txt :: Windows costomisation (request for help) :)

K, so I was sitting today and found a cool program to improve xp's usability. But then I thought about how annoying it is that I can't find a list of these programs online that has a very easy to understand review criterias and etc.

I'm asking for your help so tell me about any cool programs for xp that either visually or functonally improve it. It can be either shareware or freeware (preferably). I'll try to compile a repository of "fixes" for the shareware ones once the article is done.

The criterias listed in a review will be:

- Price
- Visual pritiness
- Performance
- Memory usage (in Kb)
- Pros
- Cons
- A short review of what it exactly does

You just send me the names because I'm going to test all of this by myself anyway.

I'm also looking at several articles that describe these products so hopefully it will be valuable.

Thanks for help guys,

-fake.

link :: This is just plain cool !!!

Sand Storm

txt :: Free DivX

Since I formatted my computer and needed DivX again, I went to their site today and discovered that it's their aniversary and they're giving out the DivXCreate bundle for free!! Knowing how you guys all use legal downloads this is your opportunity! Go get it! According to the letter they had it was only going to last today (not sure about the validity on that). Just provide your email address and they email you a valid and legal key.

Here's the link if you need it DivX

-bla

link :: For all the web developers

Here's a link someone showed me today that shows a video of a rails server using Ruby as the scripting language. You'll die how simple things are on it when you see this!

Ruby on Rails

-bla

txt :: Happy B-day Google!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Google
Happy 7^th birthday to you!

joke :: Parking Spot

This one was told to me by my cousin Goga (he's on blog too)

Pedro was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an
important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up
toward heaven, he said "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a
parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of my
life and give up tequila."

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Pedro looked up again and said, "Never mind. I found one."

-bla

link :: Dolphins are... friends?!

This article came up on Slashdot today and talks about another aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Here's the link!

Dolphins

We all know (or at least those of us who have read Hitchhikers guide to galaxy) that dolphins are the second smartest beings on Earth!! So watch out... if you see one, just give it some fish and swim away.

-bla

txt/link :: For bla and other ppl who like Sherlock Holmes

Mik,

I stumbled across the coolest show on Cartoon Network during Adult Swim. It's a Japanese anime about this famous detective who solves murders that are actually really clever. It's called "Case Closed". Anyone ever seen it? It's pretty entertaining at 2:30 am when you can't sleep. I thought you would like it, I know you're a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Nice website too.

http://www.caseclosed.com

-R

txt :: Greatest Idea Ever

So how many times have you gotten up in the morning, hit that off button on your annoying alarm clock and fallen right back to sleep? Then woke up and realized you missed work, classes (no biggy), or whatever!

Ok so this idea came to Denis first and he shared with me. I was thinking about it a few months ago and thought of some improvements lol. Ready?

Alarm clock with a password!

The clock will be a normal alarm clock, but it will have a built in keypad and if you feel like you need enhanced alarming system to make sure you don't fall right back to sleep, then you can enable the "enhanced mode."

The function of the "enhanced mode" is this:

When the alarm goes off you have to enter a password or a keycode to turn it off. However, and this is an important addition I believe, you do not get to set the password! Instead it gets displayed (randomly every time) on the display every morning and you have to actually get up, read the code and enter it in.

So what's the main point? Well hopefully by the time you're up and read the keycode (which can be made annoyingly long - can even add user defined length) you'll be awake and won't go back to sleep.

Ok so I just felt like sharing this idea and wanted to see what you guys think lol. So have at it! (:

-bla

P.S. This product is patented by me and fake so don't even try to steal it!

txt :: Who I am and how I got here!

Since we now have a new member on our blog (welcome J! I really like what you picked for your name lol) I'm reviving this old post to hopefully get a few more introductions from people who haven't posted anything about how they connect to this blog. It'll help all of us out since we'll know from what area and you come from and how you tie into our crazy world. I'll be reviving this every once in a while so don't be surprised when you see it every time (:

So this post will go on as a "get to know everyone on this blog." Just for the people who don't know exactly who everyone is here (especially since everyone has weird nicknames - well everyone but me of course). So you can just post as a comment to this post and say whatever you want about yourself (doesn't even have to be true... lol) and how you know me and/or fake.

Just a thought... hehe if it doesn't catch on we'll get rid of this post!

