Black and White.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Top 40+ GIMP plugins

Web Design

  • Snow: Generate realistic 3D snow. Caution: Requires large amount of memory and swap memory.
  • Anti-aliasing: Smoothen and fix straight lines.
  • Adaptive contrast enhancement: Intelligent adjustment of contrast.
  • Fourier Transformation: GIMP plugin version of Fourier Transformation.
  • Refract/Reflect: Refraction effects to simulate falling water drops.
  • ShapeIt: Bend text or image according to information in map layer.
  • Borders: Add borders to your image.
  • SoapBubble: Create bubbles. Contains two versions, for GIMP v2.2 and v2.4.
  • Aqua Bou: Create web buttons in ‘Aqua Bou’ style easily.
  • Chrominium: Create a chrome logo with glow and sparkles.
  • Cloud Generation: For easy creation of clouds. Updated to work with GIMP 2.4, the latest version.
  • Gothic Glow: GIMP’s version of Gothic Glow action, originally for Photoshop.
  • Liquid Rescale: Content-aware rescaling. Keeps the features of the image while rescaling along a single direction.
  • Particle Deposition: simulates particle deposition on a surface. It generates small particles with random size and velocity and lets them fall onto the surface where they settle, increasing surface height in the place a bit.
  • Stampify: Make your image look like a postage stamp.
  • Plasma2: Newer version of the original Plasma plugin for GIMP.
  • SaveForWeb: Find optimal compromise between minimal file size and acceptable quality of image quickly. Useful for designers.
  • Steel Text: Create a text effect that looks like shiny steel (or gold) and a dropshadow.

Photography

  • Pandora: Stitch together multiple images to make a panorama.
  • Film Grain: Add film grain for a classic feel, to BW images.
  • Black Ink: Transform an image to a B&W drawing made with ink.
  • Copyright Text: Add a copyright text to image.
  • DeNoise: Noise reduction plugin using a modified Gaussian blur algorithm.
  • DustCleaner: Detect and remove the dust spots in digital image.
  • Astro-plugins: A set of plugins for astronomical image processing.
  • FocusBlur: Makes an image out of focus with luminosity and depth.
  • Lomo: Make photos clear, sharp and crisp. Especially useful for outdoor photographs.
  • ISO Noise Reduction: Implements an ISO noise reduction, using different methods (masking the edges, then blurring the individual color channels or the lumimance channel only).
  • Photo Effects: A bunch of scripts brought together in one script-fu file. Contains cartoon, color pencil, conte crayon, cutout, Drawing, ink pen, note paper, paint dot image, palette knife, pastel, stamp, water paint effect, wrap effect, angled strokes, crosshatched, chrome image, cross light, funky color, soft focus, solarisation, brick wall, patchwork, stained glass, texturizer, high pass, scroll effects.
  • RedEye: Quickly remove red eye effect caused by camera flashes.
  • ShadowRecovery: Recover image information in darked regions.
  • Shadows/Highlights: Eliminate shadows and highlights in photographs.
  • Refocus: Opposite of FocusBlur(listed above), this refocuses images. Provides better results than Unsharp masking which is built into GIMP.
  • PhotoToolbox: Perform several actions on a photo at once such as defocus, desaturate (several papers emulations), toning, add grain.
  • Light Filter: Provides basic filtering by adjusting colour levels of each pixels.
  • Gradient Along Path: Strikes a vector applying a gradient orthogonally to the path.
  • Landscape painter: Creates interesting paint effect that looks best with landscapes.
  • EZ Improviser: Improve dull, dingy images.
  • Edgy: Make an image look edgy.
  • Digital IR: Simulate a black and white infrared image.
  • Colour saturation: Change the color saturation of your image.
  • Blot: GIMP avatar of BlotBrush. Based on blot algorithm and works well with spatter or cloudy image.

Miscellaneous

  • GIMP Dewierdifyer: (for Windows) Get rid of common window annoyances in the GIMP. It adds a background window that sits under GIMP. It groups other GIMP windows into one, so that when you’re alt+tabbing to other apps, only one icon of GIMP gets in your way.
  • Turing Pattern: Renders a kind of Turing pattern.
  • Yin-Yang+: A seemingly useless plugin, but fun nonetheless. Add yin and yang symbols. Also optionally add drop-shadows.

Monday, December 17, 2007

15 Online Tools That You Will Come To Love As A Tech


IPTools offers a wide variety of online networking tools. With this site you can look up IP address information, check spam databases, run pings, run traceroutes, lookup WHOIS information and much more.


BugMeNot allows you to find and share logins for sites that require you to register. This tool is great to use when you don't want to have to go through the process of creating an account for a site when you just want to login once for something like a driver.


SpeedTest.net allows you to test your Internet connection speed. It's great to use when you want to see if your ISP is holding up on their end of the bargain.


Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site that allows you to bookmark sites and view them from any computer. This site is great because not only can you bookmark sites and view them anywhere, you can also search through everyone's bookmarks to find great tech articles.


Omnidrive is an online storage service that allows you to upload large files, access them from any computer, and share them with other people. They also offer the ability to edit your Office documents using Zoho without ever downloading them. You get 1GB free and the ability to upgrade to 1 terabyte. This site is great for hosting your tech tools and accessing them from computers you are working on.


10 Minute Mail allows you to create temporary email addresses that expire after 10 minutes. It's great to use for sites that require you to receive something through email but you don't want to be bombarded with spam.

Free Password Generator
Free Password Generator generates very strong and unique passwords. Before you generate your passwords, you can predefine settings such has what type of symbols to use and the length you want it to be.


