Why Nero application is called Nero

You know what I only recently figured out?

I've been using the software called "Nero" for about a decade now, but I never got the joke about the name, beyond a vague idea that the pun was clearly about "Nero" and "burning" ....

See, the main program in Nero's "suite" of applications is (and always has been) "Nero Buring ROM". The app was originally used for "burning" CD-ROM disks.
And, of course, the old cliche is "Nero fiddled while Rome burnt" (see "The Great Fire of Rome").

But it turns out that the German name/pronunciation of "Rome" is "Rom" ...

So the program name should actually be read as "Nero Burning Rome"! (where "ROM" is pronounced "rome").

So maybe it's not hilarious, but still amusing enough if you've been using the thing for years ;-)

Tip d'jour: Add Your Own Help Pages to Photoshop CS2

[from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Help\additional how to content\HowToInstructions.html ]

Create your own How-To tips

You can create your own How To tips and add them to the Photoshop and ImageReady Help menus. The template files you need are located in the folder:


Adobe Photoshop CS2\Help\Additional How To Content.

1. Using the HTML editor of your choice, create an HTML file containing your How To content. Or you can place your content in a copy of the supplied HTML template file, Add_001.html.

2. Save your HTML file and place it in the Additional How To Content folder.
   

   Note: Your How To HTML files must be stored in the [ additional how to content] folder to be accessed from the Photoshop Help menu.

3. Using the text editor of your choice, open the index file Add_001.howto, also located in the[additional how to content] folder.
   This file contains entries that appear in the Photoshop Help menu.
   
   
4. Add an entry to the file for each choice you want to appear in the Help menu, following the format of the existing line in the file:

   "How to Create How Tos" "Create your Own How To tips" HowToInstructions.html

   "This is my Category" "This is my topic" TipFilename.html

   "This is my Category" appears as the top level menu item in the Photoshop Help menu, "This is my topic" appears on the cascading sub-menu. For "TipFilename.html", substitute the name of the HTML file you created (e.g. MyTip.html).
   

5. Add additional entries to the Add_001.howto file for other Help menu items. Make sure that each category and topic points to a valid html file.

   Note: You can also point to a page on the Web if you provide the full path (e.g. http://www.adobe.com).

6. Save the Add_001.howto file.

   Note:  The Add_001.howto file must be stored in the Additional How To Content folder, along with your HTML content files.

7. Restart Photoshop to activate the new How To choices in the Help menu.

Tip: You can place multiple index files in the Additional How To Content folder. An index file must contain ".howto" in the filename. For example, if you receive a custom set of HTML How To tips from another user (e.g. Tip1.html, Tip2.html), with an accompanying index file (Mytips.howto), you can place the HTML files and the index file in the Additional How To Content folder. Make sure the index files are saved as unicode text files. When you restart Photoshop, the Help menu will contain entries from all index files stored in this folder.

2004's Cisco Hacker Convicted this week in Sweden

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A 19 year old man was convicted for hacking activity in Sweden, and "Swedish Radio News ... reports that following the reversal, the American FBI wants the Swedish police to investigate if the 19 year old was responsible for a hacker attack at Cisco." (source: Notes from Sweden /radiowood.com )

