Technology, Data Recovery, Cell Phones, Latest Gadgets, Game Reviews

Now you can even watch movies or TV episodes stored on your SD (Secure Digital) memory card on a bigger screen, thanks to the newly unveiled Micro SD Card Projector.

This palm-sized (165mm long x 105mm wide) projector has a slot in the back that accepts a SD card.

The projector can project the video at up to 1,015 x 850mm in size.

Apart from playing movies, users can also view slideshows and listen to MP3 files as this clever little device can play them all.

Best of all, there will be no cables trailing all over the place as the mini projector is a standalone unit that simply uses four AA batteries to operate.

You can get yours online for US$197.

www.drinkstuff.com

Computer memory product maker Kingston recently announced its DataTraveler 400 USB Flash drive that comes preloaded with MigoSync data synchronisation software. According to Kingston, the software from Migo allows users to work on multiple PCs by directly synchronising files, e-mail and Internet browser settings onto the drive.

In addition to standard file synchronisation, MigoSync comes with Universal Mail Format1, which enables a user to access e-mail on a guest PC, even when it does not support the user’s primary e-mail application for formats including Outlook, Outlook Express or Lotus Notes.

The drive also comes with Kingston’s SecureTraveler2 software that allows the creation of a “privacy zone,” where a user can create a password-protected area of the drive to keep data safe.

The Kingston DataTraveler 400 is available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities and comes with a five-year warranty and free technical support.

Kingston DataTraveler 400 USB Drive Features and Specifications:

• Capacities: 2GB, 4GB, 8GB
• Dimensions: 2.57? x 0.71? x 0.41? (65.4mm x 18.0mm x 10.4mm)
• Speed: data transfer rates of up to 20MB/sec. read and 10MB/sec.write
• Enhanced: for Windows ReadyBoost on Vista-based systems
• Operating Temperature: 32º F to 140º F (0º C to 60º C)
• Storage Temperature: -4º F to 185º F (-20º C – 85º C)
• Easy: plug and play
• Compliant: designed to Hi-speed USB 2.0 specifications
• Practical: Capless design means no cap to lose
• Multifunctional: preloaded with MigoSync data synchronization software
• MigoSync Supported Email Clients: Microsoft Outlook Express (5.0 and 6.0), Outlook 2000 (and above) with POP3/SMTP and Exchange Server, Windows Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird (1.5 and 2.0), Lotus Notes (6.5 and 7.0 with POP3/SMTP and Domino)
• MigoSync Supported Internet Browsers: Internet Explorer (5.0 – 7.0) and Mozilla Firefox (1.5 and 2.0)
• Safeguarded: includes SecureTraveler security software for Windows
• Flexible: Migo operating language in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Thai, Portuguese and Dutch
• Guaranteed: five-year warranty

Nokia continues to connect people through music; the phone company has now teamed up with musical genius A R Rahman and music house 'Big Music' to run a month-long contest called 'Remix Rahman's Ada'.

Contestants need to remix two songs -- 'Gulfisha' and 'Gum Sum' -- from Rahman's upcoming film, "Ada... a way of life" using Nokia's 'Xpress Music mixer' application, which provides the option to remix music in accord with various genres like Jazz, Folk, Punjabi, Rock, etc. Participants also have the option to download the mentioned tracks from the Nokia Web site, and remix them using their own professional equipment.

The chosen remixed tune's composer will get an opportunity to spend one day with AR Rahman, and compose the remix "Ada" soundtrack with him at his studio. The winning remix will also be released through a music video profiling the winner and AR Rahman along with top ten finalists of the contest.

Nokia has associated itself with music through its XpressMusic line of phones since 2006. These music-centric mobile phones feature dedicated music keys allowing users to enjoy music on the go. Whereas the 'Xpress Music mixer' application allows users customize music for their listening pleasure.

For Nokia, this contest is an initiative to give youngsters an opportunity to express themselves through music, the company said. Budding musicians can take part in the 'Remix with Rahman' contest and submit their entries on the Nokia Web site between May 1 and May 30. The Xpress Music mixer application will be functional May 1st onwards.

Ubisoft has confirmed that the next game in the popular franchise "Prince of Persia" will launch by December '08. The game will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

The publisher said that the game will open a new chapter in the "Prince of Persia" universe, featuring a new breed of game play. That the game is poised to rejuvenate the action-adventure genre in addition to introducing a brand-new illustrative art style. Ubisoft also said that it intends to release a new "Prince of Persia" for the Nintendo DS, with an entirely new storyline and characters.

"Prince of Persia" Next is being developed by the Ubisoft Montreal team who worked on the "Sands of Time" trilogy and more recently the blockbuster "Assassin's Creed".

Apple Computer yesterday started sales of its upgraded iMacs -- having a faster Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn processor and an Nvidia 8800 graphics card. The upgraded iMacs are now available in three basic models and also a custom configuration. The Apple Web site describes the new iMacs as having "Beauty, Brains, and now more Brawn," however that it was a low-profile upgrade, without the usual fanfare to announce the new machines.

Since last week, rumors had been in the air about Apple's plans to upgrade the iMacs ahead of the educational buying season. With these upgrades, the company is looking to get a bigger share in the educational computing market. Incidentally, the new Penryn processors are already in use in Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The last major update for the iMac in August 2007 brought a new design

Coming to the newest upgraded iMacs, the CPU now has a 45-nm architecture instead of the earlier 65-nm, and 6MB of L2 cache instead of 4MB. Before yesterday's upgrades, the processor speeds were 2 or 2.4 GHz; but now the speeds are 2.4, 2.66, and 2.8 GHz in different models including even a 3.06 GHz as a built-to-order option. All three iMac configurations now come with 1066 MHz front-side bus compared to the earlier 800 MHz bus. In addition, instead of the previous 1GB, 2GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory is now a part of the 2.66 and 2.88 GHz iMacs. Whereas up to 1 TB of storage is optionally available for the 24-inch iMac.

Although the graphics chips remain the same as before -- a 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT (for entry-level iMacs) and a 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 (for the other models) -- customers now have the option of putting a 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800GS chip on the 24-inches iMac. The Nvidia card is claimed to give more than twice the boost to the iMac compared to standard configurations.

The new iMacs are priced at $1,199 (20-inches, 2.4 GHz), $1,499 (20-inches, 2.66 GHz) and $1,799 (24-inches, 2.8 GHz). The built-to-order 24-inches model with 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo chip, Nvidia GeForce 8880 GS graphics card, and 500GB hard drive comes for $2,199.

Skype has released the beta test of its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) application for mobile phones, which promises to work on some 50 Java-enabled mobile phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

The beta version is available worldwide with a feature set that includes chat, group chat, presence (seeing when contacts are online), and receiving calls from Skype users and through SkypeIn. Meanwhile, additional features like making of Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls from mobile handsets are initially supported in seven markets including Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the UK.