Trend Micro HouseCall is an online virus, spyware, and malware scanner that runs in your web browser. It's very handy when you are working on a computer that doesn't have antivirus software and you want to scan it without having to install one.


You Get Signal allows you to check which ports are open into your network. This is great tool to use when you are trying to patch holes in your firewall.

WhatIsThatFile.com
WhatIsThatFile.com allows you to identify unknown files on a computer. This tool is great for looking up files that you suspect might be possible viruses, trojans, or malware.


YouSendIt allows you to send large files to other people when the files are too large for your email. This tool is a great alternative to using FTP.


DLL-files.com has a huge library of downloadable dll files. Next time you get an error about a missing dll file, you can go here and download it.


Google Microsoft Search allows you to search specifically through Microsoft-related sites. This site is great for searching through Microsoft tech articles for a specific problem.


Zamzar is a file conversion tool that allows you to convert file types through their site. Currently they support over 60 file types. This is a great tool for converting files when you don't have the appropriate application to do so.


Default Router Passwords Database allows you to search for router as well as other devices default passwords. This tool comes in very handy when you have to reset a device but can't find the manual to look up the default password.

source

Saturday, December 08, 2007

If Operating Systems Were Houses

What if Unix, Windows, Linux and OSX were houses?

UNIX is the old Victorian Mansion that was the first of it’s kind and set the standard for all things to come.

It is still considered one of the most solid and stable houses ever built since it was build by compliant construction practices.

It’s incredibly solid foundation allows it to be expanded upon and added to. This foundation has led to many other houses being built the same way and with the same compliance and care.

Windows is the government housing.

The houses are built quickly, cheaply and go up anywhere and everywhere.

Unfortunately since they were all built so cheaply, you end up spending twice as much later to keep the place standing.

The foundation is shaky at best and anytime you hang a picture, you worry about knocking the entire house down.

You constantly have to call the exterminator to keep the bugs out and everytime you remove a piece of furniture, there are always parts of it left behind.

OSX is the modern day mansion.

It’s built from the ground up using the same sturdy foundation as the Victorian Mansion.

When you look inside, every room is the exact same and is in pristine condition. The floors are so clean there is a mirror reflection of every item in the house and the lights are positioned perfectly to make everything look just perfect…just the way the owner wanted it, so don’t touch!

Once the builders were finished with the house, the owner had the front door locked, the doorknob removed and put bars on the windows so no one could get in to touch or move anything because that’s not the way he intended. If you don’t like it? Go screw yourself because he doesn’t care what you think.

Government housing owners start looking at other options and stumble on the mansion. They are awed by it’s beauty and blindly follow. Once they get their house, they realize it’s designed for handicapped people. They can’t get in the house because the owner doesn’t trust anyone using his design because he already designed everything just the way he wanted it and can’t imagine how anyone could possibly think it should have been done differently.

…but of course, it’s for your own good……you retard.

Linux is the carpenter/designer’s dream house.

The foundation is rock solid and is inspected every year by thousands of the best carpenters all over the world.

The house is everything you want, if you know what you’re doing. It’s all there for you. The doors, windows, walls and roof. You ‘get’ to assemble it yourself any way you like.

Once it’s finished, you rarely have to repair anything and will never have to tear it down and start from scratch. It’s designed in a way that allows it to be built upon until it’s turned into a skyscraper or left as is.

Everyone on the block is envious and wants to know how you bought such a beautiful house so cheaply. After you explain to them that you built it yourself, they leave in disgust and never talk to you again because you’re one of “them”.



source

Thursday, December 06, 2007

8 Bad Decisions When Starting a New Website

When starting a new website there are a number of decisions that you will make that can have a huge impact on the long-term success of the site. Many times these decisions don’t seem as important as just getting the site up and running and as a result they don’t get the attention they deserve. Here are 8 decisions that can cripple your chances of building an effective website.

1. Free or Cheap Web Hosting - Many aspiring website owners are tempted by low cost hosting options. It’s understandable that someone would want a low-priced or free hosting company when starting a new website, but this can have serious consequences. Free hosting will be slow and will most likely include ads on your website that you have no control over. Even low-priced hosting tends to be slow and the customer service and support will almost certainly be inadequate.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on hosting. In fact, quality services are very reasonably priced . What you will quickly learn is that your hosting company will strongly influence the performance of your site. When your website goes down because of inferior hosting you’ll understand the true cost of not spending a few more dollars each month for a better option.

2. Not Buying a Domain Name - If you want your online business to be taken seriously, you need your own domain name. Many free hosting services, including blog platforms like WordPress, offer the option of having a website without needing to buy a domain name. Domain names are so inexpensive (can be less than $10 a year at GoDaddy.com) that there’s no reason to not buy a domain. Your domain name is crucial for being able to brand your website.

3. Not Getting the Right Domain Name - Buying the wrong domain name is almost as bad as not buying one at all. Unfortunately, finding the right domain name today is not an easy task. With millions of websites online your first choice will rarely be available. Your domain name should be easily remembered and relevant to your site. Very long domain names can be difficult for visitors to remember, and they increase chances for typos from potential visitors. If possible, choose a .com without hyphens (if it’s not possible to avoid hyphens, don’t use more than one) that contains a keyword. There are a number of tools available to help you to quickly find the right domain name.

4. Designing Exclusively for Search Engines - In attempt to gain strong search engine rankings, the human visitor is sometimes forgotten. Don’t prioritize search engine spiders over your visitors. It’s possible to design a user-focused website that is still search engine-friendly. If your website satisfies its visitors the traffic will come, and most likely so will search engine rankings.

