Impress your audience with professional cliparts and sounds in your presentations

If you find the accompanied Clip Art and sounds in Microsoft Office insufficient, then you can try out Microsoft office online Clip Art at Microsoft Office Online. Here you can find plenty of professional Clip art, Sounds and much more rich media for your documents, presentations, etc. The media is well categorized as well as you can search for your choice.

Updating BitDefender 2008

MANUAL METHOD

Click on this link : http://download.bitdefender.com/updates/bitdefender_2008/x86/weekly.exe

download the file and run it.

AUTOMATIC METHOD

To configure the automatic update do the following:

1. Open BitDefender and click Update to open the Update module.

2. Click Settings.

3. Configure the Update location settings.

BitDefender 2008 includes two update locations, allowing one of them to point to a local mirror. The default update location is http://upgrade.bitdefender.com/. This is the location recommended for normal users.

4. Configure the Automatic update settings.
BitDefender checks for updates every 1 hour. You can change the period BitDefender updates from Time interval. By changing the number displayed in the box you will modify the number of hours after which a check for updates is performed.

Leave the Confirm update to Silent update unless you desire to be prompted before downloading the updates or before installing them. A similar option is available for the manual update under the Manual update settings.

5. Configure the Advanced settings.
To prevent prompts asking for reboot, select Wait for reboot, instead of prompting.

6. Click Apply to save the settings.
7. Click Default to restore the default settings.

Occasional updates can be perfomed at any time, even when the product is set to update automaticaly:

1. Open BitDefender and click Update.

Click also Update at the top of the window if the Settings are displayed

2. Click Update now to start the update process.

If the option Prompt before downloading updates was selected in the Settings, and when updates are available, a list of the updates available for download is displayed. Select the product to install and click Details to see the file download details. Select Switch to silent update (don't ask me again) to stop being prompted on manual update. Click Ok to download and install the new files or Cancel to postpone the update.

For more help, follow the following links :

http://kb.bitdefender.com/KB233-en--Updating-BitDefender-9.html

http://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/Desktop-Products-Updates.html

Create hidden private storage area on Pen Drives and Hard Disks - SafeHouse Explorer

If you want to protect your personal data from curious eyes, you need to hide and encrypt it on your USB memory stick, local hard drive or any removable media like ipod. In this way nobody can view it without your permission. Here is a free, reliable application, SafeHouse Explorer which hides, locks and encrypts any documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos and anything else. It uses super strong 128-bit advanced encryption technology which ensures total protection of your data. Moreover unlike other similar product, you can create unlimited number of private storage vaults as large as 2,000 GB each.

SafeHouse Explorer works with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003, 2008 and
64-bit XP/Vista/Server and very easy to use. You can drag and drop file on to SafeHouse Explorer window for encrypting it (After creating a private storage vault). Your files are completely invisible until you enter your password. After you enter your secret password, you access your files using SafeHouse Explorer's familiar drag-and-drop Explorer-like interface.

With SafeHouse Explorer, you can protect any files residing on any drive, including memory sticks, external USB drives, network servers, CD/DVDs and even iPods.
Features of this 100% free, full featured application include:

* Complete full-featured stand-alone security solution.
* Hides, locks and encrypts documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos and anything else.
* Perfect for USB memory sticks and other portable media - even iPods
* Super strong 128-bit advanced encryption ensures your total protection.
* Unlimited number of private storage vaults as large as 2,000 Gigabytes each.
* Graphical password strength meter helps you choose strong passwords.
* Can be run directly from USB memory sticks without prior Windows installation.

Download SafeHouse Explorer from here

Rs 500 laptop display on Feb 3

NEW DELHI: A $10 laptop (Rs 500) prototype, with 2 GB RAM capacity, would be on display in Tirupati on February 3 when the National Mission on
Education through Information and Communication Techology is launched.

The $10 laptop project, first reported in TOI three years ago, has come as an answer to the $100 laptop of MIT's Nicholas Negroponte that he was trying to hardsell to India. The $10 laptop has come out of the drawing board stage due to work put in by students of Vellore Institute of Technology, scientists in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Madras and involvement of PSUs like Semiconductor Complex. “At this stage, the price is working out to be $20 but with mass production it is bound to come down,” R P Agarwal, secretary, higher education said.

Apart from questioning the technology of $100 laptops, the main reason for HRD ministry's resistance to Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project was the high and the hidden cost that worked out to be $200.

