Students to get Windows 7 for £30 in the UK ($30 in the US too!)

Tom Warren over at Neowin told me this morning about an excellent Windows 7 offer in the UK, where students will be able to get either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional for just £30 : We are offering students the opportunity to buy Windows 7 for an amazing discounted price, £30 for either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional. You can take advantage of this offer from October 1st but you will need to be quick as it is for a limited time only and is only eligible to college and university students with a valid .EDU email address (an email address given by the college or university, for example: Suzanne@leeds.ac.uk ), a PC that is currently running a genuine copy of Windows Vista or Windows XP and can run Windows 7. This offer will be available from 1st October so please check back then for details on how to take advantage of this great offer

DIAS-iS is now certified for Windows 7

I've been playing with Windows 7 for quite some time and the internal deployment at the company i work for is also coming along quite nicely. A few machines are still on the RC and our branch office is still running on Vista, but this should be resolved until the end of the next month.

However, we're also an ISV. DIAS-iS has been running on Windows Vista since the release – thanks to the efforts of our developers, who fixed everything during the beta phase of Windows Vista. As such, our software ran on Windows 7 since the beginning.

During the past few weeks, i did all the necessary administrative work to get our Software certified with the "Compatible with Windows 7″ Logo.

Doing this isn't that hard, but it requires you to jump through quite a few hoops.

Here's a basic rundown of steps:

• Obtain a MS Authenticode certificate from Verisign. Note that other code signing certs won't work (e.G. Thawte)
• Create a WinQual Account here
• You'll need to sign a sample .exe with the code signing cert from step one
• Download the Software Logo Toolkit
• Download the Windows 7 Logo Requirements Document
•  
• Both of these packages contain all the documentation you need – most of the requirements are easily satisfied if you have an application that behaves nicely, uninstalls correctly, works in TS environments
• Create an empty Windows 7 x64 VM. Note that it must be x64.
• Install the Software Logo Toolkit on the machine
• Start the GUI, start the Session Server in a second session on the same machine
• Run through all the phases, make sure the report says "Pass" or "Pass with warnings" (verify that the warnings are not real errors)
• Submit the .xml through the WinQual account. You'll immediately get certified

So it's not that hard.

The key point to delivering a good user experience is to ensure that your application uses standard installation technology like .MSI, that it doesn't require administrative privileges, that all configuration is stored in the userprofile (Registry or %APPDATA%) and that it's multi-session capable.

And that's all the "Compatible with Windows 7″ logo verifies – so if you already have a well-behaving Windows application, getting that logo is easy as pie. It does not cost anything directly – the only costly requirement is the fact that you need a VeriSign Authenticode certificate. This will set you back 400$. Microsoft does not want any money from you for this Logo – and it can be great in Marketing your competitiveness and readiness as a software vendor

Windows Server 2008 R2 and the missing fax printer

Windows Server 2008 R2 was released to MSDN a few weeks ago, and of course i want and installed it on a machine that did something more or less useful – a Fax server. Which is of course an internal system and not really in production.

I’m using a Diva BRI-2 2 Channel PCI-E Card, which already has support for Windows Server 2008 R2, and installing the Diva Software went without any issues.

Installing the Fax service was also easy, but there was no Fax printer to be seen anywhere.

I’ve followed the TechNet documentation for creating Fax printer on Windows Server 2008 R2, but it didn’t work – at first i received a “Permission denied” error message, after which i started Windows Fax & Scan using Administrator privileges.

This didn’t help that much – i could now go through the wizard, but no Fax account and no printer was created. This seemed strange.

Now, this really seemed like a permission issue. So i disabled UAC, rebooted the server, and tried it again. Everything worked – i was able to create the Fax printer, and after sharing it faxing worked as it should.

So, what now? Why doesn’t this work with UAC? I’ve been running our WS08 servers with UAC disabled (our Vista client were UAC enabled, and so are our Windows 7 clients), and thought WS08R2 should also work well with UAC enabled. But apparently, that wasn’t a good idea.

'Hand of God' rock being sold on eBay

(CNN) -- A man in northern Idaho says he has seen a massive hand of God in his life, and he is willing to share it with the highest bidder.

Paul Grayhek says the "Hand of God" appeared in his backyard in March.

Paul Grayhek, 52, listed the rock formation he dubbed the "Hand of God Rock Wall" on the online auction Web site eBay. The highest bid was $250 early Sunday, with three days left to go in the auction.

The hand-like formation, approximately 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide, appeared in Grayhek's backyard after a rockfall during Lent on March 8, he said.

The Coeur d'Alene resident said he faced tough times after losing his job, and believed the rock was a sign.