Users will not be charged to call or chat with friends, but other activities like calling friends who are not on Skype or receiving calls from other Skype users or over SkypeIn will be charged at regular Skype rates. Also, when users call Skype-to-Skype or SkypeOut from mobiles, the mobile operator will charge for data usage and local mobile calling minutes, since users are actually utilizing the mobile voice and data networks. Hence it is recommended that users get an unlimited data plan.

There are two ways to get the beta version: as a direct over-the-air download to a compatible mobile phone, or it can be downloaded to a PC and then transferred to the phone. To download and check the list of supported mobile phones click here. The software is free although there might be a small data charge from the operator if its downloaded straight to the mobile phone. The beta test is expected to last several months, after which a public version of the application will be made available to millions of mobile phone owners around the world. However, the company has not given any particular time period for the final release.

The Palm Centro launched yesterday, and I was there to take a good look at what Palm had to bring to the competitive game of mobile handsets. Before the event, I'd already formed an impression about the Centro: I was expecting it to be a "female" phone (one for the ladies!), and was wondering what kind of pricing Palm would have for it, especially considering its tie-ups with network operators. Well, things turned out differently, and the Centro to a certain extent does win my favor.

A First Glance

At the table were some dummy models (1:1 ratio) of the Centro, and I picked one to get a feel. My curiosity was evident, and I was very soon holding a production model. What first caught my attention was that it's small, especially considering that the phone has a large touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard. Compared to the Treo 750, the Centro is compact, but has a bit of an aura of being a power device. The QWERTY keypad is a bit cramped, meaning stout thumbs won't be pleased. The keypad keys are of a soft build, which reduces stress while typing, but the close spacing will eventually detract from the comfort.

Usability

The touchscreen is built to take finger-touch inputs and also those made using a stylus. Even without trying too hard, I was able to comfortably use the handset without the need to pull out the stylus for the most part. What makes the Centro thumb-friendly -- if you could call it that -- are the large icons that pop up on the screen in the case of events, or in the menus.

The Centro is primarily a handheld that promotes single-handed usage. The press of one button (or at the most two) should get you to any desired operation. The menus are customizable in Palm OS v5.4.9, wherein you're able to move the icons according to your priority of applications.

Talking of input, the touchscreen doesn't feature handwriting recognition, but you can get third-party applications for that, for around $10 to $30.

And The Rest Of It...

With the Centro, Palm is targeting the young crowd, which comprises almost 40 to 45% of the market. When I asked "why a business handset for the young," I was told it was for those just in the early stages of their career. The phone is intended to appeal to the 21 to 35 age bracket.

Keeping that in mind that young people like to stay online and share media, the phone features a Facebook application as well as a Vox blog app to upload images to your account once captured thorough the 1.3MP camera. The camera is basic and offers just 2x zoom, but has the ability to capture video.

An outstanding feature is the inclusion of "Map" in the contacts. This stores the GPS location of the contact. Clicking it will open the pre-installed Google Maps app and show you the contact's physical location.

We'll have more to say about the Centro when we receive a review handset.

T.sonic 850 to review. The company generally releases small periodic updates to its line of media players, and on paper, the T.sonic 840 seems to be almost identical to its earlier predecessor. But has Transcend also addressed some of the core issues that bugged us with the T.sonic 840? Let's see

Bundle:

Transcend T.sonic 850 Player
Earphones
Silicone case and neck strap
USB cable
Software CD and guide

Specifications Sheet:

BlackBerry phones have been characterized as being great convergence devices for business professionals on the move. They have revolutionized the industry with their hallmark push-email service, typing-friendly handsets and its intuitive User Interface among others; making other makers follow suit.
Today in the labs, we've got one of the newer iterations of the Pearl series, the 8120. This Smart-phone seems to be a good all-rounder. But is the price too much to ask?

Bundle:

- BlackBerry Pearl 8120
- Battery Charger with multiple pin-type sockets
- miniUSB Data Cable
- 3.5mm ear-phones with microphone built-in
- Software CD and Instruction Manual

Specifications Sheet:

Google's initial target to make primary applications of "Google Docs" available offline is now complete. Offline editing of word processing documents, and offline viewing of spreadsheets and presentations was made available earlier. Now spreadsheets and presentations can also be edited offline. So, users will now be able to see an 'offline' link at the upper right hand corner of "Google Docs".

In case you're wondering how this works: Google explains that "Google Docs" uses Google Gears, an open-source browser extension that enables Web applications to run offline.

Even when users are not connected to the Internet, they can continue using (viewing and editing) word processing documents, as also viewing spreadsheets and presentations. Any changes made to the documents offline will be saved to the user's computer hard disk. When the user connects his computer to the Internet again, "Google Docs" will sync the changes that were made with "Google Docs" servers, which will then be made available to collaborators as well.

Other than offline features, "Google Docs" has introduced two more additions this weekend: speaker notes for presentations, and inserting YouTube videos into slides.

Google deems that the 'notes' feature will be particularly beneficial for experienced presenters who do not like any clutter while they present. This feature will allow presenters print speaker notes like talking points in advance, or pop them up in separate windows when presenting. Along with notes, users can now spruce up their presentations by adding YouTube videos to them. To add videos in slides, users need to paste the YouTube URL on the slide. And if the video is not on YouTube, there's a facility to upload a clip online through "Google Docs".

After the ultra-portable laptop announced earlier this month, Sahara Computers has now launched its latest rechargeable optical mouse -- the 640B3BT4.

The sensitive mouse, which is on high dpi (up to 800 dpi), aims to provide a more comfortable experience for the user. It comes with advanced optics localization pattern and precise cursor movement, according to Sahara. In addition, its receiver and charger come in one base with rechargeable Ni-MH batteries. The receiver can be used as a charger.

The new mouse comes with 27MHz wireless RF technology, with a 360-degrees receiving feature and can be used from a distance of 1.5 meters. It has a distinct transparent cover with a stainless steel strip on the top and skid-proof silicon rubber pads on both sides.

The 640B3BT4 Rechargeable Optical Mouse is available in India through Sahara Computers' authorized channel partners and ITJ Retails at a price of Rs 999 exclusive of taxes.

Airtel today announced tariff reductions on STD and roaming services for its over 62 million customers. The STD rates have been slashed to Rs 1.50 per minute from the earlier Rs 2.65 per minute; new tariffs will be effective April 30 onwards.