[UPDATE, 20 NOV 2007 00:05 UTC : I admit implying that this young man is positively 2004's "Cisco Hacker" in the blog title is misleading :-) ~The Liberty Miller]
~~~~~~
from the ' International Herald ', Monday 19 November 2007:
'Cisco hacking suspect convicted in Sweden'

2007-11-19, STOCKHOLM, Sweden:

A Swedish teenager who is suspected of hacking into the computer network of Cisco Systems Inc. in the U.S. was convicted Monday of 'intruding on the networks of three Swedish universities'.

Overturning an acquittal by a lower court, the Svea Court of Appeal gave the [now] 19-year-old man a conditional sentence and ordered him to pay 160,000 kronor (US$ 25,000; € 17,000) in damages to the universities...

  >> iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/19/technology/EU-TEC-Sweden-Hacker

Background:

• MAY 2004 (3 years, 6 months ago):
  "Cisco investigates source code leak"
  
  The technology giant confirms that some of the proprietary source code that drives its networking hardware has appeared on the Internet...
  " An unspecified amount of the proprietary source code that drives Cisco Systems' networking hardware has appeared on the Internet, the technology giant acknowledged early Monday.
  A representative could not confirm, however, that network intruders made off with 800MB of code, as reported by a Russian security group over the weekend..."
  
  ~ CNET News.com; May 17, 2004
  
  
• MAY 2005:
  "Cisco Says Swede Detained for 2004 Hacking Incident"
  
  " Cisco Systems Inc. said on Tuesday authorities in Sweden had detained a person for stealing its [Cisco IOS software] source code [last year; Cisco IOS constitutes] the basic instructions for the machines that direct Internet traffic around the globe... "
  
  ~ Reuters; May 2005
  
  
• May 2005:
  "Investigators link Cisco hack to other activities"
  
  " In e-mail messages sent to a University of California, Berkeley, researcher last year, a computer hacker claimed to have breached the computer networks of several U.S. government sites, including military installations, according to a New York Times story published Tuesday.
  After the Cisco source code theft was announced in May 2004, security experts expressed concern that hackers could use the code to look for security holes in Cisco products. Companies using Cisco's networking products often connect them directly to the Internet without firewalls or other security products.
  Cisco applauded the Swedish arrest. "We are very encouraged that an arrest has been made in Sweden and will continue to work with the appropriate law ... "
  
  www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/10/HNciscohack_1.html?NETWORK%20STANDARDS
  
  
  
• May 2005:
  Cisco source code theft part of 'mega-hack' [?]
  
  " Hackers made off [with] the secret blueprint for [Cisco IOS software, the] software that controls the flow of traffic on the internet when they broke into Cisco'snetwork in May 2004 and ... "
  
  ~ The Register, 05/10/2005; cisco_hack_investigation

more:

• current: "FBI investigates Swedish hacker"; 2007-11-17, 'The Local ; Sweden's News In English'
• historical: > google search 'cisco hacker sweden

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What are "Advanced Features" in Google Desktop?

link to plain view copy of this article (alternate / mirror; provided by Saoradh)

---

File Under:
• [ truth in advertising ]
• [ the Google virutal PC ]
• [ do no evil ]
• [ lying by omission ]

---

Google Desktop is primarily a PC search utility.

To use it, you must install it on your PC (this point is clarified because to many people, Google implies online functionality, not PC-based programs).

I. "Advanced Features" = (only) "Personalized News" ?

"Advanced Features" is not, apparently, described in any detail anywhere.

IF the optional function is ONLY what is described by Google, than "Advanced Features" should be renamed as "Customized News Results" -- Because the only function described in "Personalized News Results". But it's not called that, because they don't want to explicitly tell you (hypothetically) that the other "features" are targeted advertising, and tracking for Google Ad service improvements.

Reference #1 : The description provided within the Google Desktop application.

"

Advanced Features

Enable Advanced Features Information about web pages you visit may be sent to Google to personalize features such as the news shown in Sidebar. Other non-personal usage data and crash reports may be sent to Google to improve Desktop. To learn more about our privacy protections, read our Privacy Policy.

"

Reference #2 : The Help page (the linked to page from "Advanced Features" link, above)

"
