10 Principles of Successful Business Blogging

Great business blogging can add value to your business, create loyal customers and build trust in potential clients. On the other hand, bad business blogging, or inconsistent business blogging, can have a negative impact on your brand. Keeping the points below in mind should help ensure your business blog is working effectively to draw clients in, not push them away.

1. Use your professional voice. When you take a business-related call with a client who you’re not familiar with, do you use slang, swear, or are you otherwise impolite? Hopefully, no, and the same rules should apply to blogging. Think of your writing as an extension of your professional voice.

2. Edit each post you think is done. Maintaining good grammar, spelling and fluid expression is a simple way to show potential clients you’re an intelligent and professional person. The more informal your writing looks the less professional you and your enterprise will appear. Avoid embarrassing slip-ups by re-reading and rigorously editing each post before you hit publish.

3. Present information clearly and concisely. Make your posts scannable by including sub-headings, by making key words and phrases bold, and by using paragraph breaks frequently. This makes your writing look more professional and will enable busy clients to extract the essence of your posts even if they don’t have the time to read each word.

4. Be personal. A funny anecdote or interesting story can help build a friendly face for your business, as long as the story is relevant to the topic of your blog. Injecting a bit of personality into your writing will help establish yourself as someone clients can relate to. In doing so you’ll also be building trust. A post I read recently that I thought did this well was ‘Apparently I Work for Google‘ at SEOmoz, a business blog about SEO.

5. Don’t be too personal. Don’t get into specifics about your family, your relationships, your work stresses or otherwise delve beneath the surface of your daily life. This is not only unprofessional but can imbue your blog with a sense of negativity. Keep your voice positive and stay away from personal issues.

6. Keep your opinions and beliefs to yourself. Today’s world is increasingly divided along political and moral lines. If you reveal your thoughts on controversial issues there will be some clients who’ll no longer be willing to support your product or service. Keep politics, morality and controversy out of your business blogging, regardless of how strongly you feel about an issue.

7. Be objective. Too many business blogs serve as extended advertisements for the company and little else. It is no wonder that these tend to be unsuccessful. A good strategy is to take a birds-eye view of the industry you’re in while frequently returning back to your own business.

8. Treat readers like you would customers. Respond to every comment and e-mail in a prompt and courteous manner. Answer every question to the best of your abilities. Enforce a strict comment policy to ensure your blog comments are a happy and productive place. Your readers are potential clients and will generate an impression of your customer service based on how you manage your blog community. Take the time to do this well.

9. Less is more. Every post you write is a reflection on the quality of your business. Take the time to produce well thought-out posts which offer value to readers, even if it means you end up posting less regularly.

10. Don’t start what you can’t finish. If you start a business blog you better be prepared to stick with it. A client who enjoys your business blog for a month only to watch it fall into disuse and disrepair will make some powerful assumptions about your business as a result of this. If you’re not absolutely committed to your business blogging then, simply put, don’t start. If you lose your enthusiasm at any point be sure to recruit someone who can keep things afloat for you.

Embedded Wi-Fi in PIC® Microcontroller With ZeroG

Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, today announced from the Sensors Expo in Chicago the immediate availability of the ZeroG Wireless ZG2100M and ZG2101M Wi-Fi^® Modules, ZeroG IEEE 802.11 Development Kit for Explorer 16 (part # AC164136) and the ZeroG Wi-Fi PICtail™/PICtail Plus Daughter Board (part # AC164136-2) athttp://www.microchipDIRECT.com, and through the Microchip sales team. Microchip and ZeroG Wireless, Inc. signed a multi-year, non-exclusive deal, which began with a joint engineering program to develop an optimized Wi-Fi solution for embedded designers and resulted in modules for Microchip's 8-, 16- and 32-bit PIC^® microcontrollers (MCUs) and dsPIC^® Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). The agreement ensures long-term compatibility and availability of this joint solution.

The ZeroG Wireless "Wi-Fi I/O" (ZG2100M and ZG2101M) is an easy-to-implement, low-power, low-system-cost Wi-Fi solution that provides Wi-Fi connectivity for nearly any electronic device. The new Microchip development tools are based on the standard Microchip PICtail™ and PICtail Plus daughter-board connectors, which allow a designer to easily plug Wi-Fi connectivity into a variety of Microchip development kits. These kits allow easy development with the 8-bit PIC18, 16-bit PIC24 and 32-bit PIC32 MCUs, as well as the dsPIC DSCs using the broad Microchip development tools and MPLAB^®Integrated Development Environment.

"We have watched the Wi-Fi market continue to grow, and have correspondingly seen an increase in our customers' requests for an embedded Wi-Fi solution," said Steve Caldwell, director of Microchip's RF Products Division. "ZeroG Wireless has developed an embedded Wi-Fi product that meets the needs of PIC microcontroller designers, and our tools make it easy to integrate."

"Partnering with Microchip to develop and distribute a highly optimized solution for their customers has provided us with an opportunity to directly reach thousands of customers who would like to 'just add Wi-Fi' to their embedded design," said Tim Colleran, vice president of marketing, ZeroG Wireless. "Microchip is a leader in the embedded market, and we feel our unique business model has provided us with the opportunity to team with such leaders."

The ZeroG Wi-Fi PICtail/PICtail Plus Daughter Board (part # AC164136-2) is available today for $59.99, and consists of the ZeroG ZG2100M FCC and Wi-Fi certified module. This daughter board allows designers to quickly create a direct connection to the Internet by seamlessly connecting to standard wireless access points. In managing the connection, the ZeroG ZG2100M module controls the MAC and baseband layers, and is connected to the host MCU or DSC via an SPI port. The 8/16/32-bit PIC MCU or dsPIC DSC that resides on the Microchip development board controls the free Microchip TCP/IP networking stack and runs the system application. Additional key features of the daughter board include:

• FCC, IC and ETSI Certified, providing considerable cost savings and quick time to market
• Wi-Fi Certified and IEEE 802.11b Compliant wireless solution
• ZG2100M small-footprint module with integrated antenna, MAC, baseband, RF and power amplifier
• Microchip's free TCP/IP stack supports standard suite of Internet Protocols
• Supports WEP, WPA and WPA2 security protocols

The ZeroG IEEE 802.11 Development Kit for Explorer 16 (part # AC164136) is available today for $189.99. This kit demonstrates 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity using the separately available Explorer 16 development board, which supports all of Microchip's 16-bit PIC24 MCUs, 32-bit PIC32 MCUs and dsPIC DSCs. Everything you need to connect and begin development with the Explorer 16 is contained within the kit, including:

• ZeroG Wi-Fi PICtail/PICtail Plus Daughter Board
• Pre-programmed PIC24FJ128GA010 Plug-in Module for the Explorer 16, with TCP/IP and Web server application
• Pre-configured wireless broadband router

The ZeroG ZG2100M and ZG2101M Wi-Fi transceiver modules are also available today for $31.95 each in single-unit quantities. The modules provide a complete Wi-Fi wireless connection with full FCC, ETSI, IC and Wi-Fi certification, which reduces the overall design risk, eliminates design and certification cost, and enables quick time-to-market for customers wanting to add Wi-Fi to their PIC microcontroller-based products.