P.S. I figure this post will stay as "current" for a while so everyone can have a chance to post to it. (:

-bla

link :: Use protection, carry a knife ;)

Protect yourself guys. RIAA and MPAA is at your door, no matter how much you downloaded.

Let's share wisdom about not getting caught :)

Introducing PeerGuardian 2!

A simple IP blocker that blocks IP's and subnets that are doing scanning of who is sharing/downloading for RIAA/MPAA.

Fully automatic, no configuration needed, just a little icon in the tray. Easy to install and seemless integration with windows, it's also fast to disable if you need to visit disney.com and etc. for some reason.

Enjoy,

-fake.

P.S. I've used this program myself for a while and want to share it with you guys. I get about 10-15 scans by RIAA or MPAA servers per day, now think if you're sharing something, do you really want them to see that picture of your grandma that you put up strictly for your family to download ;)

link :: Hacking elevators :)

I found this article a long time ago but totally forgot to post it.

Very useful and very easy to implement, literally with a press of.... two... buttons.

Enjoy :)

-fake.

P.S. Post the locations where it works, I'm very interested in followup.

txt :: The guys and dating...

As you guys probably noticed we have several girls up on the blog. Well, since we started they really said nothing… Except for the time they introduced them selves. So here we go, please don’t call me gay, but make comments instead.

Recently I was talking to person X who was really wondering why are guys so shy. I was stumped because I really didn’t know. Why are we so shy when it comes to dating? How many of us prayed inside that the girl will make the first move or at least show us that desirable “green light”? Some of us go for the girls and get them because we try so hard but even those still have that shyness in the back of their head.

Really, aren’t we supposed to be macho’s? Aren’t we considered the strong, more decisive gender?

It’s funny how we go out on a date and our hands start shaking or we can’t really produce anything reasonably intelligent out of the hole we call mouth. That may sound like a very first date we ever had in our lives, but in reality it’s not just that, second, third and etc. are all the same, the only difference is that with time the length of this shaky condition decreases. And if we’re “experienced daters” or macho’s then it’ll take us maybe 10 seconds to overcome this.

I’m waiting for comments….

You can bash on me, but this is so that our girls can participate too. :)

Share stories or experiences add to it…

I’m also testing the ground with this and trying to figure out if topics like this will find any support.

-fake.

txt :: To all the Novell-ers out there

Hey all you working at Novell. I read an article today that was talking about the bad progress Novell is making towards its goals. They had some numbers that could be made through some of the products that are still officially being worked on like Zenworks. Sounds like you guys are slacking off! What's going on?! :P Here's an excerpt from the article:

"The steps proposed by the investment firm include cutting costs by targeting Novell's two corporate jets, its 'overstaffed' R&D department, legacy products, and its 400 NetWare engineers, as well as selling non-core businesses to enable funds to be redeployed."

Hope none of you is affected by this (:

The full article

-bla

txt :: This one's for Randod

So Randall hold your horses on buying the PSP... Unless you already did. Nintendo has released a new revolutionary controller that isn't like any other. Well most of you would agree - we don't expect anything less than that from Nintendo. They still show why they were the first and why they still have it in them. This article talks about some games that were tested with the controller and what the impressions were. Here it is:

Nintendo's new controller

Enjoy!

-bla

txt :: Second Life

You remember The Sims. Well somebody thought that the idea was worth it and here we go... Now we have a virtual world called: The Second Life. Maybe I should start packing by bags, coz if I die i'll gust go and live there forever.

Oh yeah, and it is not a game anymore. Wells Fargo apparently is opening an ATM down there. Really, am I dreaming or this is really happening.

"Mom, mom, can you give me 5 bucks so that I can go hang out at a club "Fake Life" in Second Life"

I thought reality was enough disturbing. (btw, I played Sims myself and really liked it, but this is way too much)

-fake.

link :: coolest program ever?

Wow, have you guys used Google Earth?

Talk about amazing!!!! Try it out. Visit your hometown/village via satellite anywhere in the world. Zoom in on Moscow or freaking Dilijan, Armenia!

Enjoy. Definitely worthy of Nikak.

earth.google.com

-R

txt :: Google blog search

Ok so Google recently came out with a blog search and I figured I'll throw in a link here and let you guys know about that. Just in case you know if you ever forgot what the link for the blog is (for example you don't visit or post anything for a long time and then we get offended and stop talking to you, yadi yadi yada lol). So you can just get on there and search for "nikak" or something else from the blog. Anyways I'm not about to teach you web searching because you guys are all geniuses!

