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• The Best Free Alternatives to the Windows Task Manager

  - by Lori Kaufman

  The Windows Task Manager is a built-in tool that allows you to check which services are running in the background, how much resources are being used by which software programs, and the all-to-common task of killing programs that are not responding. Even though the Windows Task Manager has several useful tools, there are many free alternatives available that provide additional or expanded features, allowing you to more closely monitor and tweak your system. How To Play DVDs on Windows 8 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives?

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• The Best Free Tools for Creating a Bootable Windows or Linux USB Drive

  - by Lori Kaufman

  If you need to install Windows or Linux and you don’t have access to a CD/DVD drive, a bootable USB drive is the solution. You can boot to the USB drive, using it to run the OS setup program, just like a CD or DVD. We have collected some links to free programs that allow you to easily setup a USB drive to install Windows or Linux on a computer. NOTE: If you have problems getting the BIOS on your computer to let you boot from a USB drive, see our article about booting from a USB drive even if your BIOS won’t let you. What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8 HTG Explains: Why You Shouldn’t Use a Task Killer On Android

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• Controlling fan speed on ASUS K43SV

  - by user181677

  ASUS K43SV laptop it very hot. Is it possible to control fan speed with fancontrol? When I run $sudo pwmconfig it displays this message: /usr/sbin/pwmconfig: There are no fan-capable sensor modules installed When I run $sensors, here is the output acpitz-virtual-0 Adapter: Virtual device temp1: +61.0°C (crit = +103.0°C) coretemp-isa-0000 Adapter: ISA adapter Physical id 0: +62.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 0: +62.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 1: +61.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

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• how to implemet a nice scanline effect using libgdx

  - by Alexandre GUIDET

  I am working on an old school platformer based on libgdx. My first attempt is to make a little texture and fill a rect above the whole screen, but it seems that I am messing arround with the orthographic camera (I use two camera, one for the tilemap and one to project the scanline filter). Sometime the texture is stuck on the tilemap and sometime it is too large and cover the whole screen in black. Is my approach correct using two camera? Does someone have a solution to achieve this retro effect using libgdx (see maldita castilla)? Thanks

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• Cleaner HTML Markup with ASP.NET 4 Web Forms - Client IDs (VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 Series)

  This is the sixteenth in a series of blog posts Im doing on the upcoming VS 2010 and .NET 4 release. Todays post is the first of a few blog posts Ill be doing that talk about some of the important changes weve made to make Web Forms in ASP.NET 4 generate clean, standards-compliant, CSS-friendly markup.  Today Ill cover the work we are doing to provide better control over the ID attributes rendered by server controls to the client. [In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter...Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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• MySQL 5.5 is GA!

  - by rob.young(at)oracle.com

  It is my pleasure to announce that MySQL 5.5 is now GA and ready for production deployment.  You can read Oracle's official press release here. I am excited about 5.5 because of the performance and scalability gains, new replication enhancements and overall improved technical efficiencies.  Congratulations and a sincere "Thanks!" go out to the entire MySQL Community and product engineering teams for making 5.5 the best release of MySQL to date.Please join us for today's MySQL Technology Update webcast where Tomas Ulin and I will cover what's new in MySQL 5.5 and provide an update on the other technologies we are working on. You can download MySQL 5.5 here.  All of the documentation and what's new information is here.  There is also a great article on MySQL 5.5 and the MySQL community here.Thanks for reading, and as always, THANKS for your support of MySQL!

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• How To Run Chrome OS in VirtualBox and Try Out Chrome OS Before Buying a Chromebook

  - by Chris Hoffman

  With Google’s new Chromebooks out at just $249, many people who once wrote them off as too expensive for their limited functionality are giving them a second look. But will you really find Chrome OS useful? You can easily run Chrome OS in a VirtualBox virtual machine, although you’ll need to tweak a few settings before it will run properly. Once you have, you can run Chrome OS in a window on your computer. How To Play DVDs on Windows 8 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives?