As regards roaming rates, customers will now be able to receive calls while roaming at Re 1 per minute vis-a-vis the earlier Rs 1.75 per minute. Making outgoing local calls while roaming will now cost Re 1 per minute and outgoing STD calls will cost Rs 1.50 per minute.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Kapoor, president (Mobile Services) of Bharti Airtel, said, "This initiative spells the end of distance for our existing and prospective customers. With 70 percent STD customers in India using less than 5 minutes per month on STD calls and 80 percent mobile customers not using their phones while roaming, we have a compelling customer proposition. I am delighted that we are leading this endeavor, which strengthens our strategic plank of affordability."

Airtel believes the latest reduction in tariffs will help expand its footprint in the rural areas of the country thus helping create an India without boundaries.

Like many other PC makers, Dell too had stopped offering machines with Windows XP after the launch of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, but later succumbed to popular demand and again started offering Windows XP as option.

Yet again, Dell has come ahead and said it will continue to offer Windows XP to consumers even after June 30, the official sales cut-off date announced by Microsoft. The company plans to do so by taking advantage of the licensing option offered with Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. Under the license program called the downgrade license, those buying Vista Business and Vista Ultimate will have the option to downgrade to the older version of the operating system. So when users purchase a Vista copy, they will automatically get an XP copy as well under the same license.

By taking advantage of this program, Dell will offer some laptops and desktops pre-installed with XP as well as bundling the Vista installation DVD. The downgrade program will be available for free on some laptops, including Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, and Precision as well as on some gaming systems like Vostro and Dell XPS. However in case of gaming systems, users will have to shell out some bucks from their pocket. This program by Dell will be supported as long as Microsoft supports the downgrade program. Apart from Dell, some other major PC makers like HP and Lenovo also intend to offer the same option to their customers.

Nokia has announced three new cell phones for the mid-priced market to be available by the third quarter of this year; the Nokia 6600 fold, the 6600 slide, and the 3600 slide.

The Nokia 6600 fold is equipped with a 2 mega pixels camera with double LED flash; a 2.13-inches OLED screen displaying up to 16 million colors; and 3G technology. The phone has a double tap feature to display time, incoming messages, missed calls, etc, or reject incoming calls. Nokia 6600 fold will retail for around $430 (Rs 17,254 approx).

The Nokia 6600 slide comes with glossy, high-quality steel covers and an aluminium center key. The phone sports a 3.2 mega pixels camera and a large 2.2-inches QVGA display with 16 million colors. Tapping the 6600 slide twice yields time, snoozes, alerts, and so on.
The 6600 slide will be priced at $390 (Rs 15,649 approx).

The Nokia 3600 slide is fitted with a 3.2 mega pixels camera with auto-focus and a double LED flash. The phone has a TV-out feature ensuring quick and easy sharing of pictures and videos. Nokia claims it is their first phone to feature background noise cancellation. The phone comes with a built-in music player capable of playing up to 3,000 songs, stored on an optional microSD card. The 3600 slide also has Nokia maps, showing over 15 million points of interest, the company claims. This phone will retail for around $274(Rs 10,994 approx).

Intel Corporation and Cray have today announced signing a multi-year agreement to advance high-performance computing (HPC) on Intel microprocessors while delivering broad new Intel and Cray technologies in future Cray server systems. The two companies plan to explore future supercomputer component designs such as multi-core processing and advanced interconnects. As a result of this collaboration, Cray and Intel plan to develop a range of HPC systems and technologies over the next several years.

Peter Ungaro, president and chief executive officer of Cray, said, "We're excited at the potential of bringing together Intel's powerful silicon expertise and Cray's industry leadership in scalable HPC systems. This collaboration provides the HPC market segment with access to the best microprocessors the industry has to offer at any point in time, in the most advanced supercomputers in the world."

Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager (Digital Enterprise Group) of Intel, said, "Cray's commitment to Intel is a testament of our commitment to HPC, and the strength of our hardware and software roadmap and many-core research. The combination of this industry leadership and technical strength will allow HPC users to take advantage of future Xeon and other Intel processor technologies."

There's no official word yet but the Intel-Cray supercomputers are expected to be unveiled by 2010-11 and may run with post-Nehalem processors as well as Larrabee floating-point accelerators.

Meanwhile, Cray has to its credit two of the world's top 10 supercomputers. Interestingly, the company is also already in partnership with Intel's arch rival AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), and will continue using AMD processors in the machines it sells.

For GAMERS, having a quality, great performance Graphic card is a must. Before you even think about tweaking that graphics card, you need prepare your PC for the addition..
No matter what brand you have, first thing you should do is to download the latest drivers for your Graphic Cards.

#If you got an ATI card (something with the "Radeon" name on it), head to their driver page and grab the latest driver package.

#If you received an nVidia card (something with the "GeForce" name on it), the latest drivers at this time are 53.03. Head to the nVidia driver page to download them.

Here, I have listed good Tweaking Tools for your Card:-
1- Ati TRay Tools 1.2.6.964
ATI Tray Tools is a small utility that can be found in the windows tray and allows instant access to settings and options.
Some key features of "ATI Tray Tools":

· Overclocking with templates
· Automatic overclocking when application required 3D mode
· Artifact Tester with ability to find maximum stable clocks for GPU and Memory.
· Game profiles with desktop shortcut creation.
· Direct3D settings with templates, GUI form and tray popup menu
· OpenGL settings with templates, GUI form and tray popup menu
· Hardware low level color correction
· Hardware tweaks. Setting PCI latency timer
· System wide Hot Keys. (Load profiles any profiles/work with colors/run any application)
· Refresh Lock system with ability to set separate refresh rates for each resolution.
· Tweak for overriding Pixel and Vertex Shaders
· Speed improvement tweaks for Anisotropic/Trilinear Filtering

2- Rage3D Tweak CCC
Rage3D Tweak CCC is a brand new tweak application that integrates directly into ATI's Catalyst Control Center (CCC) driver application and adds key tweak functions to the existing interface. This tweaker has been developed in the spirit of the former Rage3D Tweak application we developed and supported over the last many years. This application is a plug-in which consists of two new tree elements which will appear under a Rage3D heading in the advanced display view of the CCC. The two new sections are: Overclocking, and OC Testing.
OC Testing enables automatic testing of maximum core and memory clock speeds. The display consists of a realtime 3D rendering window which is used to heat up the graphics card and check for artifacts during the rendering test period. When one of the clock test buttons is clicked, the 3D display turns red to indicate a test is in progress and increments the tested clock speed at an interval specified by the displayed slider. The clock speeds are increased incrementally at user selected interval. Longer testing intervals will result in more accurate clock speed testing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3- PowerStrip 3.63
PowerStrip provide advanced, multi-color, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphic cards - from Matrox Millenium I to the latest ATi X850 and NVidia SLI solutions.
Interesting Features:
-The ONLY program that support multiple graphic cards from multiple chipset vendors.
-When launched, it respond by activating specific display settings, gamma correction and clock speed
[Returning everything to normal when the program close.]
-AGP device configuration
-Extensive diagnostic adn system idle thread.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4- NVTweak( Formerly Coolbits) 1.7.1
NVTweak will unlock many extra options in the NVIDIA control panel/driver, including but not limited to - Overclocking, AGP & Hardware settings, Fan control, Temperature settings, Debugging, Twin View, Video Mixing Renderer, OpenGL 2.0 support, 3D viewer types (for 3D Stereo drivers), and more!
Features of "Coolbits 3D":
AGP & Hardware Settings
-AGP Rate
-Fast Writes
-Sideband addressing