Google Blog Search

-bla

txt :: That time of the year again

Well it's September and with it comes one of the greatest events - school!!! YEA RIGHT! I'm actually talking about the Champion's League(CL). For those who don't know what CL is - it's the most prestige futbol (or for some of you soccer) competition between european clubs. Top 3 clubs of all the european clubs compete for the ultimate title of the champion of the champions!

As usual my favorite team A.C. Milan from Italy is in this tournament. They almost took the cup last year, but lost in the final after leading 3-0... Lets hope this year they don't do that.

I know a lot of you follow futbol religiously and have favorite teams, so I figured I'll throw in a post about CL and try to get some futbol conversation going (:

A.C. Milan plays Fenerbahce (turkish team) today and we're going to win!!!

Anyways if you're interested in any of this at all here's a few websites that have all the stats and even rules of the tournament:

UEFA (the official website of the tournament)
Livescore (this website displays all the scores of the current played games live.

There are many more websites (I know memin follows another one that's in spanish and has even photos).

Having said all this only thing to add is - A.C. Milan rules!

-bla

txt :: Happy Birthday right back at ya!

Hey happy THIRTY WHAT?!!! I mean... TWENTY WHAT!? :P jk hehe. Randall's wife Carine threw him a party at Salt Lake's Nickelcade. I heard they couldn't get him off "Off Road" for like 3 hours and he wouldn't let anyone else jump on! lol jk! Remember those days Randall! hehe good times! (:

Anyways man just wanted to wish you everything that you wish for yourself in life and I hope all your goals come true! Sorry I missed the bday party. (: And thanks for the post! (:

-bla

txt :: Happy b-day to bla and BYU cougs

First of all,

HAPPY TWENTY-WHAT!? birthday to bla!!! Miss you out here, we had a great time hanging out. Next time, party in Ohio.

So I thought I would dangle a football post and fish for any responses. The Cougars are looking better this week than last, but we're going to have to step up our defense to have any chance against TCU and then Notre Dame. Man, I thought Bronco was all about the big "D"! Oh well, 45-10 is still a nice result even if the other team was like Provo high.

Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, can you believe it's been 4 years since 9/11!!??? Crazy! I got to church and we were singing patriotic hymns, and I was like, what? But, oh yeah! It's Patriot Day! (not to be confused with Patriots Day if you live in Massachussetts)

add :: "add" for addon :)

This is for all of you international friends of mine who uses firefox. This little plugin allows you to find out a word without opening a new page by simply double clicking on it.

Dictionary Addon

I love firefox plugins... They do make life easier.

-fake.

link :: Latest development in e-paper

The e-paper pda

txt :: So are you l337 eough?

The title of the post, and the link:

http://www.daskeyboard.com/

Only thing left to say is:

(:

-bla

txt :: A little tour to the Provo's wild side (nature wild)

P.S. Randall , where are your pictures from Mexico vacation ? :)

txt :: Anyone looking to buy a new laptop?

Ok so this is not an advertisment... There's a new laptop that's coming out soon and here are the specs:

Processor: 6.8GHZ CPU (AtomChip® Quantum® II processor or 4 x Intel® Pentium® M processors 1.7CHz)
System Compliance: Two Operating Systems with Voice Command (Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional and Linux®)
Memory: 1TB Quantum-Optical non-volatile RAM (NvIOpSRAM-SODIMM 200-pin)
Storage: 2TB non-volatile Quantum RAM (NvIOpRAM-ATA IDE)
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
LCD Display: 12.1” WXGA (1280 x 800, 16:10) TFT Glare Type LCD display with 1.3 Mega pixel CMOS camera
Video & Graphics: Two Integrated graphic controllers [Intel®855GME internal graphics, support Intel® DVMT (Dynamic Video Memory Technology) and AtomChip® DVM (Dynamic Video Memory)]
.... etc

OK I'll stop there hehe but you get the idea (: Still don't believe me? Well check it out for yourselves!

http://atomchip.com/_wsn/page4.html

txt:: my bookreview

so, since mike has read two books in the amount of time it takes me to even decide what book i wanna read next, i thought i'd write about the best book i've read this summer.

book name: head first design patterns
publisher: o'reilly (dang they make good books)
why you should read this book: because it's the only book on design patterns that you will find that is more find to read than a visit to the proctologist. also, you'll find that you really learn the stuff when you read the book. the approach they've taken is great; trust me, this book is worth your time (only if you plan to work as a programmer, i guess). if you don't think design patterns are really that important, or that useful, just wait till you start working, then you'll see.

go check it out on amazon ppl.

lata,

txt :: Bookworm is back!