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• nouveau Unknown Fermi chipset

  - by Abood Mount

  I've installed a fresh install of Ubuntu 13.04 and whenever I start my laptop I get this output error [ 19.469816] nouveau ![ DEVICE][0000:01:00.0] unknown Fermi chipset [ 19.469846] nouveau E[ DEVICE][0000:01:00.0] unknown chipset, 0x0d7000a2 [ 19.469870] nouveau E[ DRM] failed to create 0x80000080, -22 [ 19.470095] nouveau: probe of 0000:01:00.0 failed with error -22 I have Lenovo G580 with nVidia Geforce 710m.

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• SQL SERVER – PAGEIOLATCH_DT, PAGEIOLATCH_EX, PAGEIOLATCH_KP, PAGEIOLATCH_SH, PAGEIOLATCH_UP – Wait Type – Day 9 of 28

  - by pinaldave

  It is very easy to say that you replace your hardware as that is not up to the mark. In reality, it is very difficult to implement. It is really hard to convince an infrastructure team to change any hardware because they are not performing at their best. I had a nightmare related to this issue in a deal with an infrastructure team as I suggested that they replace their faulty hardware. This is because they were initially not accepting the fact that it is the fault of their hardware. But it is really easy to say “Trust me, I am correct”, while it is equally important that you put some logical reasoning along with this statement. PAGEIOLATCH_XX is such a kind of those wait stats that we would directly like to blame on the underlying subsystem. Of course, most of the time, it is correct – the underlying subsystem is usually the problem. From Book On-Line: PAGEIOLATCH_DT Occurs when a task is waiting on a latch for a buffer that is in an I/O request. The latch request is in Destroy mode. Long waits may indicate problems with the disk subsystem. PAGEIOLATCH_EX Occurs when a task is waiting on a latch for a buffer that is in an I/O request. The latch request is in Exclusive mode. Long waits may indicate problems with the disk subsystem. PAGEIOLATCH_KP Occurs when a task is waiting on a latch for a buffer that is in an I/O request. The latch request is in Keep mode. Long waits may indicate problems with the disk subsystem. PAGEIOLATCH_SH Occurs when a task is waiting on a latch for a buffer that is in an I/O request. The latch request is in Shared mode. Long waits may indicate problems with the disk subsystem. PAGEIOLATCH_UP Occurs when a task is waiting on a latch for a buffer that is in an I/O request. The latch request is in Update mode. Long waits may indicate problems with the disk subsystem. PAGEIOLATCH_XX Explanation: Simply put, this particular wait type occurs when any of the tasks is waiting for data from the disk to move to the buffer cache. ReducingPAGEIOLATCH_XX wait: Just like any other wait type, this is again a very challenging and interesting subject to resolve. Here are a few things you can experiment on: Improve your IO subsystem speed (read the first paragraph of this article, if you have not read it, I repeat that it is easy to say a step like this than to actually implement or do it). This type of wait stats can also happen due to memory pressure or any other memory issues. Putting aside the issue of a faulty IO subsystem, this wait type warrants proper analysis of the memory counters. If due to any reasons, the memory is not optimal and unable to receive the IO data. This situation can create this kind of wait type. Proper placing of files is very important. We should check file system for the proper placement of files – LDF and MDF on separate drive, TempDB on separate drive, hot spot tables on separate filegroup (and on separate disk), etc. Check the File Statistics and see if there is higher IO Read and IO Write Stall SQL SERVER – Get File Statistics Using fn_virtualfilestats. It is very possible that there are no proper indexes on the system and there are lots of table scans and heap scans. Creating proper index can reduce the IO bandwidth considerably. If SQL Server can use appropriate cover index instead of clustered index, it can significantly reduce lots of CPU, Memory and IO (considering cover index has much lesser columns than cluster table and all other it depends conditions). You can refer to the two articles’ links below previously written by me that talk about how to optimize indexes. Create Missing Indexes Drop Unused Indexes Updating statistics can help the Query Optimizer to render optimal plan, which can only be either directly or indirectly. I have seen that updating statistics with full scan (again, if your database is huge and you cannot do this – never mind!) can provide optimal information to SQL Server optimizer leading to efficient plan. Checking Memory Related Perfmon Counters SQLServer: Memory Manager\Memory Grants Pending (Consistent higher value than 0-2) SQLServer: Memory Manager\Memory Grants Outstanding (Consistent higher value, Benchmark) SQLServer: Buffer Manager\Buffer Hit Cache Ratio (Higher is better, greater than 90% for usually smooth running system) SQLServer: Buffer Manager\Page Life Expectancy (Consistent lower value than 300 seconds) Memory: Available Mbytes (Information only) Memory: Page Faults/sec (Benchmark only) Memory: Pages/sec (Benchmark only) Checking Disk Related Perfmon Counters Average Disk sec/Read (Consistent higher value than 4-8 millisecond is not good) Average Disk sec/Write (Consistent higher value than 4-8 millisecond is not good) Average Disk Read/Write Queue Length (Consistent higher value than benchmark is not good) Note: The information presented here is from my experience and there is no way that I claim it to be accurate. I suggest reading Book OnLine for further clarification. All of the discussions of Wait Stats in this blog is generic and varies from system to system. It is recommended that you test this on a development server before implementing it to a production server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Wait Stats, SQL Wait Types, T SQL, Technology