5. Prioritizing the Look Over the Content - A lot of new website owners get excited about the new site and forget that the content is what will ultimately determine it’s success. Sure, a website should look good. But the content and usability of the site shouldn’t suffer at the expense of its appearance. Minimalistic designs are becoming increasingly popular, and one of the biggest reasons is that they allow for the content to be the focal point. Just as much time and effort should go into creating the content as goes into creating the design.

6. Forgetting About the Target Market - Every website is created for some target market or target audience. Try to always keep them in mind as you are creating the site. In order to succeed, you’ll need to provide them with what they want. It’s easy to forget about your target market and design the site how you like it, but what really matters is what your target market will think. Anticipate what they will be looking for at your site and find a way to meet their needs.

7. Poor Navigation - One of the most frustrating experiences for a website’s visitors will be trying to find something specific with poor navigation. The pages and sections of the site should be easy and logical for visitors to maneuver. For larger sites a sitemap and site wide search can be very helpful.

8. Ineffective Keyword Targeting - Part of attracting new visitors is using the right keywords and phrases. In most cases some research will be necessary to find the best words and phrases to target. There are a number of tools available to help with this research (some free and some paid). Google’s keyword tool is one of the better free options.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Tiny Linux PC uses just 8 watts of power, can be solar powered - The Aleutia E1

Check out the Aleutia E1 mini Linux PC.

Aleutia E1

This mini PC uses just 8 watts of power which is a quarter of the power used by the average laptop.

Aleutia E1

It comes in a tough aluminium case and has no moving parts, it is also completely silent, and comes with everything you need including office compatible software, it runs Puppy Linux.

Aleutia E1

You can also add on an optional solar panel to power the device and an optional 10.4 inch LCD screen which uses just 10 watts of power.

Aleutia E1

Updated 30/11/07

Here’s the specs for the people that asked.

  • Processor: 200MHz x86 CPU, Memory: 128MB SDRAM, Storage: 2GB (included Compact Flash card), Power Supply (US, UK, or EU).
  • 3 x USB 2.0 ports (12Mbps transfer rate), 1 x 10/100 Ethernet port, VGA port to connect LCD display (supports resolutions up to 1280×1024).
  • Power consumption of 8W with CPU and SDRAM running at full speed. With external devices (USB 2.0 CD Rewriter, USB-powered hard drive) power consumption rises to 11W.
  • Dimensions: 11.5cm (Width) x 11.5cm (Lenght) x 3.5cm (Height).
  • Puppy Linux Operating System (version 2.14) - similar in appearance to MS Windows, stable, and pre-installed.
  • Excel-compatible spreadsheet software (Gnumeric), Word-compatible word processor (Abiword)

The Aleutia E1 is available to buy online form Aleutia from £199 (about $400).

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card


First your phone went wireless, then your laptop, now finally, your camera!

Never scrounge around for a USB cable again! Eye-fi is a magical orange SD memory card that will not only store 2GB worth of pictures, it’ll upload them to your computer, and to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa (or 14 others) wirelessly, invisibly, automatically!

This little guy looks like a normal 2GB memory card and works with nearly any camera that takes SD memory. There are no antennas, no protrusions, no subscription fees, and no cables.

Here’s how it works: You set up the card once with the included USB card reader (tell it which wireless network it should use, and type in the password if you have one), choose the photo sharing service of your choice (you have plenty of options), then slip the card in your camera. From then on, you never have to touch anything. Just take photos. Whenever your cameras near the wireless network you selected and idle, Eye-fi will upload all your photos (JPEGs only) to your online photo sharing service. Next time your computer’s online, they’ll download there, too!

Yes, it is practically magic.

It’s amazing for anyone who loves photography, but also great for computer unsavvy parents and grandparents. Set up their photo sharing account, slip an Eye-fi in their camera, and your mom’s finally your Flickr friend!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Microsoft Word Prank

What is the most common letter in the English language? E right? Well what would you do if every time you typed “E” in microsoft word it closed your word document and didnt save any of your work. Well you might throw your computer out the window and kill who ever did it to you. So hell lets do it right?

Step 1: Open up Micro Soft Word

Step2: Press alt F11, this will open up a vba editor for word.

Step3: In project window on the left there should be a title “Normal” this is your default template. Select the default document underneath it.

Step4: Copy and past this code into the document (Remember to re type all quotations)

Sub AddKeyBinding()
CustomizationContext = NormalTemplate
KeyBindings.Add KeyCode:=BuildKeyCode(wdKeyE), KeyCategory:=wdKeyCategoryCommand, _
Command:=”TestKeybinding”
End Sub

Sub TestKeybinding()
Dim x As Document
Set x = ActiveDocument
x.Close (False)
End Sub

Step5: Close word

Step6: Enjoy

If you did this correctly the next time they load word this code will be called and loaded. What it will do is every time the key “E” is pressed is it will close the document and NOT SAVE. You can change the key to anything you like and below I have listed some different key options. Have fun and unleash hell.

Key Options

To change the key from E to something else replace this piece of the code in bold

.KeyBindings.Add KeyCode:=BuildKeyCode(wdKeyE)

If you want to use a different letter it is: wdKeyYOURLETTER

If you want to use a key other than a letter or a number, it usualy is the keys name.
Example: wdKeyBackspace

AutoPatcher is Back Again!

AutoPatcher was once a utility for downloading and installing Windows Updates without having to connect with Microsoft’s Update Servers. Users could also burn the updates on a CD and install it on multiple PCs, without having to download the updates over and over again. Unfortunately, Microsoft exterminated the project saying that users can only download updates from Windows Update Server.