Ok so I just finished another book called "Xenocide" by Orscon Scott Card and just wanted to say that so far all the books I've read in the "Ender Wiggin Saga" series are amazing. Different from my usual fantasy reading style, but equally awesome in their creativity. So there ya go another book review from bla (:

pics :: My new SCOOTER !!!

Ha-ha... Here I go... Finally I bought some transportation and joined the humongous army of 2 and 4 wheeled friends. :)

So yeah, BEWARE OF THE SCOOTER ON THE SIDEWALKS (CapsLock got stuck... ups...)

-fake

txt :: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

So I just finished reading this book and wanted to recommend it to all of you guys. I haven't seen the movie (and I heard it doesn't do justice to the book). But the book is great, funny, very creative and easiest reading ever! I'm a slow reader and so it took me 2 days... (:

So you know if you're looking for a good read (now that the summer is over and classes have started... I've always had great timing you all know this - and it doesn't just go for reading... lol) other than your textbooks - definately try it out!

-bla

txt :: Lilusha intro

Hi, everybody, my name is Lilia. I am a crazy russian dating fake, that is probably one of the factors that make me crazy :) I know bla through fake and we have gotten to be pretty good friends after his visit to Provo. Good to be here.

txt :: Ok, that's it... Enough....

It's so hard not to start shouting the cast words towards the people that are putting advertisement on our blog.

I **** hate you !!! Haven't you read the intro? No profit or gain of any kind.

I'm locking it down so only the blogger users can post comments and if some moron will decide to put another advertisement I WILL, i'm not kidding, I will send your UIN to the Blogger admins and then you'll feel how it's like getting your username deleted.

Pidorasti !!!

I'm done with my madness, that was a revange and a response for a moron that put that comment (which i'm deleting right now) to memin's txt. I respect only those that respect me...

Enough,

-fake.

txt:: katrina

after reading randall's post, i felt i also wanted to comment about the situation in new orleans.

it really doesn't surprise me to see all those people looting. they're the cowards that have always wanted to steal but were afraid of getting caught; now that they have a chance, they're only doing what they've always wanted to do.

for everyone of those cowards, however, you can find someone that will not only help their family but everyone else they can. randall mentioned that this is a time to stand together, and we're doing this. two examples of how i see this happening:

1. amazon has set up a page for people to make donations to the red-cross. they've already gathered over 2 million dollars
2. at my job, the company has decided to match employee donations (1 to 1) to the help effort in new orleans.

i can only imagine that things like this are happening all over the US right now.

finally, there's one more thing i wanted to mention. this is definetely not a time to criticize, but we must be aware of the fact that the relief effort came in late. after people are back in their homes we need to look back and think about why this happened. something like this should have never happend, but most importantly, should never happen again.

please donate some money to the relief effort! the red-cross says that $100 can give a week worth of supplies to a family of four. there are rotting corpses on the streets of new orleans; please help!

txt :: Just a thought....

Where are we going? Communism is gone and capitalism keeps falling and breaking toes on it's weak legs. What is coming next? Will we [people] still suck on each others blood or will we change for the better?

The world is constantly evolving into something different, something more complex and fancy. From planting seeds by hand and letting rain take care of the rest we advanced to using machines and chemicals as well as seeds that are now engineered in the labs. What is next evolution step?

I'm just curious about what is the truth and why the world keeps swimming in lies, diving deeper with each year by finding more elegant ways of masquerading a fox for a chicken.

This post is a try one, just want to see if you guys like to express your opinions about matters not necessarily closely tied to technology. :) I also accept any suggestions about other topics.... No, wait... I expect post on other interesting topics :)

Enjoy,

-fake.

pics :: Finally uploded pictures from my camera :) (Miha's visit to Provo)

Poor Baby... Uti-Puti....

Jaw and Miha

The "Y" vs. Milan !!!!

link :: learn to drive correctly!!!

Drivers guide

pics :: This pic is just for bla :) Enjoy...

link :: Gamer's cry....

A Gamers Manifesto

Very interesting article...

-fake.