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• Windows CE Chat March 30, 2010

  - by Bruce Eitman

  Another great opportunity to ask Microsoft engineers your technical questions is coming up on Tuesday, March 30th.  These chats are your opportunity to get advice and answers from the engineers at Microsoft.   You may want to review the transcript from last month to get an idea about what kind of topics are discussed. Title:    Windows CE Live Chat! When:  Tuesday, March 30, 2010 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time   Add to Calendar Description: Do you have tough technical questions regarding Windows CE or Windows Mobile for which you're seeking answers? Do you want to tap into the deep knowledge of the talented Microsoft Embedded Devices Group members? If so, please join us for a live Windows CE chat and bring on the questions! Windows CE is the operating system that is powering the next generation of 32-bit, small-footprint and mobile devices. This chat will cover the tools and technologies used to develop devices using the Windows CE operating system. To join this chat, please log on via the main MSDN chat page at: EnterChatRoom   Copyright © 2010 – Bruce Eitman All Rights Reserved

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• Super Mario – 3D Chalk Art (Time Lapse) [Video]

  - by Asian Angel

  This awesome time-lapse video lets you watch artist Chris Carlson create a fantastic 3D chalk art rendition of Mario on a sidewalk setting. There is certainly a lot more work and precision to it than some people may believe… Super Mario – 3D Chalk Art (Time Lapse) [via Neatorama] How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

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• Van Gogh’s Starry Night Rendered in Hubble Telescope Images

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  The process of making a large image out of mosaic of smaller image “pixels” is certainly nothing new; this rendition of Starry Night using images from the Hubble telescope, however, is a particularly fitting use of the technique. Crafted by Alex H. Parker, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, on evenings when cloud cover prevented him from conducting his research, the image is a carefully constructed mosaic of NASA supplied photos from the Hubble telescope program. Hit up the link below to check out the full size image. Starry Night Arranged by Alex H. Parker 8 Deadly Commands You Should Never Run on Linux 14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates

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• Chuck Jones Shows How to Draw Bugs Bunny [Video]

  - by Asian Angel

  Is drawing one of your passions and/or hobbies? Are you a fan of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons? Then you will certainly enjoy this delightful video where Chuck Jones shows you how to draw Bugs Bunny! Chuck Jones shows how to draw Bugs Bunny [via Neatorama] How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me?