"I prayed between licking my wounds and looking for a job," he said. "We rarely get rockfalls and this formation is 20 feet from my house. It's definitely a symbol of the hand of God in my life."

However, the winning bidder on eBay should not start clearing out his backyard. Grayhek is not planning to part with the formation.

The buyer will "basically be buying the rights, complete and exclusive rights" to the rock, including literary and movie rights, according to Grayhek.

Grayhek said he plans to use the money from the sale to pursue an unpaid internship in counseling when he graduates with a master's degree in social work in two years.

"People think I'm some holier-than-thou person trying to get rich. I'm not," Grayhek said. "The purpose is to spread the story of God and eBay is just a vehicle."

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/26/idaho.rock.auction/index.html

 

Google hack to instantly search for files

Thanks to Jimmy Ruska's video on YouTube, there are several quirks about phrasing search queries for Google that can find you files in a jiffy. I will detail the method and include it as a Firefox bookmark first, and then I'll follow up with detailed information on the actual query.

Adding a bookmark

Here's the process to have a bookmark in Firefox such that you can search for an MP3 song in Google by just typing "music yourSongTitle" in the Firefox address bar.

1. Create a new bookmark

• Select "Bookmarks" from menu.
• Select "Organize Bookmarks…"
• Click on the "New bookmark button" (below the files menu)

2. Fill in the following for the fields in the window that appears

• Name: Enter the name for bookmark. e.g. : Directory Listing
• Location: Here, copy and paste the following Google query (an explanation follows)

"http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=intitle%3A%22index.of%22
+%28mp3%29+%s+-html+-htm+-php+-jsp&btnG=Google+Search&meta="

(Include the whole query, without the quotation marks)

• Keyword: This is the word you will use in the address bar to invoke the results for a song title (in our example, it is "music")
• Description: Give a description or leave empty

3. Now open a new tab and type "music yourSongTitle" and viola! — you will see links of directory listing for the MP3 you wanted

Deciphering the query

The crux of this hack is the clever usage of Google search tags for narrowing the result to only directory listings with keywords "MP3″ and negating results that include html, htm, php or jsp as directory listings.

Here is the break up of the query and the meaning of the tags:

• intitle:"index of": This searches for the "index of" keyword in title of files. This is usually the directory file that contains the list of all files.
• (MP3): This tag implies a search for files with the keyword "MP3″ in the file name. To add more formats to search, include them separated by the OR ('|') separator.
• %s: This is where the yourSongTitle you enter gets inserted. A clever innovation here is to separate the keywords in your song name with '.' so that single character separations, such as underscores ('_') between words, are also included in results.
• -html -htm -php -jsp: This basically tells the search engine that you don't want (negate) html, htm, php or jsp files that give directory listings.

You can modify the same query for searching pdfs or any other file format. Also, there are few more keywords to limit the search to a particular site (site:siteName) or a filetype(filetype:pdf). I am no promoter of media piracy and the use of Google tag words makes search all the more effective and productive for daily use. Jimmy has also uploaded a new video on the implementation with few more features on his own site.

 

Adjust windows vista power setting

It’s still about to optimize efficiency in windows Vista. Windows Vista is automatically set to power setting called "balanced" power plan. This power plan appears to be fine for desktop computers and laptops, which are included. But laptops run on battery may require adjustment of this setting. Here's how:

• Go to Start menu point to Control Panel and point to Power Option icon.
• From here, you can select a different "Power Plan" or you can change the settings of the selected power plan manually.
• To adjust the selected setting, click the "Change Plan Settings" link under the "Balanced" entry.
• Adjust the settings to fit your systems needs or you can dive a little deeper by clicking the "Change advanced power settings" link.
• When you are finished, click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the window.

 

Note: This tips was intended for Windows Vista only, please let me know if this did not work properly in yours, then I will try to fix this tips.

 

Free download ATI Catalyst Software Suite 9.1 XP

Changelog:

This release of ATI Catalyst™ provides full OpenGL™ 3.0 extension support.
The following is a list of OpenGL™ 3.0 extensions added in Catalyst 9.1:
• ARB_framebuffer_object
• ARB_half_float_vertex
• ARB_texture_rg
• EXT_texture_array
• EXT_texture_integer
• EXT_transform_feedback
• NV_conditional_render
• WGL/GLX_create_context (for new 3.0 contexts)
• GLSL 1.3
• ARB_color_buffer_float
• ARB_vertex_array_object
• EXT_draw_buffers2

Lenovo ThinkStation S20 and D20 offer green computing

Lenovo has announced two new workstations, the Think Station S20 and D20, designed to meet the specific needs of staff. Besides the new ThinkCentre Station models, the company has also announced that it intends to present its new electronic trading platform, Lenovo eLounge designed to provide its customers a new interactive experience for Lenovo computers solutions online, by any party worldwide.