AutoPatcher Updater

The AutoPatcher Team has now made a comeback by releasing an early beta of a new utility called AutoPatcher Updater. This new beta gets around Microsoft’s restrictions by downloading updates for Windows and Microsoft Office directly from Windows Update Server instead of their own. Once the updates have been downloaded, you can install them by running AutoPatcher.exe. However, the new beta is a bit handicapped - you cannot make the updates portable by burning them on a CD, which makes it pretty much like the built in Windows Update.

Monday, November 26, 2007

GreedyTorrent!

GreedyTorrent can help you survive on trackers that enforce a minimum 1:1 trading ratio, and can keep you from getting banned for not uploading. So how does it work? In simple words, it modifies the conversation between your bittorrent client and the tracker, suppressing the actual upload amount. Instead, GreedyTorrent puts you in control of your own upload ratio -- you can define how much upload you want to submit to the tracker.

GreedyTorrent has the following features:

  • GreedyTorrent is set-once-and-forget type software. No need of configuring it each time you queue a torrent file to download.
  • No complicated options to configure. The default installation of GreedyTorrent is configured to provide you five times actual upload, enough for the survival of a normal ADSL user. There is no need to manually find the hash values or to set tracker URLs, it takes care of them automatically. GreedyTorrent was developed with the beginner user in mind, with an easy to use interface.
  • GreedyTorrent generates no additional traffic. It does not run or emulate an "extra torrent client", and thus does not waste your precious bandwidth.
  • You can continue to use your favorite BitTorrent client, no need to switch to another BitTorrent client to use GreedyTorrent.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Nokia N98 new threat to iPhone

Nokia N98 new threat to iPhone

Nokia N98 has been sighted on the net and will be released really soon according to Nokia France specification sheet. Despite it’s earlier claims that iPhone is no threat to lucrative NSeries smartphone multimedia computer business, Nokia was really frightened by it and started scrambling for an answer literary the next day. Result of that is new Nokia N98 who really looks like Apple iPhone, but when you look at specifications there is huge advantage over iPhone. So we might look at new mobile phone war in which only consumer can benefit by better products and new technologies.

Nokia N98 specifications:

* 7.2 mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens
* Optical zoom x5 and digital zoom x20
* 3.5 inch VGA 16 million color touch screen
* GPS
* Symbian S70 3rd edition (now that would be something)
* Graphics accelerator
* Bluetooth/WIFI b+g+n/HSDPA

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Impress your friends with mental Math tricks

1. Multiplying by 9, or 99, or 999

Multiplying by 9 is really multiplying by 10-1.

So, 9×9 is just 9x(10-1) which is 9×10-9 which is 90-9 or 81.

Let’s try a harder example: 46×9 = 46×10-46 = 460-46 = 414.

One more example: 68×9 = 680-68 = 612.

To multiply by 99, you multiply by 100-1.

So, 46×99 = 46x(100-1) = 4600-46 = 4554.

Multiplying by 999 is similar to multiplying by 9 and by 99.

38×999 = 38x(1000-1) = 38000-38 = 37962.

2. Multiplying by 11

To multiply a number by 11 you add pairs of numbers next to each other, except for the numbers on the edges.

Let me illustrate:

To multiply 436 by 11 go from right to left.

First write down the 6 then add 6 to its neighbor on the left, 3, to get 9.

Write down 9 to the left of 6.

Then add 4 to 3 to get 7. Write down 7.

Then, write down the leftmost digit, 4.

So, 436×11 = is 4796.

Let’s do another example: 3254×11.

The answer comes from these sums and edge numbers: (3)(3+2)(2+5)(5+4)(4) = 35794.

One more example, this one involving carrying: 4657×11.

Write down the sums and edge numbers: (4)(4+6)(6+5)(5+7)(7).

Going from right to left we write down 7.

Then we notice that 5+7=12.

So we write down 2 and carry the 1.

6+5 = 11, plus the 1 we carried = 12.

So, we write down the 2 and carry the 1.

4+6 = 10, plus the 1 we carried = 11.

So, we write down the 1 and carry the 1.

To the leftmost digit, 4, we add the 1 we carried.

So, 4657×11 = 51227 .

3. Multiplying by 5, 25, or 125

Multiplying by 5 is just multiplying by 10 and then dividing by 2. Note: To multiply by 10 just add a 0 to the end of the number.

12×5 = (12×10)/2 = 120/2 = 60.

Another example: 64×5 = 640/2 = 320.

And, 4286×5 = 42860/2 = 21430.

To multiply by 25 you multiply by 100 (just add two 0’s to the end of the number) then divide by 4, since 100 = 25×4. Note: to divide by 4 your can just divide by 2 twice, since 2×2 = 4.

64×25 = 6400/4 = 3200/2 = 1600.

58×25 = 5800/4 = 2900/2 = 1450.

To multiply by 125, you multipy by 1000 then divide by 8 since 8×125 = 1000. Notice that 8 = 2×2x2. So, to divide by 1000 add three 0’s to the number and divide by 2 three times.

32×125 = 32000/8 = 16000/4 = 8000/2 = 4000.

48×125 = 48000/8 = 24000/4 = 12000/2 = 6000.

4. Multiplying together two numbers that differ by a small even number

This trick only works if you’ve memorized or can quickly calculate the squares of numbers. If you’re able to memorize some squares and use the tricks described later for some kinds of numbers you’ll be able to quickly multiply together many pairs of numbers that differ by 2, or 4, or 6.

Let’s say you want to calculate 12×14.

When two numbers differ by two their product is always the square of the number in between them minus 1.

12×14 = (13×13)-1 = 168.