About Microchip Technology:

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) is a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality.

Time Management Tips For High School Students

It's 10 p.m.—Do You Know Where Your Homework Is?

Does it seem like there's never enough time in the day to get everything done? Feel like you're always running late? Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

1. Make a "To Do" List Every Day.

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. If it's easier, use a planner to track all of your tasks. And don't forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.

Get some reading done on the bus ride home from school, for example, and you'll kill two birds with one stone.

3. It's Okay to Say "No."

If your boss asks you to work on a Thursday night and you have a final exam the next morning, realize that it's okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.

4. Find the Right Time.

You'll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don't wait to do it until late at night.

5. Review Your Notes Every Day.

You'll reinforce what you've learned, so you need less time to study. You'll also be ready if your teacher calls on you or gives a pop quiz.

6. Get a Good Night's Sleep.

Running on empty makes the day seem longer and your tasks seem more difficult.

7. Communicate Your Schedule to Others.

If phone calls are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you take social calls from 7-8 p.m. It may sound silly, but it helps.

8. Become a Taskmaster.

Figure out how much free time you have each week. Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly.

9. Don't Waste Time Agonizing.

Have you ever wasted an entire evening by worrying about something that you're supposed to be doing? Was it worth it? Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it.

10. Keep Things in Perspective.

Setting goals that are unrealistic sets you up for failure. While it's good to set high goals for yourself, be sure not to overdo it. Set goals that are difficult yet reachable.

Consider these tips, but personalize your habits so that they suit you. If you set priorities that fit your lifestyle, you'll have a better chance of achieving your goale

Google Released Page Speed for Firefox

Google just released a Firefox/Firebug add-on called Pagespeed. It is basically a tool that will help you improve the loading performance of your website. After you run it, you will see a list with all the factors that would make your site load faster, with an image illustrating whether or not your website checks for each.

There are some similar plugins available for Firefox, but this one seems to be more robust. It checks for a wide range of optimization steps, including proxy caching, DNS lookups, CSS combination, Javascript loading and parallel downloads. Worth a try.

86% of teenagers involve in Internet hacking out of curiosity

A new survey published by Panda Security shows that hacking on occasion is something natural for teen Internet users like downloading music from a website. Panda Security composed a report based on the poll of over 4,000 15 to 18 year-olds. The report revealed that nearly one in five of them have the knowledge to use 'advanced' Internet-distributed hacking tools. Of that group, nearly a third claimed to have used them on at least one occasion.
The survey further says that 2/3 of the group admitted they had actually succeeded in hacking instant messaging or social network accounts of people known to them, with% saying that they published embarrassing photographs or videos of acquaintances on the Internet.
While among the reasons there were mischief-making and competition with their peer group, other substantial motivation for them was that trying out hacking appears to be curiosity, with 86 percent citing that as the point from which their involvement started.

Extreme Series High Output 12038mm fan 180-360cfm

The new YS TECH 12038mm Extreme Series fan has incorporated a stationary rotor and robust motor design to achieve higher rpms levels providing greater cfm/pressure ratings. The fans are available in 12, 24, and 48V version that we can incorpoarted with tachometers, PWM, thermistors, and value added features such as connectors and fan trays.
The fans are available now, contact us directly or through your local rep for samples, specs and pricing.

Heart disease more often misdiagnosed as stress in women, than men

Gender bias in medicine is alive and well, according to the investigative study - Gender Bias in the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Interpretation of CHD Symptoms: Two Experimental Studies with Internists and Family Physicians." The study, led by Gabrielle R. Chiaramonte, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Clinical Fellow at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, looked specifically at the effects of patients' gender on how coronary heart disease symptoms are evaluated by primary care physicians.
The researchers found that stressful events in the lives of women were "pyschogenic" in origin, but "organic" in origin when the same symptoms presented in men. Specifically, in the study, 87 internists and 143 family physicians were asked to interpret a "vignette" of a 47-year-old male or a 56-year-old female presenting a variety of coronary heart disease (CHD) symptoms and risk factors. After reviewing the vignettes, the doctors specified a diagnosis and made treatment recommendations. As the investigators suspected, the results showed a clear gender bias when CHD symptoms were presented in the context of stress, with fewer women -15% - receiving CHD diagnoses, compared to 56% of the men. In addition, women were referred to cardiologists just 30% of the time, compared to 62% for men, and the doctors prescribed cardiac medication to just 13% of the women, versus 47% of men. The bottom line? Primary care doctors are more likely to attribute shortness of breath, chest pain and other symptoms of heart disease to stress in women than when they see the same symptoms in men.
"We know that there is a delay in diagnosing CHD in women and this is an important step forward in understanding why," said Alexandra J. Lansky, M.D., director of the Women's Health Initiative at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). The CRF sponsored the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium, at which the research was presented last fall. And warns Dr. Chiaramonte, "Given the overlap of CHD and anxiety symptoms (e.g., chest tightness common in both) and given the higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms or disorders in women, physicians need to be aware of gender differences in symptom presentation and they need to be especially careful to rule out CHD before considering an anxiety diagnosis. In the case of women, anxiety appears to have a pervasive influence on medical judgments regardless of the gender of the health care provider making the evaluations. Our results suggest the need for the development of educational initiatives aimed at improving health care providers' understanding of gender differences in symptom presentation

Flu Virus Trots Globe During Off Season, Mixes With Other Viral Strains

ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2007)

The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debate on what the virus does during the summer off season when it is not infecting people.

