Windows XP End of Support - Fromrum Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great. Welcome to my blog on this nice Friday! :)



With Windows XP support ended, I would like to share today some good articles about the same from Internet. Enjoy reading! :)

End of the road for Windows XP

THIS week sees the last batch of bug fixes and security patches that Microsoft will issue for Windows XP. After April 8th, computers using the 13-year-old operating system will continue to work just fine, but all technical support for XP—whether paid or otherwise—will cease. In a change of heart, Microsoft has at least agreed to continue issuing updates for its Security Essentials malware engine, which runs on XP, until July 2015. Apart from that, users who continue to rely on the thing will be on their own—at the mercy of mischief-makers everywhere.

More than a few seem determined to stick with it. According to NetMarketShare, a web-analytics consultancy, Windows XP runs on...Read More

Windows XP support has ended

Microsoft provided support for Windows XP for the past 12 years. But the time came for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.

As a result, technical assistance for Windows XP is no longer available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC. Microsoft has also stopped providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP. (If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will...Read More

Windows XP retires: Here is why you need to upgrade, and what happens if you dont

Microsoft has said goodbye to Windows XP.

Although the operating system is more than 12 years old, and Windows XP computers haven’t been shipped since 2010, there are still millions of them in use. Gartner estimates that as much as 25 percent of Windows PCs in the workplace are running XP. Consumers tend to be even slower in upgrading.

Why so many XP computers? ...Read More

Memory lane: Before everyone loved Windows XP, they hated it

It wasn't meant to be this way. Windows XP, now no longer supported, wasn't meant to be popular. For all its popularity and sustained usage, people seem to have forgotten something important about it: it sucked.

The Ars forums are a place for geeks to hang out and chat about tech, and especially in light of the hostility shown toward Windows 8, we thought it might be fun to take a look at how our forum dwellers reacted when first introduced to Microsoft's ancient operating system.

The biggest problem with Windows XP was that it was Microsoft's first operating system to feature Product Activation, the licensing system that tied product keys to hardware fingerprints. Gone were the days of buying one copy of the software and installing it on multiple machines. With Windows XP, every system would need its own copy.

When the first news of activation broke, in January 2001,...Read More

When Windows XP support ends, this is how you secure your PC and save all updates

Support for Windows XP has now ended. Microsoft's 8 April support deadline has been and gone and the final security updates for Windows XP have now been released. Worryingly, these updates fixed two critical security flaws that would have allowed hackers to remotely execute code.

The final security fixes are part of Microsoft's Patch Tuesday update for 8 April 2014, the last time Windows XP will be included.

Despite the end of Windows XP support looming, it is estimated that 27.7 per cent of the world's computers still use it. Many security flaws uncovered in Windows Vista, 7 and 8 may also apply to Windows XP, with hackers potentially able to use Microsoft's own security updates to find new ways of exploiting the ageing operating system.

Only Windows 7, with around 47 per cent of the market, sits above Windows XP, with the much maligned Windows 8 taking just shy of seven per cent of the OS cake.

If you're one of the many Windows XP users out there...Read More

Microsoft's Windows XP is still kickin' -- do you use it?

Microsoft's XP operating system is still used on more than a third of the installations out there, according to figures from Net Applications. Is it really still that popular?

XP was released in August of 2001, more than a decade ago. It got a new lease on life when its successor, Vista, was declared -- at least initially -- a disaster back in 2006.

On Friday, figures from Net Applications (see graph at bottom) showed XP with a robust 37.74 percent of all Windows and Mac OS installations worldwide, down only slightly from 38.31 percent in April.

Need more proof of its enduring popularity? Dell provided some visibility on how many of its customers are still using older Windows operating...Read More

Calling all hackers: the end of Windows XP support could herald new security risks

After almost 13 years, Microsoft has ended support for its popular Windows XP operating system. It could be a curse for developing countries where XP is still common - and a blessing for hackers.

The first Windows XP version hit the market in 2001. Today, it's a dinosaur among operating systems in the fast-moving Internet world. But the great-grandfather of Windows 8 - Microsoft's newest system software - is still wildly popular: in Germany alone, it's estimated that between 11 and 20 percent of all computers still use XP.

Worldwide, XP is installed on about one third of all computers, and the very fact that the system is still commonly used all over the world makes it a global risk.