The mission launch would also see demonstration of e-classroom, virtual laboratory and a better 'Sakshat' portal that was launched more than two years ago. Sources also said that the ministry has entered into an agreement with four publishers — Macmillan, Tata McGraw Hill, Prentice-Hall and Vikas Publishing — to upload their textbooks on 'Sakshat'. Five per cent of these books can be accessed free.

The mission, with an 11th plan outlay of Rs 4,612 crore, is aimed at making a serious intervention in enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education. The mission has two major components. One, content generation through its portal 'Sakshat', and two, building connectivity along with providing access devices for institutions and learners.

In this context, government would give Rs 2.5 lakh per institution for 10 Kbps connection and subsidise 25% of costs for private and state government colleges.

The mission would seek to extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18,000 colleges in the country, including each department of nearly 400 universities and institutions of national importance. The mission would focus on appropriate e-learning procedures, providing facility of performing experiments through virtual laboratories, online testing and certification, online availability of teachers to guide and mentor learners, and utilization of EduSat and DTH.

The evolution of the Netbook

It's getting harder to tell the difference between a Netbook and a notebook.

Except when you look at the bottom line of the companies making them. Though initially thought of as a way to sell cheaper, less powerful companion devices to notebooks, Netbooks are beginning to lose their distinction, as evidenced by the new Netbooks unveiled at CES 2009. While it's good for consumers, the blurring of lines between the two could potentially be destroying the business models of PC manufacturers.

That lack of distinction between a Netbook and a notebook will become more clear as soon as Windows 7 arrives on the scene, likely in the next nine to 12 months. Microsoft's new operating system is designed to work on Netbooks and actually may provide a good experience for users on relatively low-powered devices, unlike Vista. That calls into question the value proposition of the Netbook category if the same OS is available on what are supposed to be two different kinds of machines, according to Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for the NPD Group.

"What does that do to our business model? Have we (just) traded $799 sales for $399 sales?" he asked.

And the timing isn't great. "The unfortunate aspect is we're bringing these products out in a recession, which is likely to mean it's harder to (sell) these as an additional PC and not as replacement for something else you're going to buy," said Baker.

For the past year, when a laptop had a screen smaller than 10 inches, an Atom processor, and cost below $400, we'd call it a Netbook. Starting from essentially zero market penetration in late 2007, by the end of last year, roughly 10 million Netbooks have shipped, according to IDC. They now account for 7 percent of all portable PCs, an extraordinary growth rate in a short time. But exactly how the category is growing is the big question mark.

"The market is multi-faceted," said Loren Loverde, PC analyst for research firm IDC. "You don't get growth along a straight trajectory, more like growth in an amoeba. It stretches out in different directions and grows and absorbs different things."

What is a Netbook?
At first there appeared to be a semblance of agreement on what made a Netbook different, and its own category of computer. Intel launched the category with its Atom processor, which promised less computing power, but for far less cost. One Laptop Per Child and Intel led the way with low-cost notebooks intended for developing nations. But Asus broke the category open for consumers in late 2007 with its Eee PC, at first equipped with a tiny 7-inch screen, little chiclet keys, solid-state memory, and Linux instead of Windows.

Much has changed since then. A year later we have almost as many interpretations of a Netbook as we do manufacturers. Dell defines Netbook differently than Sony, who sees the market in a way that Acer and Hewlett-Packard do not. (And Toshiba refuses to see any Netbook market at all--at least in the U.S.)

Acer and Asus essentially agree on what a Netbook is: a low-power notebook with a 9-inch screen with a price point between $300 and $400. They're not meant for much beyond connecting to the Web. Those two Taiwanese manufacturers were first to market and have been rewarded handsomely for their efforts, capturing the majority of Netbook market share early on. Acer has done particularly well in Europe.

In late summer, Dell, the largest PC maker in the U.S. and the second largest worldwide, threw its hat into the ring, apparently to defend its territory. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was a normal Netbook, but the subsequent Mini 12 was puzzling. By grouping it with the Mini line it's being sold as a Netbook, but the 12-inch screen size is bumping up dangerously close to smaller traditional notebooks. At just under $600, it also appears to compete with the $699 Dell Inspiron 15.

Each PC vendor is trying to mold the Netbook trend in a way that fits with their own product line. Companies like HP are trying to draw a distinction between Netbooks through software: The Mini 1000 MIE has a custom interface designed to hide the fact that it's essentially a Linux device. Sony's also putting its touch on the idea, with the Sony Vaio P Lifestyle PC, an expensive device not aimed at the masses.

By each company tweaking their Netbooks a little here and a little there in the name of differentiating and adding more features that consumers want or expect, they're basically creating something that looks like yet another notebook PC.