"Nobody really knows why flu is a winter disease in the temperate regions and more continuous in the tropics," says Edward Holmes, professor of biology at Penn State. "The big question is, 'Why is flu seasonal?'"
Flu infections in the Northern Hemisphere typically follow a familiar pattern. Some time before the start of the winter infection season, the virus evolves, changing enough to evade the previously primed immune system. Then, just before summer, the virus disappears, only to resurface the next fall with a completely different genetic makeup, ready to fool the immune system anew.
But little is known about what happens to the virus between two successive winters, or how and where it is able to sustain itself.

Prepare for big flu pandemic economic hit

UN says
10 Jan 2008 11:14:45 GMTSource: Reuters
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Governments around the world need to do more to prepare for the dramatic economic impact of the next flu pandemic, the United Nations influenza coordinator said on Thursday.
David Nabarro said his team had recently collected information from nearly 150 countries to see how prepared they were for a pandemic and the picture was mixed.
“Most countries have now focused on pandemic as a potential cause of catastrophe and have done some planning. But the quality of the plans is patchy and too few of them pay attention to economic and social consequences,” he told BBC radio.
“The economic consequences could be up to $2 trillion — up to 5 percent of global GDP removed,” he said, reiterating previous World Bank and UN estimates.
Nabarro will deliver a lecture at the London School of Economics later on Thursday on the global state of preparedness for any pandemic, which could be triggered by bird flu.
The current H5N1 form of bird flu is mainly an animal disease, but experts fear it might mutate into a strain that could spread easily between people, causing a pandemic which could kill millions. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Mike Peacock)

Publisher's description of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

From AVG Technologies USA:
AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.
Version 8.5 now includes LinkScanner's Active Surf-Shield to check every Web page for threats at the only time that matters--when you're about to click on the link

The most downloaded program ever

DescriptionWhat would your guess be? Which is the most, officially, downloaded program on the web? The first name that probably comes to mind is ICQ, and rightly so since it was the most downloaded program for a long time. On Friday however, all that changed and a new popular champion stands at the top. Reaching 100 million downloads in August, 2002 and then jumping on to 200 million on March 11th, 2003 Kazaa Media Desktop has now reached the staggering 230 million plus, mark which makes it officially the most downloaded free program on the web. All these figures are as measured by Download.com, which is owned by CNET Networks Inc. Sharman Networks have done a good job of convincing users that Spyware, the controversial "funding" mechanism used by Kazaa's previous owners, is out and arranging a variety of licenses for offering legitimate downloads, they seem to have overcome the last hurdles in their way. The greatest hurdle, of course, is still to come and has to do with a little known organization called the RIAA. Kazaa is facing a variety of law suites regarding the use of its service. The news of the record set by Kazaa will certainly strengthen record label resolve to throw everything they've got at Sharman. There is hope for Kazaa however, since Record labels suffered a setback in April when a federal judge decided that similar networks, Grokster and Morpheus, could not be shut, claiming that they had no control over what is traded on them. In order to better place themselves for their time in front of the Judge, Sharman have entered into a partnership with a company called Altnet, in order to provide a variety of content including, music, movies, games and software

Aurora Media Workshop 3.4.26

Aurora Media Workshop is a program that includes all the media tools, all in one. Aurora Media Workshop is such a kind of program that includes prefessional features in Video, Audio, and Compact Disc media. With Aurora Media Workshop you can convert, edit, join, split, between nearly all types of video files, you can extract audio tracks, pictures from video files, can make any favorate pictures and photos to video films with fascinating transition effects and graceful background music. You can record audio from any audio source, and convert audio files between mp3, wav, wma, ogg and you can also ripper and save your favorate music CD albums to disk audio files; you will find it is a very easy thing to store all kinds of audio, data, video files to CDs.

SAMSUNG number one in the UAE with a 27% market share

March 5, 2009- Dubai, UAE: SAMSUNG Electronics, the global leader in consumer electronics and advanced technology solutions, maintained the lead in the Global TV market riding on strong demand for its TV, LCD TV, and FPTV product despite economic recession around the globe. According to the DisplaySearch, SAMSUNG recorded sales of 10.2 million units of TV with revenue of USD 6.73 Billion in the Q4 2008, giving it a market share of 17.7% and 22.0% respectively. This performance consolidated SAMSUNGs number one position in the world market, who consequently recorded the most units sold for the last 10 quarters and has lead in revenue for the last 12 quarters. Statistics showed that SAMSUNG achieved top revenue in the United Arab of Emirates with a 27% market share. SAMSUNG ranked top in Q4 sales revenue share with 22% followed by Sony (14.5%), LG Electronics (11.5%), Panasonic (8.7%) and Sharp (7.6%) and Philips (8.8%). Unit share in the total TV market during Q4 was also led by SAMSUNG with 17.7% followed by LG 13.4%, Sony with 9.2%, Panasonic with 6.8%, and Sharp with 5.5%. Riding momentum from strong demand for LCD TV and FPTV product, the company also achieved number one position in total market share for LCD TV with 19.7% units and 22.7% revenue, additionally FPTV with 20.3% units and 23.1% revenue. In the Middle East and Africa, SAMSUNG enjoys a stronger position and continues this leadership trend by maintaining Triple Crown in the 4Q sales revenue for TV, FPTV and LCD TV with 32%, 38.8% and 40% market share respectively. The company also remained no. 1 position in market share, by volume of 37% in LCD TV and 36.3% in FPTV. Meanwhile, SAMSUNG was the only company that increased its revenue share from the previous year up to 31% among the top four players in the Middle East and Africa market, thanks to the strong growth in the LCD TV market. SAMSUNG ranked top in the total LCD TV market in Q4 with 36% of unit share (10th in a row) and 31% of revenue share (12th in a row). “Despite the challenging market conditions created by global economic uncertainties, sales of SAMSUNG TV’s, particularly LCD sets have continued to show good growth in the Middle East and Africa. This increasing demand reflects consumer preference for SAMSUNGs high quality and innovative product in the region. SAMSUNG will look to gain further consumer trust with the launch of its 2009 TV range, highlights include ultra slim LED LCD TVs incorporating the latest backlighting technology that are setting new bench marks in picture quality around the globe.” said Mr Kyungtae Bae, the president of SAMSUNG Middle East & Africa Headquarters.