Coolbits (Overclocking)
-Auto Overclocking
-Manual Overclocking
-Separate 2D/3D settings
-Fan Control

Note
This tweak is intended for use with GeForce/Quadro cards and ForceWare 55.xx - 7x.xx 3D Stereo drivers. NVTweak is not fully compatible with Windows 98/Me or driver versions older than 55.xx.

1. Hack/Remove TCP connections Limit

If you’re on XP sp2, your TCP connections are limited to a maximum of 10. This might hurt your downloading speed because it wont let you connect to as much peers as you want. It is supposed to slow down viruses because their spreading stratergy is to connect to a High amount of ip numbers, but it could cripple your torrent downloads.

A nice way to fix this is to download THIS PATCH.

The patch allows you to set the maximum allowed connections to any number you want. Any number between 50 and 100 is ok (more is NOT always better).

Next you need to configure your torrent client to allow 50-100 max half-open TCP connections

µTorrent: Options >Preferances> Advancd Options > net.max_halfopen

2. Change the default port.
By default, bittorrent uses a port 6881-6999. Bittorrent generates a lot traffic (1/3), so isp’s like to limit the connection offered on the these ports. So, you should change these to another range.

{ Let say between 49152 - 49454 }

3. Optimize your internet connection

The TCP Optimizer is a freeware utility that optimizes your internet connection. I found it very useful and it helped speeding up my connection for regular internet activity and for downloading torrents. Just download it, and move the slidebar to your maximum download rate (note that it’s in kb/s). Don’t try to set it higher because that will hurt your download speeds!

4. Reduce your upload speed:

Bittorrents are usually programmed to perform efficiently when all users upload to their maximum, but the truth is that this only slows your download. For an efficient download, you should keep your upload speeds about 75-80% of the maximum.

In order to do that you can use one from the many speed test sites available like Speakeasy Speed Test. Unblock Ports in your Router:

Torrents commonly use ports ranging from 6881~6889 for high speed downloading. If you know which port to use for the fastest download then find out the manufacturer of your router and the specific model. Then go to Portforward.com and begin choosing the model of your Router.

6) Choose the best torrent(More seeders):

Choose Torrents that have the best seed to peer ratio. For example, a file having 100 seeds and 100 peers is much better than a file with 100 seeds and 200 peers

On adding a new drive to the system after Windows XP is installed, the drive letters of the new partition succeed that of the optical drive. If you’re used to having the optical drive’s letter last in the list under ‘My Computer’, you need to interchange thedrive letters. Here’s how you do it:

• Disable the optical drive before you proceed to interchange the drive letters.

If the optical drive is active, you won’t be able to interchange the drive letters of
the new hard disk and the optical drive.

• Right click on ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’.
  
• Under the ‘System properties’ dialog box, click on the ‘Hardware’ tab. Bring up the ‘Device Manager’.
• Expand the heading ‘DVD/CD-ROM’ drives.
• Right click on the listed optical drives and disable them.
• Exit the ‘Device manager’. Now,interchange the drive letters.
• Right click on “My Computer” and select “Manage” from the context menu to bring up “Computer Management”.
• Select “Disk management” under the heading “Storage”. All the existing partitions will get listed in the right pane.
• Right click on the drive letter you wish to change and select the option “Change Drive Letter and Paths”.
• Click on the “Change” button in the next dialog box and choose the new drive
  letter from the drop down list. Since you disabled the optical drive, you will now
  get the option to assign the drive letter previously assigned to it.
• Click on “OK” and exit the “Computer Management” application.Now, enable the optical drives you had disabled.
• Head back to the “DeviceManager” and enable optical drives.

Job done! Go to “My Computer” and check the drive listing.

The most common way of viewing the details of a Word document is by opening the document and then going to “Tools | Word count”, which gives the detailed statistics like the number of pages, word count, number of paragraphs, lines and so on. But did you know that there’s a simpler way out? You can view the statistics without even opening the document and it just requires four clicks!

Just follow these steps:

• Right click on the Word document and select “Properties”.
• In the properties dialog box, select the “Summary” tab.
• Click on the “Advanced” button in the “Summary” tab and there you go! All the statistics are right there!

To get back the “show desktop” icon do the following:

• Make sure “Quick Launch” is enabled
• Right click on the taskbar and then click on “Properties”, and a box will pop up.
• Under the taskbar tab, check the option that says “Show Quick Launch” and then click on “Apply”.
• After you are done with this, click on “Start” and then click on “Run”. A small box will pop up on the right hand corner. If any text is present, delete it and type the command “regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32” in the open box without the quotes. Wait for a couple of seconds and you will see a small window, which says “DllInstall in shell32 succeeded”.Now, you will be able to see the “Show desktop” icon again.

The “System Restore”feature in Windows XP works perfectly fi ne for most of us. But the over cautious nature of the feature does result in a lot of storage space being occupied by the system restore files. If you would only like to have the latest restore point and not all the restore points that have been created, you can delete all the previous restore points and free some space. Follow the instructions to learn how to clean up the old redundant restore points.

1. Open “My Computer” and right click on the drive whose restore points you want to clear.
2. Select “Properties” and under the “General” tab, click on “Disk Cleanup”.
3. Click on “More Options” tab and select the last option “Cleanup” under the “System Restore” section.You will be asked if you want to delete all but the most recent restore points,
4. click on “Yes” to delete all leaving the most recent of system restore points

Click Start, Run, Type REGEDIT Navigate to the following key:HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \Explorer \ FileExts

Find the extension you wish to edit and click on the [+] sign to expand OpenWithList (in the right pane, you will see a list with the programs, like “paint.exe”, “notepad.exe”, etc).

Use the File, Export option to back up the key.
Click on the one you wish to delete and press the delete button.

Still some items may show up in the Openwith lists, which comes from the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry key, which is common for all the user profiles. You may
remove the entries from the following key:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ .xxx \OpenWithList where xxx is a file extension.With that removed, Windows may still show some default open-with lists.Depending upon the file type, the openwith listing is generated from the subkeys under:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \SystemFileAssociations \ \

Simply put, don’t remove this part as it affects many file types, not aparticular one

Bsnl server has a major bug in it, by which it fails to block two simultaneous connections from the phone and establishes a connection with full internet working.Old scrap sever running on sun os.