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• Create Awesome Map-Based Wallpapers for Your Desktop with ‘Map –> Image’

  - by Asian Angel

  Are you tired of using the same old types of wallpapers on your desktop? Then add something fresh and unique to your desktop with custom-created map wallpapers from ‘Map – Image’. When you first visit the website it will show the default location of San Francisco (home of the developers). To get started simply enter your location in the search blank in the upper left corner and click the Go Button. Your chosen location will appear in a basic black and white format as shown here. 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8

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• Notebook Review: Lenovo ThinkPad T410

  A notebook computer with desktop performance isn't unprecedented, but it's rare to see one in such a trim (14.1 inches, five pounds) package. We explore the elegant engineering of Lenovo's mainstream enterprise laptop.

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• Notebook Review: Lenovo ThinkPad T410

  A notebook computer with desktop performance isn't unprecedented, but it's rare to see one in such a trim (14.1 inches, five pounds) package. We explore the elegant engineering of Lenovo's mainstream enterprise laptop.

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• Information Indepth Newsletter - Linux Edition

  - by Paulo Folgado

  INFORMATION INDEPTH NEWSLETTERLinux Edition February 2011 Stay Connected:  NEWS Now Available: Oracle Linux 6 Get the latest release of Oracle Linux 6, which includes Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel.Download Oracle Linux 6 Read More Customers Succeed by Using Oracle Exadata with Oracle Linux Watch IT executives from Bank of America, Linkshare, and Johns Hopkins as they talk about the business challenges they faced and why they chose to use Oracle Linux along with Oracle Exadata as the solution. Watch Now Video Interview: Oracle Senior Vice President Wim Coekaerts Watch Wim Coekaerts, senior vice president, Linux and Virtualization Engineering, as he talks about use cases for Oracle VM Templates as well as the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux.Watch Now Hot Off the Press: Migrate Your IBM AIX Environment to Oracle Linux This new white paper provides recommendations for planning and implementing the migration of applications from an IBM Power System running AIX to Oracle's Sun Fire X4800 Server with Intel Xeon 7560 Processor running Oracle Linux 5.5.Read More  Back to Top BLOGOSPHERE Just Launched: The Oracle Linux Blog Follow our new Oracle Linux blog  to hear the latest updates, product news, upcoming events, and all the latest happenings, directly from the Linux team at Oracle. Back to Top TECH DIVE NEW: Linux/Oracle Solaris CommandComparo Site from Oracle Technology NetworkThis site gives equivalent command syntax in Oracle Solaris 10 and Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 for common administrative tasks--focusing particularly on tasks that have tricky syntax or that you frequently need to double check. It acts as a quick reference for administrators who operate in these two OS environments. Free Download: Oracle Linux Release 5.6Did you know that by using Oracle Linux 5.5 or 5.6 along with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, you can get all the benefits of Linux mainline kernel 2.6.32 and more, right now, without the need to reinstall or migrate to a new operating system such as RHEL6?Read Release NotesDownload Oracle Linux 5.6 LSB 4.0 Certification Completed for Oracle Linux 5.5Oracle Linux 5.5 with Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel successfully completed the LSB 4.0 certification.  Back to Top WEBCASTS Boost Your Linux Performance with Oracle's Enhancements in Infiniband and RDSRegister to hear Director of Kernel Engineering Chris Mason cover scalability and performance improvements in Linux environment. Get the Facts Oracle's Unbreakable Enterprise KernelSVP Wim Coekaerts and Senior Director Monica Kumar cover the facts about and benefits of using Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel.  View Other Webcasts on Demand   Back to Top EVENTS Collaborate 2011April 10-14 Orlando, Florida Cloud Summit Events, WorldwideVarious dates (check the city for date/time of event) Datacenter Efficiency Events WorldwideThese events include Linux and Oracle VM sessions.Various dates (check the city for date/time of event) Virtualization Events in North America Find an Oracle Event  Back to Top EDUCATION Get Oracle Linux Certified from Oracle University Oracle University offers courses in both Oracle Linux and the administration of Oracle Database on Linux.  Back to Top CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT Pella Corporation Improves IT Performance and Efficiency with Oracle Linux and Oracle VM To improve IT performance and efficiency and lower operational costs, Pella Corporation, has standardized on Oracle VM and Oracle Linux. Read More Disney Store Deploys POS in 330 Stores and 7 Countries on Oracle Linux Disney Store is running 1,500 registers worldwide on a broad Oracle technology software stack including Oracle Database 11g, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and Oracle Linux. Read More Back to Top PARTNER SPOTLIGHT Emulex and Oracle Announce Data Integrity Features The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel provides data integrity checking between Oracle Database applications and Emulex 8Gb/s LightPulse Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters. Read More Dell Inc. Dell Inc. tested and validated configurations support Oracle Linux. Back to Top STAY IN TOUCH Follow @ORCL_Linux on Twitter for the latest penguin tweets Bookmark Oracle.com/Linux Read the Oracle Linux blog Back to Top  Oracle Information InDepth newsletters bring targeted news, articles, customer stories, and special offers to business people who want to find out how to streamline enterprise information management, measure results, improve business processes, and communicate a single truth to their constituents. Please send questions or comments to [email protected]. For answers to questions about subscribing, unsubscribing, and managing your Oracle e-mail communications preferences, please see the Oracle E-Mail Communications page. Copyright © 2011, Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor is it subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document, and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission. 