Fanless Mini Box Computer - Commercial/Industrial

The Lanner LEC-2204 is designed for flexible deployment in industrial control scenarios. With four COM ports, two USB ports, one LAN port and a Compact-Flash socket, the LEC-2204 provides sufficient I/O for a wide range of industrial control applications in a small, lightweight and fanless package. Combining the advantages of ULV Celeron processors, advanced thermal design and solid connectivity, Lanner industrial control computers provide optimal platforms for energy-efficient, long-lasting, connected solutions for industrial applications

• Durable fanless enclosure


• Slim 36mm case with heat dispersing fins


• neg 20°C to 50°C operating temperature


• Intel Celeron M 1GHz onboard CPU


• 512MB DDR2 memory onboard


• VGA display


• 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN


• COM x 4


• USB x 2, Audio


• CompactFlash Type I/II

Joboshare Video Converter 2.4.2.0407

Joboshare Video Converter is easy-to-use, powerful video and audio converting software, which can convert between all popular video and audio formats. It provides rich profiles for popular multimedia devices such as iPod, iPhone, mobile phone, windows mobile, portable multimedia device etc., enables you to convert audio and video to their respective formats supported. Joboshare Video Converter supports to adjust parameters of audio/video codec and the ID3 editing function of audio formats such as WMA and MP3. With it, you can also extract and convert the audio from a video file, to recopy a music CD.
Joboshare Video Converter support almost all popular video formats, such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, RM, MOV, XviD, 3GP, FLV, VOB (the video format used in DVD), DAT (the video format used in VCD, SVCD), and so on. It's an all-in-one video converter including 3GP Video Converter, iPod Video Converter, PSP Video Converter, Zune Video Converter, AVI MPEG Converter, MP4 Video Converter, MOV Converter, MKV to MPEG converter, etc.

Why is Search Engine Optimization Potentially the Lifeblood of Your Online Business?

When you are working on building traffic to your website, search engine optimization is one of the strongest tools that you could use. This technique works around the way that search engines are built to operate and knowing how to do this can help you gain visitors. When someone is running a search on a search engine, they type in certain words called "keywords," into the engine. The search engine will then go out and look for all of the websites which have those keywords. The websites that feature those keywords more often are considered to be more relevant to the search and will appear higher up on the list of results.

The higher up on the list that a website is, the more likely it is to be looked at by a person on the Internet. Therefore, you want to put your website as close to the top of that list as is possible, a tactic that often relies on using keywords as much as possible on your website. This can come from writing specific articles using the search engine optimization techniques to simply including that text in your descriptions or headers.

How Else Does This Work?

Many search engines will also place a great deal of importance on the number of other websites which link to your website. Establishing yourself as a reliable authority on the topic can go a long way toward doing that. Link sharing can also be an important way to gain links as many people will place a link to your website on theirs if you agree to do the same. Taking a smart approach to search engine optimization can help you gain a good place on the results list.

Water-Tight Computer

BIS-6310 is an water-resistant and dust-proof Water-repellent industrial computer met with protection grade IP68. It is developed for the applications of water-tight applications.
With the water-tight duralumin enclosure featuring special ballseat "snap-in", direct conduct cooling, percolate-res..

Cost Effective and Easily Configurable

The LP-E Series is our multiplex transmission Full-2Way remote lighting control system. The LP-E series uses just two ±24 V signal wires for all the switches on a network, and controls lighting using pulse signals. This reduces the number of wires needed compared to conventional remote control wiring. With the LP-E Series Full-2Way multiple transmission, load addresses comprised of channel and load numbers are set up in advance, and the signal is transmitted to the designated addresses that correspond to remote controlled HID relays when switches are operated. The LP-E Series Full-2Way remote control has the cut-in signal circuit method that can control relay at high speed and indicate on the On/Off status.

The LP-E Series lighting control panel is a cost-effective and easily-configurable lighting control system with programming and accessories specifically optimized for office building, factory, school/gymnasium and restaurant applications. The LP-E Series contains centralized monitoring and control of lighting that can handle up to 256 circuits per system. It is logically capable of turning up to 127 groups of lights on and off in an entire section of any application area. The LP-E Series can be programmed up to 72 control patterns to match work schedules or habits, allowing you to effectively use the necessary lights for low energy and cost savings.

The LP-E Series timer control can easily be configured to match a daily schedule for lights to be automatically turned on and off. Passive infrared sensor control is also offered with the system to detect occupancy movement that will enable the lights to turn on and off and can be programmed after a certain period when room light is no longer needed. In addition to the timer control and passive infrared, labor-savings and energy conservation are achieved using daylight sensors that respond to the brightness of their environment.

Custom Thermal Imagers

PhantomIR by ELCAN is a rugged lightweight infrared biocular system that uses the latest in low-power, compact, un-cooled thermal technology.

PhantomIR xr can recognize a man-sized moving target at greater than 2,000 meters. The PhantomIR xr is ideal for: military combat operations, border security, surveillance and targeting applications.

Unlike image intensification night-vision devices that only magnify existing light, thermal imaging cuts through the darkest night and easily separates heat-emitting targets from background clutter. It sees in total darkness, through smoke, dust and most fogs. It cannot be defeated by artificial light or adverse visible conditions. Despite its advanced technology, PhantomIR is surprisingly affordable for large-scale deployment.

ELCAN wins $180 million USD Marine contract to supply PhantomIR xr

Chronic Fatigue Treatment

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immunodeficiency syndrome), is a condition that has become widespread in the United States . Viruses such as Epstein Barr, Cytomegalovirus, mononucleosis, and herpes have often been associated with chronic fatigue. Some people feel that massive immunization campaigns, which are designed to eradicate communicable diseases, have weakened the immune system in some individuals rather than strengthen it, making it easier for viruses to cause diseases. Other causes may be the fungus Candida albicans, chronic mercury poisoning from dental amalgam fillings, heavy metals (e.g., lead, arsenic, and cadmium) from the environment, anemia, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, and sleep problems. All of these conditions can stress the immune system and lower your resistance to disease.

Some symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, night sweats, intestinal problems, anxiety, depression, mood swings, sleep disturbances, memory loss, inability to concentrate, headaches, and muscle and joint pains. CFS is not always easy to diagnose correctly because its symptoms resemble flu and other viral symptoms. Officially, a patient is considered to have CFS if fatigue persists for six months and is accompanied by eleven other chronic or recurrent symptoms. If you have elevated viral antibodies then an underlying viral component is suspected. In this case, antibiotics will not help.
Recommendations for prevention and treatment

1. void processed foods (e.g., as white flour), refined foods (e.g., as white sugar), and stimulants such as coffee, tea, and tobacco as these can all depress your immune system.