Supported devices: all phones with multichannel gprs support


For connection on your mobile phone.


1) Make two connections like BSNL111 and BSNL222


2) Select the application you got to have the full connection working on.

Surpassingly “web” now just select “BSNL111” profile and select a link like wap.cellone.in the page will get open,

just press the red button such that the “web” application goes in the background.

Make sure that the gprs connection is still established with the web app.

Two parallel lines on the top left of the screen will confirm this



3) Now open any other app that requires web connection like opera. Select BSNL222 and open any other link like

wap.google.com, u will get AN error.

the aim of using the other app is to perform multi-channel gprs,

this is verified by seeing some dots on the pre-existing connection established by “web”

ACCESS DENIED.
Technical description:
403 Forbidden - You are not allowed to communicate with the requested resource.”

4) close opera and open web and open a site like esato.com

5) if everything is done as said here then esato will load and Thats it! We have the whole internet!


For connection on pc.

1)create a connection and enter the number to be dialed as *99***1#

2) enter the string as extra initialization command

3)now dial from pc, the connection will be established

4)pick the phone and open “web” open “wap.cellone.in” the phone shows error .

5) close “web” and then from the browser open
and thats it ! The whole internet is here .


settings for profiles

apn: celloneportal

ip: 192.168.51.163

port : 8080


leave other fields blank as they are of the least concern!

the browser settings on pc 2 go the same as mentioned above!

On the Internet, you will find several Web sites promoting the use of Registry programs. These Web sites make you aware of the importance of registry maintenance and how registry programs can simplify the process. However, there is very little information available on how often you need to scan the registry.

Quite often, we hear people asking you to clean up your registry on a daily basis. However, the truth is that there are no specific set norms that control how often you need to clean your Windows Vista registry.

In fact, the frequency of registry repair and clean up activity depends on several factors. For instance, if your computer is new and you do not make any major changes to it, you may not need to perform a registry scan for a long time.

However, there are certain circumstances that require you to be more frequent in performing registry repair using the registry tool. Some of these are listed below:

• Your frequency of installing and uninstalling applications is high.
• You are an avid Web user and frequently download Web content such as audio/video files, multimedia games, and freeware/shareware programs on your computer.
• You often change system configuration and add/remove computer hardware such as monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, and memory.

Over the years, with the introduction of each new operating system, work has been done to make the registry more stable and less susceptible to errors. This is the reason why, on a Windows Vista computer, you may not have to clean up the registry as often as you did for its older counterparts. But, it is always a good practice to perform a registry scan when:

• You uninstall a big application from the system.
• You are trying to completely remove malware programs, such as virus, spyware and adware from your system.
• You experience slow computer problems.
• You start experiencing frequent system errors and your computer starts freezing up often.
• You are performing regular PC maintenance.
• 

All said and done, remember that the registry is a vital component in keeping your computer functional. This is the reason why it is important for you to be aware of various threats that may cause harm to your system and try to take measures to combat these threats. First and foremost, you must install antivirus and antispyware tools on your system and turn on their real-time protection. It is also a good practice to configure a firewall to help prevent external malicious intrusions. You must be vigilant about the Web sites you browse and the content you download to your system.


Always ensure that all this content is from a legitimate Web site and that you do not download any malicious software to your system in the process. You must also be careful while opening e-mail attachments. Never open attachments that come with unsolicited e-mails or spam emails. It is also a good practice to implement an antispam tool to block spam mails. Lastly, perform regular registry maintenance using tools such as Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter that are shipped with your Windows Vista operating system.

Hand Held Products is famous for its range of image-based data collection solutions for mobile applications, and the company has just dropped an announcement that it has equipped its Dolphin 7900 Mobile Computer with GPS technology. This upgrade makes the Dolphin 7900 the first and only industrial-grade mobile data collection solution to come with a fully integrated GPS chipset that is currently up for sale to the masses, while the rest of its competition play catch up.

The Dolphin 7900 has been specially designed and constructed for use in field sales and services, courier, utilities, government and route accounting. The integrated high-performance GPS architecture provides users with fast and accurate location-based information for navigation services, mobile asset tracking, and documentation of field service or visitation. It will feature multi-mode wireless connectivity, comprising of GSM/GPRS, wireless LAN and Bluetooth for real-time voice and data communication. When used in tandem with GPS, real-time tracking and management of field-based assets are enabled.

The Dolphin 7900 is also more than capable of reading both linear and 2D barcodes, in addition to capturing digital images and signatures thanks to the Adaptus Imaging Technology 5.0 found inside. This marriage of functions allow customers to use a single, complete and affordable solution without placing additional burden on the company that will indirectly result in support and management costs that arise from using multiple devices simultaneously. According to Senior Product Manager Scott Garmon, “The integration of GPS into the Dolphin 7900 enables enterprises to run new applications that can increase productivity and efficiency, while enhancing customer service. GPS opens new doors to advanced capabilities and, until now, it’s only been available in solutions with inferior durability or limited functionality. With the 7900, organizations can now deploy a comprehensive and extremely reliable solution to their workers in the field.

It was inevitable. With the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 competing for the "next-gen" first place spot, both armed with Grand Theft Auto IV shipping day and date, nitpicking comparisons between each version was expected from vocal fans. Rockstar Games has commented multiple times that both versions are identical, minus a few platform specific features and Xbox 360 exclusives.

We've played both versions of GTA IV—quite a bit, actually. We've noticed a handful of differences, some of which you know, some which you may not, many of them hair-splitting. We break it down, from frame rate to controls, after the break.

Installation
The PlayStation 3 version has a mandatory 3.4 GB hard drive installation that will be the longest 7 minutes and 20 seconds of your life if you're chomping at the bit to play. It's initially an annoyance, but PS3 owners will welcome it. There is no option to install the game to an Xbox 360 hard drive.

Frame Rate
The Grand Theft Auto series has never been synonymous with a rock solid frame rate, something it generally seems to get a pass for. While GTA IV is smoother in general than it's predecessors, it can expectedly suffer during chaos. The Xbox 360 version seemed capable of achieving a smoother frame rate, peaking higher in certain circumstances, such as in confined spaces or during light traffic, but both versions seemed to regularly run at a similar clip.

Pop-In & Loading
With a huge, seamless streaming world, data must be constantly read from the disc. The PS3 version, with its required HDD install, loads missions a couple seconds faster and decreases pop-in. The Xbox 360 version can suffer from some very noticeable texture loading, as things like trees, vehicles and building signs will regularly pop-in as one tools about town. It can be distracting, especially during high speed chases, and the PS3 version isn't entirely immune from it, but it's not a game killing problem.