16×18 = (17×17)-1 = 288.

99×101 = (100×100)-1 = 10000-1 = 9999

If two numbers differ by 4 then their product is the square of the number in the middle (the average of the two numbers) minus 4.

11×15 = (13×13)-4 = 169-4 = 165.

13×17 = (15×15)-4 = 225-4 = 221.

If the two numbers differ by 6 then their product is the square of their average minus 9.

12×18 = (15×15)-9 = 216.

17×23 = (20×20)-9 = 391.

5. Squaring 2-digit numbers that end in 5

If a number ends in 5 then its square always ends in 25. To get the rest of the product take the left digit and multiply it by one more than itself.

35×35 ends in 25. We get the rest of the product by multiplying 3 by one more than 3. So, 3×4 = 12 and that’s the rest of the product. Thus, 35×35 = 1225.

To calculate 65×65, notice that 6×7 = 42 and write down 4225 as the answer.

85×85: Calculate 8×9 = 72 and write down 7225.

6. Multiplying together 2-digit numbers where the first digits are the same and the last digits sum to 10

Let’s say you want to multiply 42 by 48. You notice that the first digit is 4 in both cases. You also notice that the other digits, 2 and 8, sum to 10. You can then use this trick: multiply the first digit by one more than itself to get the first part of the answer and multiply the last digits together to get the second (right) part of the answer.

An illustration is in order:

To calculate 42×48: Multiply 4 by 4+1. So, 4×5 = 20. Write down 20.

Multiply together the last digits: 2×8 = 16. Write down 16.

The product of 42 and 48 is thus 2016.

Notice that for this particular example you could also have noticed that 42 and 48 differ by 6 and have applied technique number 4.

Another example: 64×66. 6×7 = 42. 4×6 = 24. The product is 4224.

A final example: 86×84. 8×9 = 72. 6×4 = 24. The product is 7224

7. Squaring other 2-digit numbers

Let’s say you want to square 58. Square each digit and write a partial answer. 5×5 = 25. 8×8 = 64. Write down 2564 to start. Then, multiply the two digits of the number you’re squaring together, 5×8=40.

Double this product: 40×2=80, then add a 0 to it, getting 800.

Add 800 to 2564 to get 3364.

This is pretty complicated so let’s do more examples.

32×32. The first part of the answer comes from squaring 3 and 2.

3×3=9. 2×2 = 4. Write down 0904. Notice the extra zeros. It’s important that every square in the partial product have two digits.

Multiply the digits, 2 and 3, together and double the whole thing. 2×3x2 = 12.

Add a zero to get 120. Add 120 to the partial product, 0904, and we get 1024.

56×56. The partial product comes from 5×5 and 6×6. Write down 2536.

5×6x2 = 60. Add a zero to get 600.

56×56 = 2536+600 = 3136.

One more example: 67×67. Write down 3649 as the partial product.

6×7x2 = 42×2 = 84. Add a zero to get 840.

67×67=3649+840 = 4489.

8. Multiplying by doubling and halving

There are cases when you’re multiplying two numbers together and one of the numbers is even. In this case you can divide that number by two and multiply the other number by 2. You can do this over and over until you get to multiplication this is easy for you to do.

Let’s say you want to multiply 14 by 16. You can do this:

14×16 = 28×8 = 56×4 = 112×2 = 224.

Another example: 12×15 = 6×30 = 6×3 with a 0 at the end so it’s 180.

48×17 = 24×34 = 12×68 = 6×136 = 3×272 = 816. (Being able to calculate that 3×27 = 81 in your head is very helpful for this problem.)

9. Multiplying by a power of 2

To multiply a number by 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or some other power of 2 just keep doubling the product as many times as necessary. If you want to multiply by 16 then double the number 4 times since 16 = 2×2x2×2.

15×16: 15×2 = 30. 30×2 = 60. 60×2 = 120. 120×2 = 240.
23×8: 23×2 = 46. 46×2 = 92. 92×2 = 184.
54×8: 54×2 = 108. 108×2 = 216. 216×2 = 432.