Since its launch, ...Read More

End of Windows XP support spells trouble for some

Microsoft will end support for the persistently popular Windows XP on Tuesday, and the move could put everything from the operations of heavy industry to the identities of everyday people in danger.

An estimated 30 percent of computers being used by businesses and consumers around the world are still running the 12-year-old operating system.

"What once was considered low-hanging fruit by hackers now has a big neon bull's eye on it," says Patrick Thomas, a security consultant at the San Jose, Calif.-based firm Neohapsis.

Microsoft has released a handful of Windows operating systems since 2001, but XP's popularity and the durability of the computers it was installed...Read More

Windows XP support end: 10 steps to cut security risks

With the demise of Microsoft support for Windows XP, those sticking with the 12-year-old OS undeniably face risks. The question is whether the risks are tolerable and manageable.

In most cases, Windows XP can still be used while firms try to complete migrations with the risk cut to an acceptable level, according to analyst firm Gartner — and without having to pay for costly Microsoft Custom Support.

"While doing nothing is an option, we do not believe that most organisations — or their auditors — will find this level of risk acceptable," vice president and Gartner fellow Neil MacDonald said in a report, Best practices for secure use of XP after support ends.

Between 20 percent and 25 percent of enterprise systems are still running XP, and one-third of organisations continue to use it on more than 10 percent of their machines, Gartner estimates.

For those still using the venerable OS ...Read More

Happy Women's Day, 8th March

Hey all my dear readers! :D I hope you all are doing great! ^_^

Today on the occasion of International Women's Day, I made this vector graphic to wish all the wonderful women in the world, a day specifically dedicated to them!



Although there are so many 'days' like valentine's day, women's day, etc. which were though started to promote the gift business, the greeting cards, etc. but for a common person these are days to celebrate and dedicate one day in the year to something special(like to love on valentine's day).

An excerpt from Wikipedia:

"International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women's Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, including Russia. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. This is a day which some people celebrate by wearing purple ribbons.

In some cases International Women's Day has led to questionable practices that discriminated against men. For example Tower Hamlets Council closed off one of its libraries to all males to "celebrate" the occasion, forcing them to travel elsewhere, going as far as even banning male staff from the premises.

In Communist Czechoslovakia, huge Soviet-style celebrations were held annually. After the fall of Communism, the holiday, generally considered to be one of the major symbols of the old regime, fell into obscurity. International Women's Day was re-established as an official "important day" by the Parliament of the Czech Republic only recently, on the proposal of the Social Democrats and Communists. This has provoked some controversy as a large part of the public as well as the political right see the holiday as a relic of the nation's Communist past. In 2008, the Christian conservative Czechoslovak People's Party's deputies unsuccessfully proposed the abolition of the holiday. However, some non-government organizations consider the official recognition of International Women's Day as an important reminder of women's role in the society.

International Women's Day sparked violence in Tehran, Iran on March 4, 2007, when police beat hundreds of men and women who were planning a rally. Police arrested dozens of women and some were released after several days of solitary confinement and interrogation. Shadi Sadr, Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh and several more community activists were released on March 19, 2007, ending a fifteen day hunger strike."

That could be said a quick introduction and some controversies that surfaced during Women's Day celebrations around the globe over the years. Well you know, someone or other will always take care that your happiness is spoilt well! -_-



I am not a feminist, neither do I celebrate 8th of March as such, but I do respect women. I'd say that, every day in this life is a man's day, a woman's day, a valentine's day, a parent's day, everyday, except for the birthday or deathday! LOL! :D Sounds a little awkward, or too philosophical? Well, let me explain my point of view. As a living being we need to stay connected to the environment around us, continuously adapting to it. As a human being, we need to stay bonded with each other, which includes your girlfriend/wife/sister/mother/grandmother/daughter(women in your life), or your boyfriend/husband/brother/father/grandfather/son(men in your life), which does include your love(valentine), and your family. Thus, why just one day for them? You earn for them, you live for them, because of them! So everyday should be a so-n-so day :)

Being specific to women, I'd say we should respect them. I don't know if there's a weaker gender because I know the female wrestlers who'd break your neck in a single stroke(ouch! you shouldn't underestimate!) and at the same time men who would cry out loud if a syringe pokes them. The gender fight will go on and on since it is heated up by the so called 'leaders' of the much hyped and known to corrupt, and agitating, the 'political parties'. So instead of being moved by their motto(which is only to benefit themselves, not you), we should rather keep our head straight. That means, both men and women should respect each other. If you are stronger, you should protect the weak(weakness is not implied by your gender). If you are good at something, you should help others. If you are too rich, you can of course help the poor in some or the other way.