Graphics
The two versions are so close to identical, visually, that putting together a comparison was a challenge. Initially, it appeared that the PS3 suffered from more noticeable aliasing than its 360 counterpart, but after eyeballing the final retail copy, they appear to be on par. I noticed that the paint filter applied to cover some of the game's imperfections appeared a tiny bit muddier on the PS3 version, with night time scenes seeing more streakiness. Some of these minor complaints may be the result of our particular television settings and require the finest of fine tooth combs to assess.

Downloadable Content
The Xbox 360 version is announced to have two exclusive downloadable content packs for purchase. Details on what will be contained in those two exclusive batches of DLC are sparse, so we can't judge what they'll bring to the table, nor do we know if the PlayStation 3 version will eventually get its own DLC from Rockstar. If you're looking for more GTA IV, and you may very well be after you've completed the core game, you're going to want the 360 version.

Achievements
The Xbox 360 version has the requisite list of Achievements exclusive to the platform, creative and challenging goals that sometimes go beyond the regular gaming experience. However, as with other GTA games, stat-tracking for kills, stunt jumps, and the dozens of extras will keep completionists on the PS3 side happy.

Motion Controls
The PS3 version has optional SIXAXIS motion controls for piloting helicopters, steering boats and doing motorcycle tricks. You'll probably leave it off, just like I did.

Good Vibrations
GTA IV supports vibration in the Xbox 360 controller and the DualShock 3, so PS3 owners won't be left in the force feedback lurch.

Final Thoughts
The good news for Grand Theft Auto fans is that whatever platform you have chosen as your own, GTA IV excels on both. They are almost evenly matched, feature for feature. Gamers will have to decide which is more important to them, a slightly more technically sound experience on the PlayStation 3 or downloadable content and Xbox Live integration on the Xbox 360.

If this were a personal decision, I'd have chosen the PlayStation 3 edition, mostly based on my preference for the DualShock controller and the performance edge. However, one thing that we have yet to experience is how well the PlayStation Network will handle the online portions of GTA IV, an extremely important consideration. I place less of an emphasis on features like Achievements and Gamerscore, but appreciate how well crafted and important these features are to others.

In the end, each version stands on its own, with the only downside to the differences being that those invested in their particularly backed console will expend so much effort focusing on something far less important than the game itself.

The University of Minnesota operates a fax gateway which allows students and staff to send faxes anywhere. Even if you don't go to UMinn, you may use the service to send faxes to folks at the University and exchanges local to the campus.


The structure for e-mailing a fax is:


To: /pn=John.Doe/dd.fax=234-5678/@fax.tc.umn.edu
Put your recipient's name, with a period between the first and last names, after pn= and put the seven digit fax number after the characters dd.fax=. This name will be printed in the To: field on the fax cover page. The area code for the University of Minnesota is +1-612, so you don't need to supply an area code.


For more information, send e-mail to ccs@maroon.tc.umn.edu.


rabbit.rgm Sacramento Fax Service

This service is a feature of a Sacramento, California-based bulletin board system. You can use it to send faxes to areas that are a local call from Sacramento (that's area code +1-916) including the California State Legislature. This service is run as a hobby and is connected to the Internet via UUCP, so it can take from 12 to 24 hours for your fax to be delivered or for the help files to reach you. It does not support multiple addressing—only one fax number per message. It also does not send a cover page, so be sure to start your message with a note directing it to someone's attention. It will truncate faxes longer than two pages (that's 132 lines). To use this fax service, send e-mail:


To: faxline@rabbit.rgm.com



Subject: local (7 digit) phone number, without area code



Body:



For complete usage information, send e-mail



To: request@rabbit.rgm.com



Subject: 052
For a list of some legislators' fax numbers in the Sacramento area, send e-mail:


To: request@rabbit.rgm.com



Subject: 050
Swedish University Network

The Swedish University Computer Network (called sunet) operates a national fax service that can be used by anyone at no cost. Users in Sweden can use it to send faxes all over the world, but users outside Sweden can use it for telephone numbers anywhere within Sweden.


To send a fax to Arlo Cats (wow, this cat gets around, doesn't he?) at +46-87654321 (that's international notation for Sweden, phone number 08/765 43 21) send e-mail:


To: Arlo_Cats@F087654321.fax.sunet.se
Note that you will always have to preface the phone number with the letter F, for fax. For more information, e-mail


faxmaster@fax.sunet.se
Commercial Services

The following services charge for use, but you may find they're easier to use because they cover much larger areas than any of the free services. You can pick one service and use it as a sort of "one-stop-shop" for all your e-mail-to-fax needs, without worrying whether your fax's destination is in a covered city or area code.


FAXiNET

Another fax-by-e-mail service is FAXiNET, which lets you send ASCII text or PostScript documents to fax machines worldwide. FAXiNET can currently send faxes to more than 50 countries and plans to add more. The company can also receive faxes for you, which will be delivered to you via electronic mail.


Accounts for individuals cost 75 cents per page, plus a one-time $20 activation fee. Additional services, including adding your custom logo and signature to your faxes, are available at extra cost. Corporate accounts are also available. More information is available from AnyWare Associates, FAXiNET, 32 Woodland Road, Boston, MA 02130. (617) 522-8102. E-mail: sales@awa.com


InterFax

InterFax enables you to send faxes via e-mail within the US or internationally. InterFax is a fee-based service (billed to your credit card) but, unlike the services already listed, InterFax lets you send faxes anywhere, not just select locations. As of this writing, InterFax costs $5 per month, which includes your first five fax pages. Additional pages cost 50 cents each. There is a one-time sign-up charge of $25. For further information, send e-mail to faxmaster@pan.com, or contact InterFax at PO Box 162, Skippack, PA 19474 USA. Phone: (215) 584-0300. Fax: (215)584-1038.


RadioMail

This e-mail-to-fax service lets you send faxes to just about any country you can name. Prices vary accordingly—it's much less expensive to send a fax to a "well-connected" country (like Canada and Sweden) than less-connected places like Laos and the Solomon Islands.


All fax messages are charged on a per-page basis. Faxes to the U.S. and Canada are billed at the rate of 99 cents per page. The rate for international faxes depends on the destination country: $0.99, $1.99, $3.99, or $4.99 per page.


RadioMail stands out because the service doesn't require that you have access to a telephone line—it can work using a wireless modem. To become a RadioMail subscriber, users need a wireless modem and the special RadioMail software. According to the company, "RadioMail supports DOS computers, Macintosh computers and HP Palmtops in addition to providing one-way communications on the Newton." For more information, send e-mail to radiohelp@radiomail.net.