2. Make an effort to increase your consumption of water. Attempt to drink eight glasses of purified or reverse osmosis water daily.

3. Ensure that your bowels move at least once daily by increasing your fiber consumption in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. Oat bran and psyllium husk are also good sources of fiber. Coffee enemas can be very helpful here, as well as for stimulating liver detoxification via bile production.

4. Check your thyroid function by measuring your basal body temperature. This is done by placing a thermometer under your arm for 10 minutes before arising from bed on two consecutive days. For menstruating women, this is best done at the beginning of the menstrual cycle. The average basal body temperature should be greater than 97.8 degrees. If not, a trial of natural thyroid should be considered.

5. Consider an evaluation for free radical damage from environmental pollutants such as lead, aluminum, cadmium, and mercury. If elevated, heavy metal detoxification therapy is indicated.

6. Supplement with antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, E, Bioflavonoids, and Coenzyme Q10, B-vitamins, magnesium, free-form amino acids, thymus gland, and acidophilus. Consider also using Proteolytic enzymes, DMG, and vitamin B12 injections. Chlorophyll in tablet or liquid (such as barley or wheat grass) is also helpful.

7. Herbal preparations from burdock root, dandelion, echinacea, goldenseal and pau d’arco all promote healing. These can be made in teas and combined or alternated daily.

8. Homeopathic nosode preparations, such as those made from viruses themselves, are particularly helpful. However, these must be obtained by prescription from a homeopathic physician. Other homeopathic remedies known to be helpful in fatigue include Carbo Vegetabilis, Cocculus, Ferrum Phosphoricum, and Phosphoric Acidum. Combination remedies can also be helpful, especially if they contain the substance (e.g, virus) identified as the possible source of infection and/or fatigue. Isode therapy (e.g., preparations made from the patient themselves) can also be very beneficial here.

9. Take sublingual fermented lactobacillus three times daily for immune stimulation.

10. Gentle skin detoxification through a medical spa with steam sauna, infrared sauna, and/or contrast shower.

11. In severe cases, get intravenous solutions for better and more complete response. There should include either vitamin C or amino acids or combinations of both.

12. Intramuscular injections can be helpful for the delivery of energy medicines (e.g., B5, B12, AMP, NADH). These can be given 1-2 times weekly.

13. Subcutaneous energy injections can be administered daily and can include not only some of the products mentioned in #12 above, but homeopathic preparations as well.

Index to vendors/resellers

Acer
Altima,Altura Computers (defunct)
AMS
Aqualine (defunct)
ARM
AST
Astro Research
AT&ampT
Austin
BSI/Broadax
Canon
Chembook
Compaq
Dauphin Technology (defunct)
Dell
DFI
Discount Laptops
Dolch Computer Systems
Dual
EPS
Elite Computer Systems
Ergo Computing
FOSA Computers
Future Technologies
Gateway
Grid
Hewlett Packard
HyperData
IBM
Identity Systems
Impulse Computers
Itronix
Lightspeed Technology
Maximus Computers
MegaImage
Micon Computer
Micron/Zeos
MicroStar
Micro Express
Midwest Micro
MPC
NEC
Olivetti
PC Portable Manufacturer
ProStar
MicroStar
Polywell Computers
Radio Shack
Sager Midern
Samsung
Sceptre Technologies
Swan Technologies
Tandy
Texas Instruments
Toshiba
TwinHead
Unisys
Wedge Technologies
WinBook
Zeos

14.1" Rugged Laptop with Core Duo CPU JNB-1401

Processor: Intel Core Duo 1.66 GHz LV processor
Chipset: Intel 945GME, ICH7-M, 667 MHz FSB, 2M cache
Memory: 512MB or above, max. 1G+512M
Onboard Video: Intel GMA950
Display Size: 14.1" XGA (1024 x 768), Sunlight Readable (optional)
Network: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 a/b/g, 1 x GbE, 1 x RJ11
Storage: 80GB or above (SATA Interface)
Media Bay: DVD Combo, 2nd battery pack (optional)
KB/ MS: Waterproof membrane, Waterproof rubber backlight (optional) ;
Touch pad (capacitance type)
Audio: Azalia 32-bits audio digital controller, Speaker-out (2W x 2), 1 x
MIC-in, 1 x Line-out
I/O Interface: 1 x PCMCIA Type II, 1 x Express Card Type II, 4IN1
MS/XD/SD/MMC Card Reader, 2 x serial port, 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x External
VGA, 1 x IEEE 1394B (Mini), Docking port (POGO)
Security: Kensington lock, TCM 1.2 (optional), FingerPrint (USB I/F. for selection)
Power Supply: DC in, Adapter (90W, 100-240V, 50/60Hz), Li-Ion Smart
battery 7200mAh
Dimensions: 328mm x 272mm x 46mm
Weight: 4.25kg
Operating Temperature: -20°C ~55°C
Storage Temperature: -40°C ~70°C
Operating Humidity: 45%~95% RH, non-condensing

FastStone Image Viewer 3.8 Beta

FastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF, SRF and DNG).

Mini Keyboard Model 9004 Full-Function & Touchpad

Electrone offers an extensive range of full-function mini keyboards available with assorted connectors, features and colors. The small footprint and full functionality of the Model 9004 Mini Keyboard makes it a popular choice in business as well as for personal use.
Only 10.25 inches wide (260mm)
5.75 inches in height (145mm)
1 inch depth at tallest point (26mm)
85/86 silent tactile keys with comfortable 17mm key spacing
12 function keys and an embedded numeric pad
Integral two button touchpad for mouse emulation
USB connection
Foreign language layouts available
FCC /CE certification
RoHS Compliant
Plastic protective keyskins available

Carlson Explorer

Carlson Explorer™ is a low cost, handheld computer with a customized keyboard that optimizes the performance of Carlson SurvCE data collection software. The Carlson Explorer is provided as a bundled option with the powerful Carlson SurvCE data collection softwar.
**Rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride battery or 6 AA alkaline batteries.
**Touch screen.
**Humidity: 5-95% Non-condensing.
**SDRAM: 64MB.
**Internal Compact Flash: 128MB.
**Compact flash card slot.