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• Map Generation Algorithms for Minecraft Clone

  - by Danjen

  I'm making a Minecraft clone for the sake of it (with some inspriation from Dwarf Fortress) and had a few questions about the way the world generation is handled. Things I want it to cover: Biomes such as hills, mountains, forests, etc. Caves/caverns/tunnels Procedural (so it stretches to infinity... is wrap-around a possibility?) Breaking the map into smaller chunks Moddable (ie, new terrain types) Multiplayer compatible In particular, I've seen things such as Perlin Noise, Heightmaps, and Marching Cubes thrown around. These are like different tools to use, but I don't know when or why I would use them. Are there any other techniques that are useful for map generation? I realize this is borderline subjective and open-ended, but I am looking for some more insight into the processes involved.

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• The Best Websites for Free Online Courses, Certificates, Degrees, and Educational Resources

  - by Lori Kaufman

  Have you thought about expanding your knowledge by taking some courses? There are several colleges and other sites that offer free online courses, certificate programs, some degree programs, and education resources for teachers and professors. How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

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• 1 Million IOPS

  - by GrumpyOldDBA

  As a keen follower of storage performance I couldn't help but be drawn to this article in The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/14/lsi_million_iops/ this morning. I gave my 5 year old laptop a new lease of life with a SSD and in combination with the old drive made external managed to reduce the time of a demo query from 50 odd mins down to 6 mins. I also have 4 Silicon Power 32GB SSDs set up as a raid 0 on my home server, an overblown PC. http://www.futurestorage.co.uk/index.asp?selmanuf...(read more)

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• My Ubuntu Touch seems to be broken no matter how many different files I try

  - by zeokila

  So I'm planning on testing out Ubuntu Touch, and developing some applications for it so I thought I would flash it to my Nexus 4 that was already unlocked, and running Paranoid Android and the kernel associated. I headed to Ubuntu's website, browsed around and came across this page: Touch/Install - Ubuntu Wiki I followed Step 1 perfectly, word by word. Its seems to me that everything on that part is fine. I skipped Step 2 having already done that for Paranoid Android, and then I follow 3 and 4 word to word also. Using the command phablet-flash -b everything seemed to be fine. So it booted up and all seemed normal, but it wasn't. Here are some major bugs that only seem to happen to me. So I was greeted with a normal lock screen: But one of the first noticable things on the home screen is that I only have 4 tabs, not 5: Some of the applications that are supposed to work do not (I know some are dummies) like here with the calculator, this is what I get: On the homescreen it is a black box, it will crash a couple of seconds later: Another annoying problem is that when I want to close apps, I have from right to left, if I close an app on the left first it will close it, but it will open the app to it's right, weird: Yet another bug, this one is in the pull down drawer, when you just click on it, you can see that not all the icons are there: Pretty much everything else works as it should, but my main problem is that there is no telephony, I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I'm never asked a SIM code (I'm guessing you need that?), I can't compose SMS's and can't dial numbers, it won't let me select the 'Send' or 'Call' button. I've after tried manual installs all over the place with these files: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch-preview/daily-preinstalled/current/saucy-preinstalled-armel+mako.zip (Says 44MB on site - 46.6MB on my laptop) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch-preview/daily-preinstalled/current/saucy-preinstalled-phablet-armhf.zip (Says 366MB on site - 383.2MB on my laptop) There are some weird size differences between what the site told me and what I downloaded, but I've tried re-downloading just to end up with the same file. And it just alway ends up with the same problems. No telephony and those weird bugs. So my question is, how the hell can I get the same version as everyone else, with the ability to send texts and call and open the calculator and more? Also, definitely running saucy: And maybe useful? This is what's in the device info:

