwo with a bona fide manual transmission or a good automatic — which doesn't seem like that big of a deal for Mercedes — the scales could very easily tip the other way.

Easily Boot Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB flash drive | USB Pen Drive Linux
Install and Boot Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB Thumbdrive

In this simplified USB Ultimate Boot CD walkthrough tutorial, we will demonstrate How To create a USB bootable Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) using a Windows host PC to create the USB UBCD. Ultimate Boot CD is an awesome PC diagnostics tool that condenses over 100 useful PC diagnostics and hardware troubleshooting tools into a single easy to use interface.

USB Ultimate Boot CD Screenshot:

Simple USB Ultimate Boot CD How-To:

1. Optional: Format the USB pen drive stick as Fat16 or 32 using the HP USB tool
2. Create a folder named UBCD on your Windows host PC
3. Download the UBCD ISO and move to your UBCD folder
4. Download the UBCDfix.exe file and run it, extracting to your UBCD folder
5. From the UBCD folder, click fixubcd.bat and follow the onscreen instructions
6. Move the contents within the /UBCD/USBUBCD folder to your USB flash drive
7. From your USB flash drive, run makeboot.bat to make it bootable
8. Reboot and set your computer to Boot from the USB device
9. On next launch, you should be booting Ultimate Boot CD from your USB stick

Updated 12/27/2007 simplified the tutorial to include batch files that automate the Ultimate Boot CD USB installation process.

How to convert .flac files to .mp3 using Windows - Simplehelp

Now why can't everything be this simple and easy to do.

couple minutes converting 20 minutes re-tagging, simple HI HI