Curious why when you buy an iPod, computer hard drive, or memory stick there is less memory actually available then what was advertised?

For example, you buy a new laptop, advertised having 100GB of hard drive space, actually only seems to have 93GB available? It almost seems as if there is false advertising involved. I'm sorry to say, this isn't the case, rather just a tricky usage of terminology used by memory manufactures. Let me try to explain...



You see, digital data is of binary numbers. 1's and 0's, also called bits. A group of eight (8 bits) 1's or/and 0's describe what is known as a byte. There are hence, 256 different values for a byte. ie: 00000000, 00000001, 00000010, 00000011, ... 11111110, 11111111. Digital memory is measured in the number of bytes, although it can also be described in bits.

This is where it gets a bit more confusing....

Just as with our decimal number system, when a very large binary number needs to be described, such as 123,456,789 Bits, we can use Metric prefixes (Kilo, Mega, Giga) to simplify things for us.

For example, 123,456,789 Bits is also equal to ~ 123.46 Megabits or 123,456.89 Kilobits.

Mega = Million
Kilo=Thousand
Giga=Billion

This is how hard drive manufactures define memory sizes. Pretty easy, right? Well, sorta, this is where it gets a bit complicated.

Since the start of computers, it has been common practice to define computer memory in powers of two, since computer memory is binary. For computer programmers, this is, for one reason or another, more practical and accepted.

2^1=2
2^8=256
2^10=1024

1000 is not a power of 2. 1024 is however. Since 1000 and 1024 are close to the same in value, to use the metric prefix 'Kilo' to define 2^10 just became accepted. Overtime, memory sizes grew. Mega came to define 1024 Kilos, or 1024x1024. Giga came to describe 1024 x 1024 x 1024... or 1,073,741,824. A bit different than 1,000,000,000 that we are accustomed Mega meaning

Windows, MacOS, the iPod, as well as other devices and software, assume 1 kilobyte = 1024 byte. Hard drive manufactures, not liking this measurement system, have decided to define 1 kilobyte as 1000 bytes. 24 bytes smaller than what is actually considered a Kilobyte, making their storage devices and hard drives seem to have more memory on them then what is actually understood to be there. They are technically correct with their labelling, but it is using the abnormal definition of what a Kilobyte is considered.

How do you distinguish between the two? Some have tried to define a difference by capitalizing one and not the other, but that idea seems to have failed in implementation. Capitilization does seem to work though in regards to differentiating between bits and Bytes though. Some add an extra letter to help define it, such as GiB, but it seems to be uncommon.

Generally, hard drives and most memory devices use the 1000 definition, and everyone else uses 1024 to define a kilo. Until that changes, that is just a fact we will all have to deal with.

Below is a simple tool you can use to discover the actual size of a drive based apon what the drive manufacture labelled it as.
---------------------------------------------------------------

GB*
Labelled Drive Size
<==>
GB
Actual Drive Size
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

(* GB = 1,000,000,000)

For the sake of ceasing this continuing fight, maybe it be easier if Windows just started displaying memory as 1000 multiples, instead of 1024. Anyone who needs to know data in binary powers are surely smart enough to be able to do the math themselves. and not be being using Windows anyways. 

Are you worried about giving away your email address on the internet?

Here is the solution! You can now get a free anonymous temporary address with the click of a button.

Simply click the Create Email button , copy your new email address and use it as you please.



Visit and enjoy : www.notmymailbox.com

First you should gostart > run >eventvwr.msc Events are stored in three log files: Application, Security, and System. These logs can be reviewed and archived.For our purposes we want the System log. Click on "System" in the left-hand column for a list of events. Look for a date and time when you weren't home and your computer should have been off. Double click on the eg: info and it will show you the detail. You can also use this log to see how long someone was on the computer. Just look at the time the computer was turned on and off for that day.Hope you all will like it.

Else Use keylogger softwares .. !

NJOY!

1.You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as
different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20.I Guess i came with just 19 things ... !

NJOY!

1. Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit enter. Scroll down and look for the following entries:


2. Alter the entries as follows:


Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"


Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"


set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.


3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.


NOTE:this trick only works for broadband users not for dialup

This Scrapbook Auto Refresher trick refreshes your scrapbook for every few seconds 


The default timer is set as 30 seconds. 


If you want to change the default timer, follow the steps below. 


1) Copy the code below in Notepad 


2) Select 'save as'. 


3) Save it as scrapbookrefresher.html 


4) The code gets saved in ur default browser application, now view source. 


5) Observe the 6th line ( ) 


6) Change the number "30" in the above line to the number of seconds you want. 


7) Save the file by selecting File -> Save. 


8) Close the notepad. 


9) Double click (Opens in your Internet browser) on the scrapbookautorefresher.html file 


to refresh your scrapbook for every few seconds. 

Just follow the following steps and you will be able to login in gmail and orkut with multiple accounts. Through this you will be able to make profiles in your firefox. 


Step 1:Open system properties(by right clicking my computer), choose tab advanced, click to environment variables button. in system variables section, click new. type this information to each textbox. 


Step 2:variable name: moz_no_remote (should be all small letter). 


variable value: 1 


Step 3:open firefox icon's properties(from desktop and quick launch). add extension -p to command line(like "c:\program files\mozilla firefox\firefox.exe" -p). press ok. 


When you will open firefox it will prompt for profile selection create a profile,open firefox login to orkut open once more use another profile login. 

All you have to do is just create a "Notepad" file and copy paste this in your Drive

[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}] 
iconarea_image=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Pictures\Sample Pictures\sunset.jpg 
iconarea_text=0x00FFFFFF

Save it as desktop.ini 

1. Go to to 'run' Type regedit.

2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > CONTROL PANEL > DESKTOP

3. There is an key called 'MenuShowDelay'

4. Double click on it and change 400 to 0

5. Click 'ok' and restart your computer to see changes to take effect 

With a small registry tweak, Windows XP can be set to automatically close any program that 'stops responding' (crashes), eliminating the need for you to use the task manager to close down the offending software manually. 

To do this: 

Open REGEDIT and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\ Desktop 

Modify the REG_SZ entry AutoEndTasks with a value of 1