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LangaList 2006-01-23 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) XP On Your USB Thumb/Flash DriveChances are you already either have a USB "thumb"
or "flash" drive, or you will have one in
the near future--- these little solid-state flash memory devices are
inexpensive, nearly ubiquitous, and very, very handy. Not only can they replace
floppy drives for casual file transfers, but the larger capacity thumb drives
also can serve as the basis for an excellent, fit-in-your-pocket software repair
kit, letting you diagnose and repair PCs, including those that might otherwise
be unbootable or that are locked by passwords or other problems. I've pulled the whole thing together in a complete
step-by-step article illustrated with many live screen shots. It's posted now,
free, at This isn't some ivory-tower tutorial under unrealistic conditions: I did the step-by-step myself, and the screen grabs are from my own primary system here. I'll show you exactly what you'll see on a real-life PC as you set up XP to boot from a USB flash drive! Having an entire, lightweight installation of XP on a self-contained, zero-footprint, USB drive is a wonderful thing that opens a whole world of easier, more-portable computing, troubleshooting and maintenance. Sooner or later, you'll have a USB drive--- and now you have the means to take XP with you, in your pocket! Click on over to Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Costs Little, Gives Lots! --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) The Empire Strikes BackMicrosoft has been getting nervous about Google, and has been revamping some of its products to try to stay competitive. The latest is the Microsoft mapping/driving-directions service, now accessed via http://local.live.com/ . The new service's nomenclature isn't clear; we'll call it Local.Live, for now. It's a major re-do of Microsoft's earlier cartographic engines, prompted by Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com ). Microsoft has added the ability to view either a plain map format or to superimpose satellite and aerial photos on an area of interest. Many of the aerial images come from the same sources that Google maps use, but some areas offer what MS calls a "birds' eye view" comprising low-altitude, *very* high-resolution photos. All the "bird's eye" areas I looked at appear to have been photographed multiple times: Viewing from different directions doesn't just rotate one image, but actually produces a different view, as shown by different shadows, angles and perspectives. While the "bird's eye" detail is very impressive, I don't think Local.Live as a whole is quite as slick as Google Maps; for one thing, the Google drag-where-you-want interface works at all zoom levels, whereas Microsoft's "bird's eye view" switches to a different, frame-based interface. Microsoft has consistently been at the forefront of interface design for many years now, but this bi-modal interface, whose operation changes depending on zoom level, is a step backwards. And neither Local.Live nor Google Maps can match Google Earth's http://earth.google.com/ incredible 3-D interface that lets you change your viewpoint's angle, altitude, direction of view, and speed in moving across the landscape. You can use Google Earth for driving directions, too, and can even have it "play" your route for you, giving you a 3-D animated preview of what your drive will look like. I find that especially nice when planning recreational trips--- you can plot different routes, and *see* which one will give you the nicest views! This battle of the mapping services is also interesting because Microsoft's original "Terraserver" ( http://terraserver.microsoft.com/ ) was the first attempt to put the Earth online, via aerial and satellite imagery, for the general public. Microsoft's been in this game a long time, and has the experience and resources to give Google a real run for its money. The power and quality of all the current online cartographic tools is astonishing. I can't wait to see what comes next! Click to email this item to a
friend 3) 100 Downloads
Nice find, Larry, thanks! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 4) RIP, Sygate Personal Firewall
I was sad to see it go, too, Keri. I'd recommended Sygate's products many times in the past. (BTW: We did give a heads-up about the Symantec acquisition last November.) Of course, the existing copies of Sygate Personal firewall will continue to function; they just won't be updated in the future. Basic firewalls don't need updating all that often--- it's the add-ons (antivirus, antispam, etc.) that require frequent updates. So, if you're using SPF for basic firewall protection--- to close ports--- there's no need to jump to something else right away. When the time comes to change, ZoneAlarm seems to have gotten its latest release under control--- it took three or four minor updates before the complaints started to die down, but it appears that the current versions are working as they should. And there are many other choices besides ZoneAlarm. Take a look
at "Readers Rate Desktop Firewalls" here: Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Simple Trick, Redux
It's a two step thing: You create a shortcut normally, using any target you wish. Then edit the shortcut and delete the target info. Or, more fully: Right click on any normal file (such as a text file) on your desktop. Select "Create Shortcut." The shortcut will be created. Next, right click on the new shortcut, select Properties, then the Shortcut tab, and delete the information in the "target" line and leave it blank. You can then use the "change icon" button, if you wish. And if you wish, click to the General tab to rename the shortcut to whatever you want. Click OK. You're done! Note that some system files have the "target" hardwired in; and some files are already shortcuts (URL shortcuts, for example). Although you can use these for the "Simple Trick," the way to keep it *really* simple is to start with a plain vanilla file, such as a text document. Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Last Week To "Recommend And Win"Next week, I'll choose three more monthly winners who each
will get a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (If your
name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription
will be extended by a full year.) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Custom, Highly-Focused Hard Drive Searching
Thanks, JC. It's free for personal use, or 24 Euros (about US$30) for the full boat version. But note that Windows Search's "advanced" functions let you do a lot of that, too. Want a file from 65 days ago? In "Advanced," select the "When was it modified" option, and type in the date for 65 days ago as both the start and end date for the search. the Search will then show you all files created on that one date. Likewise, want all files created in the last hour? Do the same search as above, using today's date as the start and end date. When the search completes, click the Date bar of the results window to sort the list with the newest files on top; check the time stamps to select files from any period within the day. Third party tools are fine, and often let you do more than the built-in tools. But sometimes, the built-in tools are fine by themselves! <g> Click to email this item to a
friend 8) More Reader Sites!Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter
what size.) Please click over to
http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the hundreds and
hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already
"Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the
Langa.Com web site, please see
http://langa.com/link.txt ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites
Starting At Costa Rica Real Estate walking/hiking in Britain Land up in the Hills of Orkney computer central Tahitian Princess Group Cruise Home Zalmor's corner of the Web Orangeville Fiddle and Step Dance Camp Going fast with class Chadwick and DeLeon House Curly's Landing Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Speed Up Via Hibernation
Yes, Lamar, hibernation can help, especially with older, slower machines. It "saves the state" of everything on the PC, and writes the entire contents of RAM and the CPU's registers to the hard drive without having to shut down each running program, one by one. When you restart, the RAM and CPU are restored to exactly the way they were prior to hibernation, with the same programs already running, etc. This can be much faster than a full boot. The main downside is that hibernation files can be huge--- they're equal to the amount of RAM you have, plus a skosh more. In systems with a lot of RAM, the resulting files can really bog down a backup/restore. They also must be on C:; so if you have a multiboot system, you can end up with the hibernation files for an alien OS in the middle of your main OS.... Lots more info: Click to email this item to a
friend 10-13) Plus! Edition Only:Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including:
Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content
in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web site with
over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any* issue of
the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much more---all for
around just $1 per month! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 14) Just For Grins
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friend (Give a gift subscription to
the LangaList Plus edition! The LangaList is published about 72 times a year, or about 6 times a month. See you next issue, 2006-01-26! Best, Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!) An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "Current Issue" section of http://langa.com. (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available at the Langa.Com site. UNSUBSCRIBE (instant removal!):
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