**320x240 QVGA-TFT color display RS232 serial communications port

Stress Management

Stress affects the mental and physical. It can stem from cold, heat, chemical pollution and noise pollution, or from nervous system responses to pain, emotional demands and more. These stress responses fire neurotransmitters that send signals from the brain to the body's motor centers. The results are seen in many illnesses, including hypertension. Managing stress requires nutrients to help the body maintain and replenish resources when needed most. A number of herbs, vitamins and other compounds help. You'll find them here, ready to combat and neutralize stress-related responses and the physical symptoms that arise from them.

BTC Wireless Multimedia Keyboard w/Trackball (Black/Gray)

Wireless freedom and multimedia functionality can be yours with this BTC Wireless Media Control keyboard. This BTC keyboard features a built-in 1000 dpi Laser Trackball with precision cursor movement and an MCE start button with one button to quickly launch Media Center PC functions. WIth the integrated trackball and built-in mouse pointer working on spreadsheets and surfing the Internet has never been easier! Work without wires at up to 30 feet with an ergonomic design that lets you work in comfort! Use the hot keys to access multimedia applications!
Features/Specifications:
BTC Wireless Media Control Keyboard with Trackball
General Features:
Wireless
Integrated mouse and remote
2.4 GHz RF Technology
Ergonomic design
2.4 GHz RF mini receiver with USB connector with range of up to 30 feet
16 Hot Keys for controlling MCE and multimedia functions
Built-in 1000 dpi Laser Trackball with precision cursor movement
MCE Start Button: one button to quickly launch Media Center PC functions
RoHS compliant
Certified for Windows Vista
Hot Keys:
Play
Pause
Stop
Rew
Fwd
Previous
Next
Live TV
Guide
DVD Menu
Volume +
Volume -
Mute
Back
More
Record
Regulatory Approvals:
FCC
CE
Package Includes:
BTC Wireless Media Control Keyboard with Trackball
Quick Installation Guide
USB Wireless Receiver
Four (4) AA batteries
Additional Information:
Notes:
Model: BTC 9039URF III
UPC: 7 53622 04703 7
EAN: 4 712364 932830
Hot Keys will only work with Windows Vista
Requirements:
Available USB port

Vista Codec Package 5.1.5

With Vista Codec Package installed you will be able to use any media player (limited only by the players capabilities) to play DVD's, movies and video clips of any format. Streaming video (real and quicktime) is supported in web browsers. Visit the homepage to get a 64bit Addon which enables xvid, divx and DVD playback in Vista's MediaCenter.Vista Codec Package does not contain a media player and it does not associate file-types. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players' capabilities, to play all movies and video clips. Streaming video is supported in several formats in all popular web browsers. Users of VCP have the ability to choose what is installed and where to install it using the public redistributable. After installation you can select to remove specific portions without removing the entire package. You can also re-add the removed items at any time.

Magic DVD Copier 4.9.2 Beta/ Magic DVD Copier 4.9.1 - Final

Magic DVD Copier is a very easy and powerful DVD copy software, which can copy any DVD movie to blank DVD without any loss of quality, or compress a DVD9 movie to fit on a 4.7 GB DVD. You need only insert your DVD movie and a blank DVD then press Go, everything will happen automatically and complete within 20-60 minutes. You can then enjoy the new DVD on any PC or Home DVD Player. Magic DVD Copier can also copy DVD movies to hard drive without any loss of quality. You can then enjoy them anytime without DVD discs. * Copy DVD movie to blank DVD in 1:1 mode* Compress a DVD9 movie to a 4.7 GB blank DVD* Split a DVD9 movie to two 4.7 GB blank DVDs without any loss of quality

Forums

The town square of the wired age - with lively discussions going on at all hours, and on topics ranging from philosophy and politics to pets and people. Check out all the buzz with the most all-inclusive sites for finding forums and messageboards on the Net.
Google Groups - The complete A-Z list of Usenet discussion forums on every conceivable topic.
Yahoo Groups - Thousands of groups to join, or start a group of your own.
ezboard - Boasting the largest message board network with millions of members in thousands of forums, searchable by topic.
Boardserver - A huge list of community forums searchable by keyword or categories including arts and humanities, hobbies, computer and Internet, religion and culture, travel, and lots more.
Voyforums - Another extensive collection searchable by category including education, politics, science, health, culture, art and more.
Delphi Forums - A top site for any forum community and on every topic imaginable.
MSN Groups - Something for everyone with literally thousands of groups and discussions boards worldwide.
allForums - Popular posts on politics, news, humor, religion, science, entertainment and more.
CNET Community Forums Directory - Hundreds of discussions, ranging from computer troubleshooting to technical product help and how-tos.

the top 10 web products of the year

In 2008 we saw the Semantic Web gain traction, giving us plenty of choice when selecting the 10 best Semantic Web products of 2008.
This is the first in a series of posts we'll publish over December, listing our choices for the top web products of the year. Then at the end of December, we'll post a Top 100 list - which we'll be promoting over 2009 and opening up at some point for public voting. Without further ado, let's jump into the top 10 Semantic Web products of 2008.
Earlier this month we posted an update to 10 Semantic Web applications that we have been tracking for a year now. Some of those make this list, as well as some from our follow-up post 10 More Semantic Apps to Watch. We also have a couple of other products in this list, which for one reason or another didn't get mentioned in our watch-lists.
You may disagree with our selections, so do tell us in the comments what you think.
Note: the products listed below are in no particular order
Yahoo! SearchMonkey