Windows Software <=> Linux Software

Windows Software Linux Equivalent/Alternative
3D Studio Max
K-3D (http://www.k-3d.org/)
Wings 3D (http://www.wings3d.com/)
Art of Illusion (http://www.artofillusion.org/)
Blender (http://www.blender.org/)
ACDSee
KuickShow (http://kuickshow.sourceforge.net/)
ShowImg (http://www.jalix.org/projects/showimg/)
Gwenview (http://gwenview.sourceforge.net/)
GQview (http://gqview.sourceforge.net/)
Eye of GNOME (http://www.gnome.org/projects/eog/)
Adobe Acrobat Reader
okular (http://kpdf.kde.org/okular/)
Xpdf (http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/)
Evince (http://www.gnome.org/projects/evince/)
ePDFView (http://trac.emma-soft.com/epdfview/)
KPDF (http://kpdf.kde.org/)
Adobe Audition
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
Adobe Illustrator
Skencil (http://www.skencil.org/)
Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/)
Karbon14 (http://www.koffice.org/karbon/)
Xara Xtreme for Linux (http://www.xaraxtreme.org/)
Adobe PageMaker
Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/)
Adobe PhotoAlbum
F-Spot (http://f-spot.org/Main_Page)
KPhotoAlbum (http://www.kphotoalbum.org/)
digiKam (http://www.digikam.org/)
Adobe Photoshop
CinePaint (http://www.cinepaint.org/)
Krita (http://www.koffice.org/krita/)
GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/)
Adobe Premier
PiTiVi (http://www.pitivi.org/wiki/Main_Page)
LiVES (http://lives.sourceforge.net/)
Kino (http://www.kinodv.org/)
Cinelerra (http://cvs.cinelerra.org/)
kdenlive (http://kdenlive.sourceforge.net/)
Jahshaka (http://www.jahshaka.org/)
Ant Movie Catalog
Moviefly (https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/lmc/)
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Kopete (http://kopete.kde.org/)
Pidgin (http://pidgin.im)
APC PowerChute
Network UPS Tools (http://www.networkupstools.org/)
Apcupsd (http://www.apcupsd.com/)
PowerD (http://power.sourceforge.net/)
CDex
Sound Juicer (http://www.burtonini.com/blog/computers/sound-juicer)
Rubyripper (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Rubyripper)
ripperX (http://ripperx.sourceforge.net/)
Grip (http://nostatic.org/grip/)
KAudioCreator (http://www.icefox.net/programs/?program=KAudioCreator)
Collectorz
aviManager (http://avimanager.sourceforge.net/)
GCstar (http://www.gcstar.org/)
Tellico (http://periapsis.org/tellico/)
Alexandria (http://alexandria.rubyforge.org/)
Griffith (http://griffith.vasconunes.net/)
vMovieDB (http://vmoviedb.sourceforge.net/)
Katalog (http://salvaste.altervista.org/)
Dreamweaver
Quanta Plus (http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/)
Geany (http://geany.uvena.de)
Nvu (http://www.nvu.com/index.php)
Screem (http://www.screem.org/)
KompoZer (http://www.kompozer.net/)
Bluefish (http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html)
DVDShrink
k9copy (http://k9copy.sourceforge.net/)
OGMRip (http://ogmrip.sourceforge.net/)
Thoggen (http://thoggen.net/)
xdvdshrink (http://dvdshrink.sourceforge.net/)
DVD Rip-O-Matic (http://dvdripomatic.sourceforge.net)
qVamps (http://vamps.sourceforge.net/)
dvd::rip (http://www.exit1.org/dvdrip/)
AcidRip (http://untrepid.com/acidrip/)
Everest
HardInfo (http://hardinfo.berlios.de/web/HomePage)
Finale
Lilypond (http://www.lilypond.org)
Denemo (http://denemo.sourceforge.net/index.html)
Rosegarden (http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/)
NoteEdit (http://noteedit.berlios.de/)
Brahms (http://brahms.sourceforge.net/)
Flash
F4L (http://f4l.sourceforge.net/)
Forte Agent
Pan (http://pan.rebelbase.com/)
FruityLoops
LMMS (http://lmms.sourceforge.net/)
Hydrogen (http://www.hydrogen-music.org/)
Google Desktop Search
Google Desktop (http://desktop.google.com/linux/index.html)
Beagle (http://beagle-project.org/)
Guitar Pro
TuxGuitar (http://www.tuxguitar.com.ar/home.html)
iTunes
Banshee (http://banshee-project.org/Main_Page)
aTunes (http://www.atunes.org/)
Quod Libet (http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet)
SongBird (http://www.songbirdnest.com)
Exaile (http://www.exaile.org/)
Amarok (http://amarok.kde.org/)
Listen (http://listengnome.free.fr/)
Rhythmbox (http://www.gnome.org/projects/rhythmbox/)
gtkpod (http://www.gtkpod.org/)
Legacy Family Tree
GRAMPS (http://gramps-project.org/)
LimeWire
FrostWire (http://www.frostwire.com/)
Meal Master
krecipe (http://krecipes.sourceforge.net/)
Gourmet Recipe Manager (http://grecipe-manager.sourceforge.net/)
Microsoft Access
Kexi (http://www.koffice.org/kexi/)
GNOME-DB (http://www.gnome-db.org/)
Microsoft Excel
KSpread (http://www.koffice.org/kspread/)
Open Calc (http://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html)
Gnumeric (http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/)
Microsoft Frontpage
Quanta Plus (http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/)
Nvu (http://www.nvu.com/index.php)
KompoZer (http://www.kompozer.net/)
Bluefish (http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html)
Microsoft HyperTerminal
minicom (http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/)