Unigate

Unigate is another pay-for-use service that enables you to send faxes to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. (It offers other interesting services as well, including the ability to send e-mail that turns into postal mail and the ability to receive faxes as electronic mail.)


Most of us probably don't need to send faxes to Russia, but if you do this is probably cheaper than however you're doing it now. Fax service from USA to Russia (or back) is $1.59 per page; from Russia to Canada is 1.79 per page. For more information, send e-mail to:


yuri@atmos.washington.edu
FaxLinq

This service doesn't quite fit into the e-mail-to-fax arena, but it's close enough to mention here. With FaxLinq, you may receive facsimile messages as e-mail. Your correspondents send a fax to the service's machine, which is converted to a TIFF file and sent to you in a MIME-compliant e-mail message. (You must be able to handle MIME e-mail and view TIFF files—you can't receive faxes as ASCII text.) FaxLinq is a one-way ticket: it doesn't handle e-mail-to-fax transmissions.


There is an annual subscription fee of $39, which includes 10 pages of facsimile transmission. Additional pages received cost $1 per page. FaxLinq uses deposit accounts: you must pay in advance for any faxes you expect to receive. Should a fax be received for you when your account balance is not sufficient to cover the number of pages received, you will be notified by e-mail.


For more information, e-mail info@antigone.com or write: Antigone Press, 1310 Clayton Street, Suite 15, San Francisco CA 94114.


Note: For updates on how to send faxes via e-mail, check out my FAQ called (appropriately enough), "How can I send a fax from the Internet?" This file is posted twice monthly to the Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services, alt.online-service, alt.bbs.internet, alt.answers and news.answers. You can also receive it via electronic mail by sending e-mail in the following manner:

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

Subject: subject line is ignored

Body: send /usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq

By the way, George Pajari maintains another interesting fax FAQ list. That document is concerned with fax standards and computer-based faxing systems but does not focus on faxing from the Internet. Here are some of the topics it covers:

Can I use my * data modem to send/receive faxes?

Can my fax modem transmit data?

How can I fax PostScript or PCL documents using computer-based fax?

How can I view incoming faxes on my computer?

How can I print incoming faxes on my computer?

Can fax modems also handle data or voice calls?

What resolution are fax images?

Can I take a fax file and edit it?

Is there a standard program interface (API) for fax communications?

How can I share my single phone line with voice, fax, data, and so on?

You can grab a copy from the Usenet groups comp.dcom.fax, alt.fax, or news.answers. It's also available via FTP at rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/fax-faq/*

The most (in)famous fax-from-the-Internet service is the brainchild of Carl Malamud (the creator of Internet Talk Radio) and Marshall Rose. They're doing research on how to integrate special-purpose devices, like facsimile printers, into the fabric of the Internet.


The official name for this project is "an experiment in remote printing", or TPC.INT. The experiment is a good hack, enabling Internet users to easily send faxes via electronic mail. It works simply enough—send electronic mail to a special address, and soon after (if your recipient's fax machine is in a covered area) out comes a freshly-minted fax. After the deed is done, you will receive electronic mail telling you if your fax was successfully sent or not.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: What does TPC stand for? Go rent the film The President's Analyst, Paramount Pictures, 1967.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A variety of companies, institutions and citizens linked to the Internet have joined the experiment by linking a computer and fax modem to the Net. When an organization joins the remote-fax service, it specifies which areas it is willing to send faxes to. In most cases, an organization will allow faxes to be sent to any machine that is a local call from its fax server.


As a result, with just a smattering of organizations participating, you can't send a fax just anywhere. When you send an e-mail fax message, you (naturally) must include the phone number of the recipient's fax machine. The TPC.INT server looks at the phone number and decides if any participating fax machines cover the area to which you want to send a fax. If so, your message is routed to the appropriate machine for "faxation." Otherwise, you will receive electronic mail with the disappointing news that your fax couldn't be delivered.


Although the service is free, the service's creators are investigating ways to help the organizations recover the cost of sending faxes. So far, this has been primarily through little advertisements—sponsorship messages touting the good name of the organization operating the fax node—on the title page of the resulting fax.


To send a fax by e-mail, send this message:


To: remote-printer.info@phone_number.iddd.tpc.int
where info contains information for the cover page. In info, / is turned into a line break and _ is turned into a space. For example, the address:


To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551212.iddd.tpc.int
Would send a fax to +1-202-555-1212 with the cover page:


Please deliver this facsimile to:



Arlo Cats



Room 123

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: There's another way to address faxes which works more reliably sometimes. In this format, the phone number is backwards and the numbers are separated by periods. It looks ugly, but it works:

To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.0.2.1.tpc.int

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a FAQ about the TPC.INT service, send electronic mail (any subject line and message body will do) to tpc-faq@town.hall.org. For a list of the areas where faxing is currently available with the service, e-mail tpc-coverage@town.hall.org.


There is also a mailing list for discussion of the service. To subscribe, send e-mail to tpc-rp-request@aarnet.edu.au. Administrative questions about the project should be directed to the following:


tpc-admin@town.hall.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: There is also a World Wide Web page that serves as a central location for information about the TPC.INT fax service. If your Web browser can display forms, you can even fill out a form and send a fax interactively. Use your favorite Web browser to connect to http://linux1.balliol.ox.ac.uk/fax/faxsend.html

If you want to know the gory technical and implementation details of the TPC.INT experiment, there are three RFCs you might want to read:

RFC 1530 covers the general principles and policies of the experiment.

RFC 1529 covers administrative policies

RFC 1528 covers technical procedures for implementation

Here's an abbreviated list (as of this writing) of the places you can fax using the TPC.INT service. Many times, the entire country or area code is not covered, so check the current coverage list for a complete breakdown. You can get a complete and current list by sending e-mail (any subject line, any message body) to the following:

tpc-coverage@town.hall.org

Outside the United States and Canada

Australia (+61)
Denmark (+45)
Germany (+49)
Japan (+81)
Korea (+82)
New Zealand (+64)
Portugal (+351): Lisbon (+351-1)
Sweden (+46)
United Kingdom (+44):

Canada and the United States (+1)

+1-202: Washington, D.C. (except Congress)
+1-212: New York
+1-301: Maryland
+1-310: California
+1-313: Michigan
+1-317: Indiana
+1-408: Sunnyvale, California
+1-410: Maryland
+1-412: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
+1-415: San Francisco, California
+1-416: Toronto
+1-508: Massachusetts
+1-510: Central California
+1-516: New York
+1-608: Wisconsin
+1-613: Massachusetts
+1-617: Massachusetts
+1-703; Virginia
+1-714: Irvine, California
+1-718: New York
+1-800: Toll-free calls
+1-813: Tampa
+1-818: California
+1-819: Quebec, Canada
+1-905: Markham, Canada
+1-909: California
+1-917: New York, New York
+1-919: North Carolina

You may find that the following e-mail-to-fax services are a little funky, sometimes unreliable, or downright unusable. But the upside is, they're free! (To be honest, you'll probably find that they all work pretty well, but I do hear the occasional complaint about unreliable services. I just thought I'd warn you.)