That way, promoting equality is a better message than empowering women. Why empower men/women? They are both equal. They don't need any political party backing up their strength. If men are considered strong, then always remember guys! you are living/breathing in this world just because there is some lady out there who suffered immense pain just to make you living in this world. So do remember you have a mother who also is a woman, and you would never like if anyone dares to speak in a bad tone with her. So why treat some other woman as inferior?



A woman has so many important roles in anybody's life:

1. "A lad comes from a lady and a man from a woman" - Never forget that! NEVER!

2. Mother: You know god? But how? Because she told you about the existence of god. The other version of god who is everywhere in this world to take care you since god is up there watching.

3. Sister: You know you fight with her, but when she gets married and leaves for the other home, you will cry more than her.

4. Daughter: A son might keep your pedigree chart alive, but a daughter will make sure you are respected everywhere.

With all that said, let me just summarize my scattered thoughts that I put forward.

"They are not weak, they are equal. Men-women, they both have their roles in the world. Nature didn't give men breasts to nurture the children. Nature knew the yin-yang balance. Then who are we to create an imbalance? If there are god, so are goddesses. We are all equal. Respect everyone, that does include women. A woman is a daughter, sister, and a mother. She'd take care of all the things for you which includes you."

Great news by the week 27/09/2013 - Fromrum Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great. Welcome to my blog on this nice Friday evening! :)



Tonight I am sharing with you all some great techy news from this week. If you missed any of these cool articles, go ahead and check them out! :)

How do I maximize security for XP even after support ends?

In MBAM and SuperAntiSpyware you have made two excellent choices. While OnlineArmor Firewall (OAF) is powerful it clashes with many other programs. Years ago I found that out the hard way - I was using Avast Free Anti-virus and I added OnlineArmor Firewall and that crashed my system.

I am going to quote the obviously biased manufacturers ...Read More

Hackers crack major data firms, sell info to ID thieves, says report

An illegal service that sells personal data "on any U.S. resident" -- which can then be used for identity theft -- hacked into servers at several major data aggregators including LexisNexis and Dun & Bradstreet, according to a report.

The service's customers have, the report said, "spent hundreds of thousands of dollars looking up SSNs, birthdays, driver's license records, and obtaining unauthorized credit and background reports on more than 4 million Americans."

In an article Wednesday, former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs, who now writes the KrebsOnSecurity blog, outlined how a site called Expose.su managed earlier this year to post financial information on celebrities and government officials.

The site's activities triggered an FBI investigation, in part because...Read More

Do you think kids should have cell phones?

"You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something."

This, as famed psychologist Louis C.K. explained to Conan O'Brien, is one of the reasons he doesn't want his girls to have cell phones.

Cell phones, he believes, are taking away "the ability to just sit there."

Underneath everything, you see, there's the knowledge that it's all for nothing and you're alone. Cell phones try to make you pretend that you can be in contact with someone all the time....Read More

Valve's Steam Machine prototype to ship early to 300 lucky players

On the heels of its SteamOS announcement, Valve has confirmed the existence of its living room PC hardware called Steam Machines. To test its early prototype, Valve is giving out 300 machines to eligible Steam users who apply for its beta test.

As for the final Steam Machines, "We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014,...Read More

Chinese APT Espionage campaign, dubbed 'Icefog' targeted Military contractors and Governments

Kaspersky Lab has identified another Chinese APT campaign, dubbed ‘Icefog’, who targeted Governmental institutions, Military contractors, maritime / shipbuilding groups, telecom operators, industrial and high technology companies and mass media.

The Hacking group behind the attack who carry out surgical hit and run operations, is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group, used a backdoor dubbed Icefog that worked across Windows and Mac OS X to gain access to systems.
"The Mac OS X backdoor currently remains largely undetected by security solutions and has managed to infect several hundred victims worldwide," the report (PDF) said.