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• TechEd 2010 Day One – How I Travel

  - by BuckWoody

  Normally when I blog on the first day of a conference, well, there hasn’t been a first day yet. So I talk about the value of a conference or some other facet. And normally in my (non-conference) blogs, I show you how I have learned to be a data professional – things I’ve learned how to do over the years. But in all that time, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about a big part of my job – traveling. I’ve traveled a lot throughout the years, when I’ve taught, gone to conferences, consulted and in my current role assisting Microsoft customers with large-scale database system designs.  So I’ll share a few thoughts about what I do. Keep in mind that I travel for short durations, just a day or so, and sometimes I travel internationally. For those I prepare differently – what I’m talking about here is what I do for a multi-day, same-country trip. Hopefully you find it useful. I’ll tag a few other travelers I know to add their thoughts.  Preparing for Travel   When I’m notified of a trip, I begin researching the location. I find the flights, hotel and (if I have to) a car to use while I’m away. We have an in-house system we use to book the travel, but when I travel not-for-Microsoft I use Expedia and Kayak to find what I need.  Traveling on Sunday and Friday is the worst. I have to do it sometimes (like this week) and it’s always a bad idea. But you can blunt the impact by booking as early as you can stand it. That means I have to be up super-early, but the flights are normally on time. I stay flexible, and always have a backup plan in case the flights are delayed or canceled.  For the hotel, I tend to go on the cheaper side, and I look for older hotels that have been renovated, or quirky ones. For instance, in Boise, ID recently I stayed at a 60’s-themed (think Mad-Men) hotel that was very cool. Always I go on the less expensive side – I find the “luxury” hotels nail me for Internet, food, everything. The cheaper places include all kinds of things, and even have breakfasts, shuttles and all kinds of things that start to add up. I even call ahead to make sure there’s an iron and ironing board available, since I’ll need those when I get there.  I find any way I can not to get a car. I use mass-transit wherever possible, and try to make friends and pay their gas to take me places. In a pinch, I’ll use a taxi. It ends up being cheaper, faster, and less stressful all around.  Packing  Over the years I’ve learned never to check luggage whenever I can. To do that, I lay out everything I want to take with me on the bed, and then try and make sure I’m really going to use it. I wear a dark wool set of pants, which I can clean and wear in hot and cold climates. I bring undies and socks of course, and for most places I have to wear “dress up” shirts. I bring at least two print T-Shirts in case I want to dress down for something while I’m gone, but I only bring one set of shoes. All the  clothes are rolled as tightly as possible as I learned in the military. Then I use those to cushion the electronics I take.  For toiletries I bring a shaver, toothpaste and toothbrush, D/O and a small brush. Everything else the hotel will provide.  For entertainment, I take a small Zune, a full PC-Headset (so I can make IP calls on the road) and my laptop. I don’t take books or anything else – everything is electronic. I use E-books (downloaded from our Library), Audio-Books (on the Zune) and I also bring along a Kaossilator (more here) to play music in the hotel room or even on the plane without being heard.  If I can, I pack into one roll-on bag. There’s not a lot better than this one, but I also have a Bag I was given as a prize for something or other here at Microsoft. Either way, I like something with less pockets and more big, open compartments. Everything gets rolled up and packed in, with all of the wires and charges in small bags my wife made for me. The laptop (and anything I don’t want gate-checked) goes on top or in an outside pouch so I can grab it quickly if I have to gate-check the bag. As much as I can, I try to go in one bag. When I can’t (like this week) I use this bag since it can expand, roll up, crush and even be put away later. It’s super-heavy canvas and worth the price. This allows me to not check a bag.  Journey Logistics The day of the trip, I have everything ready since I’m getting up early. I pack a few small snacks inside a plastic large-mouth water bottle, which protects the snacks and lets me get water in the terminal. I bring along those little powdered drink mixes to add to the water.  At the airport, I make a beeline for the power-outlets. I charge up my laptop and phone, and download all my e-mails so I can work on them off-line in the air. I don’t travel as often as I used to – just every month or so now, so I don’t have a membership to an airline club. If I travel much more, I’ll invest in one again – they are WELL worth the money, for the wifi, food and quiet if for nothing else.  I print out my logistics on paper and put that in my pocket – flight numbers, hotel addresses and phones for everything. That way if I have to make a change, I don’t have to boot up anything or even have power to be able to roll with the punches if things change.  Working While Away  While I’m away I realize I’m going to be swamped with things at the conference or with my clients. So I turn on Out-Of-Office notifications to let people know I won’t be as responsive, and I keep my Outlook calendar up to date so my co-workers know what I’m up to. I even update it with hotel and phone info in case they really need to reach me. I share my calendar with my wife so my family knows what I’m doing as well.  I check my e-mail during breaks, but I only respond to them in the evening or early morning at the hotel. I tweet during conferences. The point is to be as present as possible during the event or when I’m at the clients. Both deserve it.  So those are my initial thoughts. I’ll tag Brent Ozar, Brad McGeHee and Paul Randal, and they can tag whomever they wish. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!