At what cost?
Dell VP of Consumer Sales and Marketing Michael Tatelman insisted at CES last week that it's "still too early to tell" if by selling Netbooks it is drawing customers away from buying traditional notebooks, which cost more and offer manufacturers higher margins.

"In some places it's a way to acquire new customers faster, in some places it's a companion device, and in some places it's a primary computer," Tatelman told a crowd of journalists while introducing the company's third Netbook, the Inspiron Mini 10 last week.

HP also insists Netbooks and notebooks are very separate. To which former Seagate CEO William Watkins promptly snorted and rolled his eyes at the idea in an interview last week. He summed up how the category's naysayers feel, saying, "A Netbook is just a low-end notebook."

By the midpoint of this year we'll be able to assess the damage the Netbook craze has done to traditional notebook revenues, said NPD's Baker. "We know there will be some (cannibalization), but we'll find out just how much."

source

Innings of XP is over. Vista is ahead

fter Bill Gates’ exit from Microsoft, it is now the turn of Windows XP to sign out. Windows XP (professional) is officially off the shelves, finally, with effect from June 30. Microsoft has been planning this phase out for a long time now, ever since Windows Vista hit the market in January 2007.

But Vista has so far failed to create the same buzz and hype that the XP had. Analysts attribute this to a melange of things. “Hardware requirements for Vista is higher, you need a 2GB RAM to operate Vista smoothly,” says Gartner’s principal analyst Diptarup Chakraborti. Windows XP requires 256MB to 512MB, which all Mini notebooks and older PCs have.

Microsoft is playing it safe by retaining the Windows XP (home) in the market as it can be used as an operating system (OS) for the mini notebooks. “Intel is pushing these mini notebooks and Microsoft does not want Linux to enter the market, so they have decided to delay the phase out of Windows XP (home) to 2010.” says Mr Chakraborti.

However, the XP (home) has its limitations. It does not encourage management control and restricts a user to log onto any domain.

Since its launch in January 2007, Vista has sold 140 million worldwide till date and 2 million in India. Microsoft claims most enterprises like Infosys, L&T, TCS, Satyam and other enterprises have already migrated a large number of their desktops to Vista. Mr Chakraborti, however, says many enterprises are willing to use XP and not Vista until windows 7, which is to be launched in early 2010, is on the shelves.

“There was a marketing hiccup, where many manufacturers branded their systems as Vista capable, while they could only run the most basic version (Windows Vista Basic). This made users feel cheated, when they bought Vista systems which didn’t really have the power to run Vista in its full glory. For laptop owners, another concern has been battery life. The extra features in Vista tend to drain the battery much faster than almost any other operating system on the same system,” says an analyst who did not want to be named.

“Consumers would prefer to buy Vista as it looks better than XP, but at what cost is the question. Your favourite applications may not run as they do not have drivers for them. Additionally, enterprise system engineers will have to be re-trained and software re-written for Vista,” says Frost and Sullivan Technical (insights) analyst Prithvi Raj.

So, even after it’s done away with XP may stay ahead of Vista as most users look forward to Windows 7.

Microsoft, HP ship free tools to protect Web sites from hackers

June 24, 2008 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday unveiled free tools to help Web developers and site administrators defend against the rapidly growing number of SQL injection attacks that aim to hijack legitimate sites.

"We released two new tools, and HP has released one, to help administrators discover flaws so that they can mitigate attacks," said Mark Miller, director of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing product management.

The move is in response to a major upswing during the first six months of 2008 in the number of attacks targeting legitimate sites. Most of the hacks have used SQL injection attacks, and have compromised significant sites including ones operated by government agencies, the United Nations and major corporations.

In a report issued the same day, Finnish security company F-Secure estimated the number of pages hacked by SQL injection attacks so far this year at between two and three million.

Previously, Microsoft has denied that its software was vulnerable to attack or otherwise responsible for the flood of hacked sites. Instead, the company told developers and administrators to follow the company's guidelines to protect their sites from attack.

That stance hasn't changed, but Miller said Microsoft's customers have been asking for more help. "We have seen a recent rise in the number of SQL injection attacks," he acknowledged, "and we wanted to provide some tools and guidance to users so that they could deal with these attacks."

One of the two Microsoft tools came from the company's IIS (Internet Information Services) Web server developers. Dubbed "UrlScan," it's actually an updated version of a tool last refreshed in 2003, said Wade Hilmo, a senior development lead in the IIS group.