By using advanced features, you may be sending information about web sites you visit and non-personal usage information to Google.

The web sites you visit are used to make some features of Google Desktop available to you. For example, in order to personalize the news shown in the Sidebar, Google Desktop sends information on the news pages you're visiting. This does NOT tell us who YOU are. Non-personal usage data, including crash reports, is used to help improve Google Desktop.

Google will not sell or provide personally identifiable information to any third parties, except as otherwise indicated in our privacy policy. To learn more about the privacy protections we have built into this system, read our Privacy Policy.
"

Note that they say "some features" and "for example" : this clearly implies that there are some other functions _besides_ just "personalizing the news shown in the Sidebar. These other functions are not defined or explained beyond the fact that you are sending your search history to Google for analysis.

Reference #3 : Using the Sidebar: Personalization

http://desktop.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=24819&query=Advanced+Features&topic=&type=

"
As you may know, when you install Google Desktop, it indexes the contents of your hard drive. Google Desktop uses the information it finds on your hard drive to show you personalized weather, stock quotes you might be interested in, or RSS feeds you might like to add to your Web Clips and Photos gadgets. All of this information is stored only on your computer and is never sent to Google.

If you enabled Advanced Features, articles read on the web or the sidebar will be used to provide other relevant news in your News gadget. To do this personalization, information about the websites you visit is sent to Google. Please be assured that information that personally identifies you, such as your name or email address is never sent to Google. If you'd rather not send this non-personal information, you can disable Advanced Features at any time by following these steps:

1. From your Google Desktop homepage, select the "Desktop Preferences" link.
2. Select the "Other" tab in the blue box near the top of the window.
3. In the "Advanced Features" section, un-check the box next to "Enable Advanced Features"
4. Click the "Save Preferences" button.
"

Hypothesis: "Advanced Features" has three primary functions:

1. To show you "targeted advertising" ; that is 'Ads by Google' will be displayed based on the content you have viewed or searched for on any website (this is done automatically and is not intended to be analysied on a per-user basis).

2. To track how users actually use "targeted advertising", so that the data can be used, in aggregate, to refine how ads are displayed so as to produce better "click-through"

3. To provide to you news (RSS and Atom Feeds) and similar 'search' results that are anticipated (by algorith) to be results that you are interested in (in the same way that the Ads are returned; that is, Ads that are anticipated (by algorithym) to be Ads that you will be interested in).

Now, quite frankly, you should probably consider that the fact that Google wants to

• provide targeted advertising and

• track how users, in aggregate, respond to targeted advertising,

to be a relatively small price to pay in exchange for the services provided.

It is NOT that they want to track how YOU use the web, individually; it is more that they just want to be able to track how user X at uses the web so that Ads can be displayed that user X will be MORE LIKELY to click on.

But having said that, if Google really wants to 'do no evil', then they should stop trying to hide the fact that this is really what "Advanced Features" means! Come on Google, just be up-front about it!

II . Using Google Desktop with Different Windows User Accounts

"

Google Desktop can now ['now' as of when? As of which release?? - Editor] work on multiple Windows user accounts [on a single PC]. You must be logged in as an administrator to install Google Desktop, but once Google Desktop is installed, it can be enabled on any user account. Google Desktop will create separate indexes for each username, and each index can be accessed only by someone logged in with that username.

Please note that Google Desktop doesn't support fast user switching. You must completely log off one user profile (or exit Google Desktop), before using Google Desktop in another user profile.

If, however, you share your computer and all users log in with the same Windows username and password, Google Desktop will make all users' documents searchable. Google Desktop is a very powerful search application. If you install Google Desktop on a shared computer where all users log in with one username and password, please be aware that one user may accidentally find another's web-based email, AIM chats, files, etc.