In May this year Yahoo! launched an open developer platform for search called SearchMonkey. Yahoo hasn't had the happiest of years, but its willingness to innovate in search is to be commended. As we reported at the Web 2.0 Expo in April, SearchMonkey is a component of a major overhaul at Yahoo! across all of its properties to "rewire" for the social graph and data portability. SearchMonkey allows developers to build applications on top of Yahoo! search, including allowing site owners to share structured data with Yahoo!, using semantic markup (microformats, RDF), standardized XML feeds, APIs (OpenSearch or other web services), and page extraction.
We think this is the best use of Semantic Web by an Internet bigco this year. So for that reason SearchMonkey makes our top 10 list. Related: The Story of SearchMonkey.
Powerset (acquired by Microsoft in '08)
Powerset (see our initial coverage here and here) is a natural language search engine. It's fair to say that Powerset has had a great 2008, having been acquired by Microsoft in July this year.
At the time of the acquisition, Powerset said that it needed a bigger partner to expand its product beyond its current state of only searching Wikipedia - something we had speculated about when the rumors of the acquisition first appeared. In its own statement, Microsoft stressed how useful Powerset's technology will be for improving Microsoft's own search products and to "take Search to the next level." In our analysis of the deal, we noted that it was a "bold play requiring exact execution" by Microsoft.
Open Calais (Thomson Reuters)
At the end of 2007, ClearForest had been recently acquired by Reuters and at that point it had a Web Service and a Firefox extension. What a change a year brings! ClearForest went on to release Calais, a toolkit of products that enable users to incorporate semantic functionality within their blog, content management system, website or application.
Since launching the Open Calais API early this year, over 6,000 developers have registered with it and the service is doing more than 1 million transactions a day. Version 3.0 was released earlier this month and version 4 is expected by January 09.
Dapper MashupAds
In November we wrote about the recent improvement in Dapper MashupAds, a product we first spotted over a year ago. The idea is that publishers can tell Dapper: this is the place on my web page where the title of a movie will appear, now serve up a banner ad that's related to whatever movie this page happens to be about. That could be movies, books, travel destinations - anything. We remarked that the UI for this has grown much more sophisticated in the past year.
The company believes that its new ad network will provide monetary incentive for publishers to have their websites marked up semantically. We think this has plenty of promise, so it makes our year-end list.
Hakia
Hakia is a search engine focusing on natural language processing methods to try and deliver 'meaningful' search results. Hakia attempts to analyze the concept of a search query, in particular by doing sentence analysis. Over the past year Hakia has been busy extending its reach - licensing its proprietary OntoSem technology to other companies in March and announcing a Semantic API in June. It was also one of the first companies to utilize Yahoo! BOSS, by integrating their semantic parsing with the Yahoo! search index.
We think Hakia has made good progress getting its technology into the hands of third parties and making use of Yahoo's broader index, so for that reason it's among our top 10 for the year.

TripIt
Tripit is an app that manages your travel planning. With TripIt, you forward incoming bookings to plans@tripit.com and the system manages the rest.
Over the past year TripIt has continued to iterate on its feature set - introducing LinkedIn integration, better mobile functionality, more social networking features, and other goodies. In short, it's user experience continues to rock!
BooRah
BooRah is a restaurant review site that we first reviewed earlier this year and has come on in leaps and bounds over 2008. BooRah uses semantic analysis and natural language processing to aggregate reviews from food blogs. Because of this, BooRah can recognize praise and criticism in these reviews and then rates restaurants accordingly. BooRah also gathers reviews from Citysearch, Tripadvisor and other large review sites.
BooRah also announced last month the availability of an API that will allow other web sites and businesses to offer online reviews and ratings from BooRah to their customers. The API will surface most of BooRah's data about a given restaurant, including ratings, menus, discounts, and coupons.
BlueOrganizer (AdaptiveBlue)
Disclosure: AdaptiveBlue's founder Alex Iskold is a feature writer at RWW.
AdaptiveBlue are makers of the Firefox plugin, BlueOrganizer. As we wrote in January this year, the basic idea behind BlueOrganizer is that it gives you added information about webpages you visit and offers useful links based on the subject matter.
Over the past year the company has been working on a new product, called Glue. Launched last month, Glue is a more social networking oriented version of BlueOrganizer - it connects you to your friends based around things like books, music, movies, stars, artists, stocks, wine, restaurants, and more. We think the company has diversified smartly in 2008, by integrating social networking and mobile functionality into its products.
Zemanta
Zemanta is a blogging tool which harnesses semantic technology to add relevant content to your posts. While it didn't make either of our 'Semantic Apps to Watch' lists in November, a number of commenters pointed it out as something they use. In September we covered a major upgrade to Zemanta's service, allowing users to specify the sources they want to see in the suggestions list that Zemanta provides. Users can now incorporate their own social networks, RSS feeds, and photos into their blog posts. As we noted, this makes Zemanta a lot more appealing to established bloggers who are in less need of suggestions and more in need of automation.
Zemanta's API is also being used by startups, including semantic bookmarking service Faviki - which we mentioned in our second Watch-list. So all up, we think Zemanta has done enough this year to be included in our top 10 list.
UpTake
Semantic search startup UpTake (formerly Kango) aims to make the process of booking travel online easier. In our review in May, we explained that UpTake is a vertical search engine that has assembled what it says is the largest database of US hotels and activities - over 400,000 of them - from more than 1,000 different travel sites. Using a top-down approach, UpTake looks at its database of over 20 million reviews, opinions, and descriptions of hotels and activities in the US and semantically extracts information about those destinations.
And now please let us know in the comments what you think of our selections. Do you think we've picked the best 10 Semantic Web products of the year?