GtkTerm (http://freshmeat.net/projects/gtkterm/)
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Epiphany (http://www.gnome.org/projects/epiphany/)
Opera (http://www.opera.com/download/)
Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/)
Konqueror (http://www.konqueror.org/)
Microsoft Money
KMyMoney (http://kmymoney2.sourceforge.net/)
GNUcash (http://www.gnucash.org/ )
Gnofin (http://gnofin.sourceforge.net/)
Grisbi (http://www.grisbi.org/)
Microsoft Office
GNOME Office (http://www.gnome.org/gnome-office/)
KOffice (http://www.koffice.org/)
OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/)
Microsoft Outlook (Express)
Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/)
Evolution (http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/)
Microsoft Powerpoint
Open Office Impress (http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html)
KPresenter (http://www.koffice.org/kpresenter/)
Microsoft Project
KPlato (http://www.koffice.org/kplato/)
OpenProj (http://openproj.org/openproj)
GanttProject (http://ganttproject.sourceforge.net/)
Planner (http://live.gnome.org/Planner)
TaskJuggler (http://www.taskjuggler.org/)
Microsoft Visio
Dia (http://www.gnome.org/projects/dia/)
Kivio (http://www.koffice.org/kivio/)
Microsoft Windows Media Center
Freevo (http://freevo.sourceforge.net/)
Elisa Media Center (http://www.fluendo.com/elisa/)
MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org)
LinuxMCE (http://www.linuxmce.com/)
Microsoft Word
Open Office Writer (http://www.openoffice.org/product/writer.html)
AbiWord (http://www.abisource.com/)
Kword (http://www.koffice.org/kword/)
mIRC
Konversation (http://konversation.kde.org/)
KVIrc (http://www.kvirc.net/)
BitchX (http://www.bitchx.org/)
Xchat (http://www.xchat.org/)
ChatZilla! (http://chatzilla.hacksrus.com/)
irssi (http://www.irssi.org/)
Pidgin (http://pidgin.im)
Mp3tag
Kid3 (http://kid3.sourceforge.net/)
Pinkytagger (http://pinkytagger.sourceforge.net/)
EasyTAG (http://easytag.sourceforge.net/)
Cowbell (http://more-cowbell.org/)
Audio Tag Tool (http://pwp.netcabo.pt/paol/tagtool/)
MSN messenger
Mercury Messenger (http://www.mercury.to/)
Kopete (http://kopete.kde.org/)
aMSN (http://amsn-project.net/)
Pidgin (http://pidgin.im)
Mudbox
SharpConstruct (http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net)
Nero Burning Rom
X-CD-Roast (http://www.xcdroast.org/)
Brasero (http://perso.orange.fr/bonfire/index.htm)
GnomeBaker (http://gnomebaker.sourceforge.net/)
Graveman! (http://graveman.tuxfamily.org/)
K3b (http://www.k3b.org/)
NetMeeting
Ekiga (http://www.gnomemeeting.org/)
NetStumbler
Kismet (http://www.kismetwireless.net/)
SWScanner (http://www.swscanner.org/)
Notepad
leafpad (http://tarot.freeshell.org/leafpad/)
NEdit (http://www.nedit.org/)
jEdit (http://www.jedit.org/)
Kate (http://kate-editor.org/)
gedit (http://www.gnome.org/projects/gedit/)
Scribes (http://scribes.sourceforge.net/)
tpad (http://tclpad.sourceforge.net/)
OrangeCD Catalog
GWhere (http://www.gwhere.org)
Origin
SciGraphica (http://scigraphica.sourceforge.net/)
Partition Magic
GParted (http://gparted.sourceforge.net/)
QtParted (http://qtparted.sourceforge.net)
Picasa
F-Spot (http://f-spot.org/Main_Page)
KPhotoAlbum (http://www.kphotoalbum.org/)
digiKam (http://www.digikam.org/)
Pro Tools
Ardour (http://www.ardour.org)
Quicken
KMyMoney (http://kmymoney2.sourceforge.net/)
GNUcash (http://www.gnucash.org/ )
Gnofin (http://gnofin.sourceforge.net/)
Grisbi (http://www.grisbi.org/)
SoulSeek
Nicotine (http://nicotine.thegraveyard.org/)
Nicotine-Plus (http://nicotine-plus.sourceforge.net/)
SoundForge
ReZound (http://rezound.sourceforge.net/)
Total Commander
GNOME Commander (http://www.nongnu.org/gcmd/)
xfe (http://roland65.free.fr/xfe/)
Tux Commander (http://tuxcmd.sourceforge.net/)
Midnight Commander (http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/)
Krusader (http://krusader.sourceforge.net/)
Traktor DJ
Mixxx (http://mixxx.sourceforge.net/)
Videora
thin liquid film (http://thinliquidfilm.org/)
Winamp
Audacious (http://audacious-media-player.org/Main_Page)
Amarok (http://amarok.kde.org/)
XMMS (http://www.xmms.org/)
Windows Media Player
KPlayer (http://kplayer.sourceforge.net/)
VideoLAN (http://www.videolan.org/)
xine (http://xinehq.de/)
mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html)
Windows Movie Maker
PiTiVi (http://www.pitivi.org/wiki/Main_Page)
LiVES (http://lives.sourceforge.net/)
Avidemux (http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/)
Cinelerra (http://cvs.cinelerra.org/)
kdenlive (http://kdenlive.sourceforge.net/)
WinIso
ISO Master (http://littlesvr.ca/isomaster/)
KIso (http://kiso.sourceforge.net/)
WinMerge
Meld (http://meld.sourceforge.net/)
xxdiff (http://furius.ca/xxdiff/)
WinTV
XdTV (http://xawdecode.sourceforge.net/)
tvtime (http://tvtime.sourceforge.net/)
WS_FTP
gFTP (http://gftp.seul.org/)
FireFTP (http://fireftp.mozdev.org/)
Zbrush
SharpConstruct (http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net)
ZoneAlarm
Guarddog (http://www.simonzone.com/software/guarddog/)
Firestarter (http://www.fs-security.com/)