If you share your computer and Windows login, you may want to disable search over some types of documents, such as chats, or prevent Google Desktop from searching a particular folder on your hard drive. You can change any of these settings by visiting the Google Desktop Preferences page. Be sure to click "Save Preferences" when you're done.

"

> http://desktop.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=10110

Miro (official/ non-beta) version 1.0 Launches!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(( November , 2007 ))

(quoted email)

*I am incredibly excited to announce the launch of Miro 1.0.*

Download Miro here: http://getmiro.com/download

Read the full blog post: http://tinyurl.com/2p47g3

If you're getting this email, it means at some point you signed up for updates about Miro. That means you probably care about Miro, open media, and you can help us grow by sharing Miro with your friends.

With this launch, we are ready to build a movement for truly open video. We’re on a mission, we have a world-class product, we have an amazing community, and more and more open channels are being published every day. It’s the right time.


*Comprehensive Feature Guide*

We've just posted a comprehensive guide to all the features in Miro 1.0. Even power users might want to take a look, there's a lot of stuff in there: http://www.getmiro.com/features/


*Press Release*

This press release announces the launch:
http://www.getmiro.com/about/press/miro-launch-release.php

We've already had some great coverage today in the Fortune Magazine blog:
http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2007/11/13/the-future-of-internet-tv/

*Thanks!*

Thanks to everyone who's helped us get this far, and a special thanks to our dedicated volunteers! Today is a very exciting day for all of us at PCF.

Sincerely,

nicholas, dean, nick, ben, janet, luc, paul, will, chris, jesse, holmes, tiffiniy, matt, andrew, and sheryl-ann
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Vista's "Windows Experience Index"

Title: About Vista's Windows Experience Index (Nov. 2007)

File Under: Microsoft (MS) Windows, Vista, tech

As I explore Vista (recently upgraded), I came across this little tidbit about MS Vista's "Performance Index and Tools" dialog page:

(adapted from mshelp://Windows/?id=60d9b045-e2fe-4f7a-9111-e2f2222851991033", by John Swenson, undated.)

System Specs and Bragging Rights

It’s always been difficult to measure exactly how fast a PC is and to compare its speed to other computers. Sure, you can examine all its hardware components, but that gets complicated, and it’s difficult to compare different brands of hardware. There are various speed benchmarks, but it’s not always clear what those mean or how to measure your computer against them.

It’s a tough situation for any self-respecting power user. How are you supposed to brag to your friends that your PC is faster than theirs? Well, Windows Vista introduces a new way. You can just check your Windows Experience Index score. Your computer’s performance is distilled down to a single number."
In the quest for PC bragging rights, some power users are striving to achieve a perfect Windows Experience Index score. Many are gamers or PC enthusiasts willing to plunk down $500 or more for the latest 3-D video card—or two cards running in tandem ... [et cetera]... All for the elusive goal of achieving a Windows Experience Index score of 5.9.

Wait a minute—5.9 ??

As one person on a Gizmodo.com forum wrote, “What marketing genius decided to make it a 5.9 scale?”

The technical wizards on the Windows team who designed this new tool for measuring the speed of a PC settled on a scale of 1 to 5.9 -- not 1 to 10, as you might expect -- because "The index is designed to expand and evolve over time."

At some point in the next 12 to 18 months [as of when? - Editor], the Windows team expects to push the maximum score to 6.9, and eventually to 7.9 and beyond. Maybe someday the index will actually reach 10 (or 9.9).

(This will not change any scores on the low end. A PC rated 2.8 will still stay at 2.8 unless it is upgraded with new hardware components.)

[Blah Blah Blah (like Microsoft would know what makes a good tweaked computer)]

As more people post their index scores on ShareYourScore.com, the percentage of people achieving 5.9 is going down, not up, showing just how hard it is get a perfect score. For more information about what your own score means (assuming it’s not perfect), see Understand and improve your computer's performance in Windows Vista.

Well, okay then: here's mine!

(click to view)

~