Your Business Data - Back It Up or Lose It

Is running your email backup one of those tasks on your to do list that keeps getting postponed until tomorrow? Does backing up your computer on a regular basis seem like more trouble than it is worth?
Computers are a mainstay of most modern businesses. Client contacts and financial records are easy to store and find on your office system. You may think of your computer as the most reliable assistant in the office, and you would be right. However, even the most secure and well designed systems can get viruses, succumb to power surges or just crash. It's a little too late to make a backup after your system loses all of your files!
"That won't happen to me" is how many of us think about a computer catastrophe that could wipe out all of our business information. But you don't need to have a computer crash to lose all of your files, folders, programs, and emails. You could lose them because of a natural disaster, power shortage, errors in transferring files to another computer, or a partial shutdown.
Do you have your business information insured?
Most smart business owners have insurance against financial loss. Even though you don't expect to need it, you take out a policy to protect your assets just in case a catastrophe occurs. Backing up your computer is the most affordable insurance a business owner can invest in. Just a few minutes of your time makes sure that in case of any disaster, your business can be up and running again because the data you need to operate was saved.
How much is your time worth?
How long would it take you to re-create that list of clients' phone numbers, addresses, actions, results that you keep on your PC? How long would it take you to re-create articles you've written, marketing sources you've been saving, your list of newsletters and subscribers? And how long would it take you to hunt for, find, and download all those ebooks, reports, and programs you downloaded before?
Some data you simply can't recreate
For example, when you lose your email folders, you can't re-create the content of those folders even if you had saved the email addresses. It's all gone. Think about all the financial information and tax records that are safely stored away on your computer. How hard would it be to gather all of that information again? Business names and contact lists, personal information about clients, pictures, phone numbers, deadline reminders ...
Is it starting to make sense why you should have it saved somewhere else? The extra few minutes it takes you to back-up your data is an investment worth a fortune because you simply cannot re-create or retrieve all files, folders, programs that you currently have on your computer.
What you need to backup your computer
Backing up your data (all files, folders, programs), means you'll need to save your data to a disk, CD or location other than your hard drive. For example, you can save your data to:
1) Zip disk - You'll need a zip drive.
2) CD or DVD - You'll need a CD or DVD burner.
3) External hard drive - These are less expensive now than they used to be. Compact flash drives are now available that can hold a few backups with room to spare.
4) Secure, Web-based file storage service - These are online services where you can save your data. The benefit here is that your data is stored in a physically remote place so floods and fire or other catastrophes in your office area won't affect them.
But the most important thing you'll need is a willingness to change your habits. Most people I know back up their data once per week, often on a Friday. If your business depends on the data you store, you may want to do a backup more often. Many Web site owners and newsletter publishers do it daily. Given all the marketing, coaching, newsletter lists and all the software I download, daily back-up makes more sense for me.
Backing up email folders
I don't back up my emails folders to a CD but prefer using a program to do that. There are many nifty little programs that work miracles with backing up email addresses and all email folders. The process is quick and easy ... and you'll be very happy to have the information saved if a disaster ocurrs.
Don't put it off!
Backing-up your files may seem like just another addition to your busy schedule. But remember that you've worked hard to build your client or newsletter list ... and your practice. Take just a few minutes each week to protect that investment.
About the Author...Joann Javons

BT-87-TP

iKey introduces the first Bluetooth®-compatible, wireless industrial keyboard with an integrated touchpad - the BT-87-TP. This fully-sealed keyboard meets NEMA 4X specifications, meaning it is resistant to dirt, dust, water, ice and corrosives. Built with an industrial silicone rubber keypad and a rugged ABS polycarbonate case, the BT-87-TP is submersible and easy to clean with disinfectants. The compact design and internal Bluetooth® module make the BT-87-TP highly portable. It is an ideal fit for mobile, material handling, food and beverage processing, medical, and other environments where rugged flexibility is a necessity. The BT-87-TP requires 2 AA batteries for power and does not require a USB dongle if your computer has an internal Bluetooth® radio.

Notepad++ 5.3 RC/ Notepad++ 5.2

Notepad++ is a free source code editor (and Notepad replacement), which supports several programming languages, running under the MS Windows environment. It also gives the extra functionality to define a user's own language for the syntax folding and syntax highlighting. You can print your source code in color. It allows a user to edit the different document in the same time, and even to edit the same document synchronizely in 2 different views. It supports full drag and drop.The programming languages supported by Notepad++ are:ASP, Ada, ASCII art, Assembly, AutoIt, BAT, C, C#, C++, Caml, CSS, doxygen, FORTRAN, HTML, Haskell, Java, JavaScript, KiXtart, Lisp, Lua, makefile, Matlab, Objective-C, Pascal, Perl, PHP, PostScript, Python, Ruby, Scheme, Unix Shell Script, Smalltalk, SQL, Tcl, TeX, Verilog, VHDL, VB/VBScript, XML

Download it here:

http://w17.easy-share.com/1701888805.html

Microsoft Confirms IE8 Can be Removed from Windows 7

Microsoft's Windows 7 development team yesterday confirmed that users will be able to remove Internet Explorer 8, as well as several other Microsoft applications, from Windows 7.
This appears to be a major step by the company in addressing the long standing anti-trust complaints of bundling their applications with Windows, and may account in part for the recent scaling back by the European Union in its monitoring of the software giant.
Following the recent findings by Chris Holmes and Bryant Zadegan that IE8 can be removed from Windows 7 build 7048, Jack Mayo, group program manager at Microsoft, confirmed that Windows 7 has expanded the number of Microsoft applications which can be turned off.
In a post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog Friday, Mayo explained: "In addition to the features that were already available to turn on or off in Windows Vista, we've added the following features to the list in Windows 7:"
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Center
Windows DVD Maker
Internet Explorer 8
Windows Search
Handwriting Recognition (through the Tablet PC Components option)
Windows Gadget Platform
Fax and Scan
XPS Viewer and Services (including the Virtual Print Driver)
Important to recognize is that while these applications can be turned off, meaning they are not loaded by the operating system or available for use, the files remain present on the hard disk in a staging area so that they can be easily turned back on again without the need to use installation media. This ability to turn applications on and off is available at both setup and post setup.
As we pointed out earlier this year, IE8 is definitely an important milestone, and this new policy of allowing their bundled applications to be turned off seems to be the right step by Microsoft in creating a more level playing field for third parties on the Windows platform

DivX Video Anytime, Anywhere

DivX® is a digital video format that offers a high-quality viewing experience on any device or platform — from your PC to your phone to your living room TV. Over 100 million devices that support DivX video have shipped worldwide from major manufactures, including DVD players, gaming consoles, mobile phones and more. Look for the DivX logo when you buy your next device to ensure that you can enjoy your videos anywhere you choose.

Download HD Video (DivX Plus™ format)

Aimersoft DVD Studio Pack 2.1.1.0

Aimersoft DVD Studio Pack is one of the best multimedia conversion tool that includes FOUR outstanding multimedia applications: Aimersoft DVD Ripper, Aimersoft Video Converter, Aimersoft DVD Creator and Aimersoft Audio Converter. It can perfectly help you rip DVD, convert all video and audio files and burn these files to DVD discs. This superb pack allow you to easily rip DVD to all common video and audio formats (MP4, AVI, MPG, MPEG, VOB, WMV, XviD, MOV, DAT, VOB, IFO, 3GP, 3GPP, ASF, FLV, WMA, M4A, MP3, AC3, WAV, limewire and YouTube etc.) and finish the conversion among them. So you can enjoy your favorite movie or music on iPod, Zune, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, Archos, iRiver, Creative Zen, PMP, Pocket PC, PDA, Mobile Phone (Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, iPhone, Samsung, LG, Smart Phone, etc. ) MP4/MP3 Player and so on. Any application of the pack allow you to crop, trim and adjust the effect of movie, and you can burn your favorite movie to DVD video slideshows with fascinating transitions and resources to create a DVD menu of your own.