"The designers, engineers, researchers and developers require the highest level in the calculation of benefits to help them produce new step," said Tom Tobul, Executive Director, Enterprise, software and peripherals, Lenovo. "The new ThinkCentre workstations Station is expressed not only the ultimate in performance, but also a user-Centric design with an emphasis on quiet operation, even during heavy processing.

According to the vendor of computers, new ThinkCentre Station system has been "turbo-charged for services which give users a choice for the upcoming Intel Xeon processors with Intel Turbo Boost for high-performance processing. In addition, the new ThinkCentre Stations offers a choice for the last line of NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics cards, or one of ATI FirePro solutions. There is also an opportunity for another GPU to the NVIDIA Tesla C1060 Think Station platform.

In addition to providing our customers with two workstations for high performance, Lenovo is also offering a green computing solution, using recycled materials, with both models. According to the company, these workstations use recycled materials in 50 percent, while in model D20 about 30 percent post-consumer recycled material comes from recycled materials. In addition, the new ThinkCentre Station workstations have been certified for GREEN GUARD specifications.

Regarding pricing and availability is the Think Station D20 and S20 will be available from next month via the website of the supplier of the computer and select business partners, with prices starting at around £ 980 and £ 780 respectively, excluding VAT.

SSL Encrypted Usenet Access Now Available Most Usenet Sites

The benefits of SSL encrypted Usenet access are privacy and in some cases a significant increase in download speeds.

 

So you can download off Usenet sites and be protected that your identity is secure.

 

In some cases SSL makes it faster for Usenet downloads and uploads.

Officer Charged With Illegal Computer Use

MADISON - Town police on Tuesday arrested one of their own, charging him with illegally using police computers to track down information on various women, including his ex-wife and current and former girlfriends.

Officer Bernard Durgin Jr., a seven-year veteran of the Madison Police Department, was also suspended without pay on Tuesday by Chief Paul Jakubson for neglect of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer and other violations of department policy related to a separate incident.
Durgin already had been suspended with pay since early August, after a confrontation between New Haven police and a member of the Poor Boyz motorcycle club outside a bar. Durgin, according to police, was wearing the East Haven motorcycle club's colors and represented himself as an on-duty Madison police officer. Jakubson said Durgin had called in sick that day.

Officer Bernard Durgin Jr.

As a result of the investigation into the New Haven incident, Jakubson placed him on unpaid leave. Both the internal and criminal investigations into that incident are ongoing.

Durgin, a resident of East Haven, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In the computer-use case, Durgin was released Tuesday on $75,000 bail for an appearance in Superior Court in New Haven Oct. 16, police said.

That charge involves Durgin's alleged efforts to obtain private and personal information about women he met while working part-time as a security guard at Yale-New Haven Hospital. According to the arrest affidavit, Durgin made 34 separate inquiries about 17 people between Feb. 17, 2006, and July 14, 2007, using the computer in his cruiser to access the networks police use to obtain information about suspects.

In most cases the people were women with whom he had no more than a passing acquaintance. He also used the system to find out about his current and past girlfriends, his ex-wife and her family, a former fiancée and her partners and family, police said.

Police spoke to the human resources department and the head of protective services at Yale-New Haven and interviewed several of the women.

Durgin's arrest on a felony charge of computer crime, which covers a wide range of possible activities, came about as the result of the investigation into the August incident. Durgin had called a fellow officer, investigators said, and asked if he would look up information on someone using his cruiser's computer.

The officer pretended his computer was not working. A week earlier, he said, "Durgin had told me that his fiancée left him for another guy and that [Durgin] was going to try and find out who that guy was," according to the arrest affidavit. Police began looking into other inquiries Durgin had made.

Police use various information systems, including the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing system, the National Crime Information Center and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. It is a clear violation of policy - and illegal - for police to use those systems for personal reasons.

On Aug. 5 about 12:30 a.m., on a night when he had called in sick for the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, Durgin showed up outside a Temple Street bar in New Haven after an altercation between a suspect and New Haven police, according to Jakubson, who referred to the incident in a suspension letter given to Durgin Tuesday. Durgin reportedly showed his badge and told officers at the scene he was on the job with Madison police. Instead of assisting the other officers, Durgin interceded "on behalf of a convicted felon who had been violently resisting arrest," the chief wrote.

Durgin's actions "caused the investigating officer in the incident to relate deep concern about the display of motorcycle gang `colors'" by Madison police, Jakubson wrote.