Marvel launches online comic service w/ 250 free sample comics!

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Marvel launches online comic service w/ 250 free sample comics:


{ http://m1.2mdn.net/viewad/1495577/1-Digital_Comics_Free_Iron_Man_728x90.jpg }

> Link: Marvel.com Digital Comics HeadQuarters

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Blade Runner Final Cut - NOW PLAYING at a theater near you!

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Here's an update on my earlier Blade Runner Final Cut blog (click on the 'movies and television' label link to read it) ...

Warner Bros. has expanded the Theatrical Run of the 35mm showing of Blade Runner to the following cities:

note/disclaimer:
This list subject to change. See the official website at http://bladerunnerthemovie.warnerbros.com/ for updates!

October

10/26 -
Seattle (Cinerama, Seattle - 35mm),
Washington D.C. (Uptown, D.C. - 35mm),
Portland (Cinema 21, Portland - 35mm),
Salt Lake (Gateway Megaplex, SLC - Digital)

November

11/2 -
Atlanta (check the local papers)
Chicago (Music Box, Chicago - 35mm),
Santa Barbara (Arlington, Santa Barbara - Digital),
Baltimore (Landmark Harbor East, Baltimore - Digital)


11/9 -
Boston (Coolidge Corner, Brookline - 35mm)

11/16 -
Detroit (Main Art, Detroit - 35mm)

11/18 -
Austin (Paramount, Austin - 35mm)

11/30 -
San Francisco (Embarcadero, San Francisco - 35mm),
Dallas (The Inwood, Dallas - 35mm),
San Diego (Ken, San Diego - 35mm),
Minneapolis (The Uptown, Minneapolis - 35mm)

December

12/7 -
Denver (The Landmark @ Greenwood Village - Digital),
Philadelphia (The Ritz 5, Philadelphia - 35mm)

12/25 -
Boston (The Brattle, Cambridge - 35mm)

2008

1/2/08 - Austin (The Paramount, Austin - 35mm)

1/4/08 - Nashville (The Belcourt, Nashville - 35mm)

1/18/08 - Durham (Carolina, Durham - 35mm)

2/1/08 - Columbus (Drexel Gateway, Columbus - 35mm)

2/15/08 - San Francisco (Castro, San Francisco - 35mm)

2/29/08 - Sacramento (Crest, Sacramento - 35mm)

-:-:-:-
here's a post from the movie forums:

"Do go and see the movie at the theater. It is worth the 40 minute drive. This movie is INCOMPARABLE when seen on the big screen. Anyone who loves Blade Runner and has the chance should see it BIG at least once. Oh....the restoration and transfer were awesome. It looked like a movie that was just made yesterday......beautiful. "
- Benji-The_Dog , Sat , Nov 10 , 2007

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(stocks) Cisco profits up 29%, stock drops 9%

From the after-hours 1st quarter (Aug-Sept-Oct) financial results 'conference call' on Wednesday, November 07, 2007:

Cisco's [CSCO] 1st quarter [Q1] profit rose 29% ;


to 40 cents a share, or 19% ex a 3-cent tax gain.

Wall St. expected 36 cents.

Revenue rose 17% to $9.55 billion "just ahead of views".

Cisco sees Q2 sales growth of about 16%, just a hair under estimates. U.S. orders were relatively weak.

So how does the stock market react to a profit increase of 19% in 3 months, a revenue increase of 17%, and a company bringing in 9.5 billion dollars of revenue per quarter?

"Shares sank 9% in late trading after falling [an additional] 4% ahead of results from Tuesday's [Nov 6th's] 6 1/2-year high." [$ 34.24]

Talking-heads' explanation "Steady growth was disappointing.",

According to Reuters "Network equipment maker Cisco Systems posted a 37 percent rise in quarterly profit on solid demand from telecoms carriers, but its shares fell 9 percent on concerns about its outlook amid U.S. economic weakness."*

* "Cisco, which makes routers, switches and other equipment, said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose to $2.2 billion, or 35 cents per share, from $1.6 billion, or 26 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue, helped by Cisco's expansion into new products as well as emerging markets, rose 16.7 percent to $9.6 billion for the quarter ended Oct. 27. The company's August forecast was for revenue of $9.45 billion to $9.55 billion.

Analysts on average had forecast revenue of $9.5 billion, according to Reuters Estimates."

"Lives up to expectations,... but delivers a failure to RAISE guidance for growth."

Note: not a failure to raise estimates for profit or revenue, not a estimate of negative growth or loss, not even a lowering of guidance: the stock takes a hit because John Chambers did not raise estimates of 'growth' beyond the current estimate of 16 to 17 % per quarter -- as if you can earn billions AND increase earnings by 64% a year, year after year, forever... how crazy are we?

----

other: Banking index posts worst loss in 5 years as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill hit new lows ... The 'Financials' exchange-traded fund (ETF) 'XLF' is down 5.35% ...