Friday, November 23, 2007

USB 3.0 Another Successful Story in 2009

One of the biggest inventions in the computing industry is the USB technology that changed everything we knew about connectors because it replaced the serial and parallel cables that didn't offer speeds. Then USB 2.0 arrived and everything changed because we got to write with up to 480Mbps.

But things changed since the USB 2.0 and we now have much larger files from digital cameras or video recorders, not to mention a HD movie, so how does 10 times faster sound? USB 3.0 will be able to transfer files up to 4.8Gbps and should be available in stores in 2009, with the specs being released early next year (2008). All I know right now is that it will use the same connecting format and will provide better power efficiency for better load on portable devices.

With all of us screaming for better internet connections with faster speeds, more storage capacities and so on, I am sure this will turn out to be another great success in the USB series

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Single nanotube makes world's smallest radio

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have built the smallest radio yet - a single carbon nanotube one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair that requires only a battery and earphones to tune in to your favorite station.

The scientists successfully received their first FM broadcast last year - Derek & The Dominos' "Layla" and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" transmitted from across the room. In homage to last year's 100th anniversary of the first voice and music radio transmission, they also transmitted and successfully tuned in to the first music piece broadcast in 1906, the "Largo" from George Frederic Handel's opera "Xerxes."

nanoradio video clip
Nanotube radio on video video
The nanotube radio seen under a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, which allows researchers to observe the radio in action as it tunes in Derek & The Dominos playing Eric Clapton's "Layla." When not tuned in, the nanotube does not vibrate. As the researchers tune it to the proper frequency, however, the nanotube vibates at radio frequencies, which blurs its image. The nanotube is about 700 nanometers long and 10 nanometers in diameter — one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair. (Zettl Research Group/LBNL & UC Berkeley)

Watch video (6.6Mb Quicktime file)

"We were just in ecstasy when this worked," said team leader Alex Zettl, UC Berkeley professor of physics. "It was fantastic."

The nanoradio, which is currently configured as a receiver but could also work as a transmitter, is 100 billion times smaller than the first commercial radios, and could be used in any number of applications - from cell phones to microscopic devices that sense the environment and relay information via radio signals, Zettl said. Because it is extremely energy efficient, it would integrate well with microelectronic circuits.

"The nanotube radio may lead to radical new applications, such as radio-controlled devices small enough to exist in a human's bloodstream," the authors wrote in a paper published online today (Wednesday, Oct. 31) by the journal Nano Letters. The paper will appear in the print edition of Nano Letters later in November.

Authors of the nanoradio paper are Zettl, graduate student Kenneth Jensen, and their colleagues in UC Berkeley's Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS) and in the Materials Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). COINS is a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Research Center supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Nanotubes are rolled-up sheets of interlocked carbon atoms that form a tube so strong that some scientists have suggested using a nanotube wire to tether satellites in a fixed position above Earth. The nanotubes also exhibit unusual electronic properties because of their size, which, for the nanotubes used in the radio receiver, are about 10 nanometers in diameter and several hundred nanometers long. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; a human hair is about 50,000-100,000 nanometers in diameter.

In the nanoradio, a single carbon nanotube works as an all-in-one antenna, tuner, amplifier and demodulator for both AM and FM. These are separate components in a standard radio. A demodulator removes the AM or FM carrier frequency, which is in the kiloHertz and megaHertz range, respectively, to retrieve the lower frequency broadcast information.

The nanoradio detects radio signals in a radically new way - it vibrates thousands to millions of times per second in tune with the radio wave. This makes it a true nanoelectromechanical device, dubbed NEMS, that integrates the mechanical and electrical properties of nanoscale materials.

In a normal radio, ambient radio waves from different transmitting stations generate small currents at different frequencies in the antenna, while a tuner selects one of these frequencies to amplify. In the nanoradio, the nanotube, as the antenna, detects radio waves mechanically by vibrating at radio frequencies. The nanotube is placed in a vacuum and hooked to a battery, which covers its tip with negatively charged electrons, and the electric field of the radio wave pushes and pulls the tip thousands to millions of times per second.

While large objects, like a stiff wire or a wooden ruler pinned at one end, vibrate at low frequencies - between tens and hundreds of times per second - the tiny nanotubes vibrate at high frequencies ranging from kiloHertz (thousands of times per second) to hundreds of megaHertz (100 million times per second). Thus, a single nanotube naturally selects only one frequency.

Although it might seem that the vibrating nanotube yields a "one station" radio, the tension on the nanotube also influences its natural vibration frequency, just as the tension on a guitar string fine tunes its pitch. As a result, the physicists can tune in a desired frequency or station by "pulling" on the free tip of the nanotube with a positively charged electrode. This electrode also turns the nanotube into an amplifier. The voltage is high enough to pull electrons off the tip of the nanotube and, because the nanotube is simultaneously vibrating, the electron current from the tip is an amplified version of the incoming radio signal. This is similar to the field-emission amplification of old vacuum tube amplifiers used in early radios and televisions, Zettl said. The amplified output of this simple nanotube device is enough to drive a very sensitive earphone.

Finally, the field-emission and vibration together also demodulate the signal.

"I hate to sound like I'm selling a Ginsu knife - But wait, there's more! It also slices and dices! - but this one nanotube does everything; it performs all radio functions simultaneously and extremely efficiently," Zettl said. "It's ridiculously simple - that's the beauty of it."

Zettl's team assembles the nanoradios very simply, too. From nanotubes copiously produced in a carbon arc, they glue several to a fixed electrode. In a vacuum, they bring the electrode within a few microns of a second electrode, close enough for electrons to jump to it from the closest nanotube and create an electrical circuit. To achieve the desired length of the active nanotube, the team first runs a large current through the nanotube to the second electrode, which makes carbon atoms jump off the tip of the nanotube, trimming it down to size for operation within a particular frequency band. Connect a battery and earphones, and voila!

Reception by the initial radios is scratchy, which Zettl attributes in part to insufficient vacuum. In future nanoradios, a better vacuum can be obtained by insuring a cleaner environment, or perhaps by encasing the single nanotube inside a second, larger non-conducting nanotube, thereby retaining the nanoscale.

Zettl won't only be tuning in to oldies stations with his nanoradio. Because the radio static is actually the sound of atoms jumping on and off the tip of the nanotube, he hopes to use the nanoradio to sense the identity of atoms or even measure their masses, which is done today by cumbersome large mass spectrometers.

Coauthors with Jensen and Zettl are UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow Jeff Weldon and physics graduate student Henry Garcia. The work was supported by NSF and the U.S. Department of Energy.



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