UrlScan, Hilmo added, can now scan query strings -- not only a URL itself, as before -- so that it can filter the malicious strings that power SQL injection attacks. But it's only a temporary stopgap meant to protect a site while developers go into the code to correct the problems being exploited. "This is only a mitigation," Hilmo cautioned.

It should block the bulk of attacks, however. "UrlScan can filter out all the known versions of the attacks we've seen this year," said Hilmo.

Microsoft's SQL Server team contributed the second Microsoft utility, "SQL Source Code Analysis Tool," which analyzes ASP.Net code and sniffs out vulnerable bits. APS.Net is Microsoft's Web application framework, and a major target of 2008's injection attack campaigns.

Fixes, however, must still be made manually by developers, said Bala Neerumalla, a software security developer in the company's SQL group.

Users shouldn't think that Microsoft is getting altruistic, said John Pescatore, an analyst with Gartner. "Don't fool yourself, if these attacks were only against, say, MySQL, they wouldn't be doing this." Rather, Microsoft is reacting to the uptick in attacks against ASP.Net code, he continued.

"This [SQL injection attack trend] really started when companies began looking at Web 2.0 and decided that they had to have things like social networking and blogging on their sites," said Pescatore. "A lot of those features were added and didn't go through the normal checks [for secure code]. That kind of tinkering leads to a loss of discipline."

Tools like these, added Pescatore, "rattle the doorknobs" of a site, like a city cop on a beat once did as he passed through his neighborhood. "Better for us to rattle them first," said Pescatore.

Also today, Hewlett-Packard's Web security team posted "HP Scrawlr" -- short for "SQL Injector and Crawler" -- to its Web site. Like "fuzzers" that researchers use to spot potential security problems in, for instance, file formats, HP Scrawlr analyzes Web pages for vulnerability to SQL injection attack, then reports its findings.

Microsoft unveiled its free tools in an advisory posted by the Microsoft Security Response Center, which included download links for UrlScan and SQL Source Code Analysis Tool.

Updates come for CorelDRAW X4

A service pack became available Tuesday for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 illustration and desktop publishing applications.

Corel's updates add support for more than 25 new camera RAW formats. The company also aimed to iron out some graphic design workflows.

"With this service pack for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4, we have focused on addressing the major feedback provided by our users," said Gerard Metrailler, senior director of Corel's graphics product management.

Users can obtain the updates automatically via the installed software, or by visiting Corel.com. A free trial of the suite is also available.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 includes CorelDRAW for illustration and page layout, PhotoPaint for photo editing, and PowerTRACE for bitmap-to-vector tracing. The package, considered a competitor to the more expensive Adobe Illustrator and InDesign CS3, works on Windows Vista and XP systems.

Corel also sells the image applications Painter and PaintShop Pro, as well as WordPerfect X4, a competitor to Microsoft Office.

Earlier in June, the Ottawa, Ontario-based company announced an early preview of its Designer Technical Suite X4, which includes CAD 3D and AutoCAD compatibility

Microsoft Site Leak Hints at 2009 Release for Office 14

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 2:10 PM PDT

A leak on a Microsoft Web site referring to a product in the Office suite hints at a 2009 release for the next version of the productivity suite, currently code-named Office 14.

On Monday, Microsoft revealed a podcasting kit for Office SharePoint Server, the portal product in the Office family, with an accompanying question-and-answer article on its Codeplex site for developers that includes information about the product.

The site made reference to Office SharePoint 2009, which hints that the next version of Office will be named Office 2009 and released that year. Microsoft has not officially revealed a timeline for Office 14.

The site no longer has a reference to SharePoint 2009, however. Once the reference was reported on, Microsoft changed the wording on the site to erase it. In addition, the author of the post tacked on a note to the blogger who first reported about the information, saying the Q&A was a transcript from a conversation with customers and was not accurate about the name of the next version of Office.

"I honestly have no idea how the next release of SharePoint will be named, I promise," said the note, which was signed "Ludo" for Ludo Fourrage, a Microsoft group product manager. "Thanks for your interest in PKS." PKS, or Podcasting Kit for SharePoint, is an open-source initiative that helps customers develop and deploy podcasts using SharePoint.

Microsoft has released scant details about Office 14, the follow-up to the current Office 2007 software, and its release date is not one of them.

Last month, the company said it would support the latest specification for the XML-based file format Open Office XML (OOXML) in Office 14. OOXML is a rival to Open Document Format; both have been approved as international standards by the International Organization for Standardization, although OOXML's approval is being contested by some countries' standards bodies.