The fax machine, like electronic mail, has helped revolutionize how we work. Businesses large and small send and receive faxes (short for facsimiles) any time a copy of a document is needed quickly on the other side of town, or the other side of the planet. Faxing has some advantages over electronic mail—you can easily send images and, more notably, your recipient doesn't need to be wired to the Internet to receive a fax. A phone line and an inexpensive machine or fax modem is all it takes.


Fax machines are devices that can send a copy of a printed page over a telephone line to another fax machine. Standard faxes work by "scanning" the page to transmit for light and dark areas. The machine converts the tonal values to sounds and sends them over a phone line to a recipient machine that converts the sounds back into light and dark tones and prints them on paper.


Although fax machines have been in popular use since the 1970s, the technology for turning the printed page into sound was invented hundreds of years ago. Not until the invention of the telephone and the proliferation of computers and microchips, did fax machines become a practical method of information exchange.


Here's the best part: because you're on the Internet, you don't even need a fax machine to send faxes. That's right—you can send a fax without using a fax machine or one of those fancy New-Age fax modems. There are several services for sending a fax via electronic mail. So, if you need to send a note to a friend or an associate who's not online, you can do so without logging out of your Net account.


Note: Although you may think fax machines are just a staple for big business, small offices and home-based businesses have also discovered their usefulness. If the current trend continues, by 1995, 30 percent of all U.S. homes will have a fax machine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of these services are free, run as experiments or by hobbyists. Others are commercial services that charge a fee for every fax you send. As you might expect, the quality and coverage of these services can vary considerably. The free services all have limited coverage areas: most span only a city or a few area codes. The commercial services often cover wider areas, but are (of necessity) more expensive.


So, how do you send a fax via e-mail? Read on. The following information discusses eight services that will let you do just that. And, since this is e-mail, you can send your fax to multiple destinations, or even a combination of fax machines and regular e-mail recipients. Be sure to notice that the procedure is not standardized because each service operates a little differently from the rest.


All of these services let you send plain old ASCII text. Some of them can even handle PostScript documents, should you want to send a fax with fancy formatting or graphics. But unlike a "real" fax machine, all of these services can only send information that is stored in your computer: that hand-written letter from Aunt Zelda and your kid's finger-paint artwork just can't be sent in this manner (unless, of course, you scan it in to your computer and convert the graphic to a PostScript document—I don't even want to think about that.). If you just want to send unformatted documents created with your word processor, you've got it easy

Ping uses the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to send messages across the network.


Most of the Internet tools (Telnet, FTP, Finger, Gopher, World Wide Web, and so on) communicate across the network using the Internet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP is a complex protocol that breaks messages up into packets, sends them over the network, and puts them back together again at the other end. During transmission, packets may be lost, duplicated, or delayed, and TCP also includes mechanisms for detecting and dealing with these conditions.


Some applications, however, don't require all the complexity of TCP, so the Internet supports two other, simpler protocols: User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).


Ping requests, for example, always fit into a single packet, and it is no big deal if that packet is lost, because the originating application can always try again a few seconds later if no response is received the first time.


Ping checks to see if another host is reachable by sending it a series of ICMP ECHO_REQUEST messages, and listening for the responses. All Internet hosts are required to respond to ICMP ECHO_REQUEST messages, so if you can't get through to a host with Ping, then it is pretty much guaranteed that none of the other Internet applications (such as Telnet) will work either.

Ping is one of the most basic Internet tools. It checks to see whether another machine on the network is reachable from your own host by sending it a message and waiting for a reply.


The original BSD (Berkeley Standard Distribution) version of Ping is quite terse in its output

Here is a camera that knows when to capture smiles. The Olympus µ820 will help you record smiling faces of your loved ones with its unique Smile Shot Scene feature.

The Smile Shot Scene mode can trigger the shutter button when a smile on a human face is detected. During testing, the mode takes just a couple of seconds to scan the frame of your face and snaps right after you show your teeth. While a smile has to be wide and curvy for the Olympus µ820 to recognize, with a little teeth bared, it quickly reacts.

The special feature also seems to work better when the subject is closer or zoomed up close. Otherwise, the camera might take a bit more time to find the face in its frame.

Another cool part about this feature is that it works for shots with multiple subjects in it, though it does trigger the shutter when only one of the people in the frame smiles.

Apart from the Smile Shot Scene feature, there are many other cool features aboard the Olympus µ820. With any µ series, you can expect each model to perform in rugged conditions with its weatherproof body. The same goes for the Olympus µ820, which works well come rain or shine.

The Olympus µ820 design is further enhanced by the eight-megapixel charge-coupled device and Olympus lens that comes with 5X optical zoom, as opposed to 3X which is considered a standard offering by cameras in this class.

To access menu items and review your digital files, the Olympus µ820 comes with a 2.7-inch HyperCrystal liquid crystal display.

As far as form factor goes, the camera is easy to grip. And with buttons grouped to one side, you can even operate it single-handedly.

With the Image Stabilisation mode and Shadow Adjustment technology, getting sharp, rich pictures is easy with the Olympus µ820. Shadow Adjustment technology is great for photographing dark backgrounds while another technology, BrightCapture, enhances the images taken under low-light conditions by adjusting the sensitivity level. Try taking photos outside at night under a full moon with no flash, you will get a good sense of how well the camera reproduces the different hues of shadowed and dimmed areas.

Also, the TruePic III image processing engine enhances photo realism and at the same time makes the camera work faster even when capturing photos as big as 3,264 by 2,488 pixels. Indeed, you can record shots one after another swiftly, or make use of the Sequence Shot mode which snaps at seven frames per second (fps).

For still shot recordings, there are many Scene mode options to choose from. Just a little bit of time is needed to get familiar with what each setting can produce. Otherwise, items such as ISO setting, white balance and focusing system can be set according to your preference.

A mode that will be useful for close-up shots is Super Macro, which lets you point the lens as close as three centimetres towards the subject. And there are post-capture features which allow simple editing.

You can also shoot video clips and get output of 640 by 480 pixels at 30fps. At such a high setting, you will find little jarring as you play back the files on the computer monitor or TV set.

The supplied software is a standard offering that will help you download, edit and organise your photos and videos easily. Interface cables are supplied as well, so the only extras you might want to ask from the vendor should you buy the model is a big-capacity xD-Picture Card to match the camera’s eight-megapixel capability.