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• Microsoft Press Deal of the Day - 4/April/2012 - Accessing Data with Microsoft® .NET Framework 4

  - by TATWORTH

  The Microsoft Press half price deal of the day at http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780735627390.do is the training material for the MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-516)  "Accessing Data with Microsoft® .NET Framework 4""EXAM PREP GUIDE Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam 70-516—and on the job—with this official Microsoft study guide. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what you’ve learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. Maximize your performance on the exam by mastering the skills and experience measured by these objectives: Modeling dataManaging connections and contextQuerying dataManipulating dataDeveloping and deploying reliable applications"

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• Introduction to Oracle’s New StorageTek SL150 Modular Tape Library

  - by Cinzia Mascanzoni

  Join the product announcement webcast on Thursday July 12, 2012 at 3pm CET (2pm GMT). This webcast will help you to understand Oracle's New StorageTek SL150 Modular tape library which is the first scalable tape library designed for small and midsized companies that are experiencing high growth. Built from Oracle software and StorageTek library technology, it delivers a cost-effective combination of ease of use and scalability, resulting in overall TCO savings. During the webcast Cindy McCurley, from Tape Product Management will introduce you to the latest addition to the Oracle Tape Storage product portfolio, the SL150 Modular Tape Library. This 60 minutes webcast will cover the product’s features, positioning, unique selling points and a competitive overview on StorageTek. You can submit your questions via WebEx chat and there will be a live Q&A session at the end of the webcast.Register NOW!

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• What If Nintendo Made Children’s Books?

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  What if the great minds at Nintendo had directed their energy towards children’s literature? These humorous cover mock-ups show us what the titles may have looked like. Hit up the link below for more books from the Nintendo universe; if you have a clever idea for a game-based children’s book that should exist, sound off in the comments. Videogame Children’s Books [via Neatorama] How to Stress Test the Hard Drives in Your PC or Server How To Customize Your Android Lock Screen with WidgetLocker The Best Free Portable Apps for Your Flash Drive Toolkit

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