This China-based campaign is almost two years old and follows the pattern of similar APT-style attacks where victims are compromised via a malicious attachment in a spear-phishing email, or are lured to a compromised website and infected with malware....Read More

Hope you find them interesting. Send me your suggestions: suggestions4blog@gmail.com and comments: comment4blog@gmail.com
Hope to see you soon again. Good night! :)

Friday the 13th - Fromrum Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great. Welcome to my blog on this nice Friday! :)



So since you know today is Friday the 13th, quite hyped and much feared, I thought to post today about this belief/superstition. I won't call it a superstition because it is so many people's belief that I won't like to hurt anyone. This phobia is called as friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named in English and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear").

In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck. The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war. A connection can be seen in the etymology of the name in some European languages (Mardi in French or martes in Spanish). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday, April 13, 1204 and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning literally the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".

In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a day of bad luck. In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number. However, due to Anglo-Saxon influence, young people consider Friday the 13th unlucky as well.

I have collected an excerpt from some good articles about this day. You can check the original articles by clicking the read more button. The current format of this post will now be adopted fro future Fromrum Fridays featuring such decorated divs separating different articles. I will try to share best articles I read during the week on Fridays in this layout. I hope you all enjoy!

Friday the 13th

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table results in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
• Friday is also the day when Jesus Christ was crucified, making it through folklore and adding to its unpopularity.
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
• Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.

...Read More

Friday the 13th: Science says it really could be unlucky for some

Genuine paraskevidekatriaphobics, triskaidekaphobics or friggatriskaidekaphobics are perhaps rare these days, possibly because of the spelling challenges, but one of the most popular, or unpopular, superstitions endures in a time we like to think of as more logical and rational than were the intellectually darker eras in which they were created.

And while they've been walking around ladders and dodging black cats, the superstitious may have stumbled on some truth to the matter.

Scientists, those logical and rational types, have put this date's expectations of doom and gloom into a statistical...Read More

Friday 13th travellers take chance on flight 666 to HEL

Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? For superstitious travellers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki apparently were not too bothered. Friday's flight was almost full.

"It has been quite a joke among the pilots," said Juha-Pekka Keidasto, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. "I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me."

The daily flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and the number 666 also has strong negative biblical associations.

Some airlines, such as Scandinavian Airlines, take such fears seriously and do not have a row 13 on board. However, the negative connotations are a relatively new phenomenon...Read More

Why Does Friday the 13th Scare Us So Much?

"If nobody bothered to teach us about these negative taboo superstitions like Friday the 13th, we might in fact all be better off," said Stuart Vyse, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College in New London.

People who harbor a Friday the 13th superstition might have triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number 13, and often pass on their belief to their children, he noted. Popular culture's obsession with the fear-think the Friday the 13th horror films and even this story-helps keep it alive, added Vyse, the author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition.

Although superstitions can be arbitrary-a fear of ladders or black cats, for example-"once they are in the culture...Read More

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times. It seems their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year (there will be two such occurrences in 2013, exactly 13 weeks apart) portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to some sources it's the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date....Read More

And by the way, if you noticed, I shared 6 pics on this post! SPOOOOOKY!!! O_O :O

Stay calm, and do good things. Whatever is bound to happen will happen, so don't give others a reason to associate a bad happening with your wrong karma! Be good and everything will be good! :) For now, I take a leave. Good Night! See you all soon again! :)

Google Cleaning for 2013 - Fromrum Friday

Hey all! I hope you all are having a great Friday! :) Welcome to my blog on this Fromrum Friday! :D

Straight from Google's Blog

I am copying this content directly from the official google blog(Original article here). You all must take a look at the big changes coming in this year.

A second spring of cleaning
(Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2013)

We’re living in a new kind of computing environment. Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. It’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change—it probably hasn’t happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact. So today we’re announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 features or services closed since our spring cleaning began in 2011:

• Apps Script will be deprecating the GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets in order to focus efforts on Html Service. The rest of the Ui Service will not be affected. The GUI Builder will continue to be available until September 16, 2013. For more information see our post on the Google Apps Developer Blog.
• CalDAV API will become available for whitelisted developers, and will be shut down for other developers on September 16, 2013. Most developers’ use cases are handled well by Google Calendar API, which we recommend using instead. If you’re a developer and the Calendar API won’t work for you, please fill out this form to tell us about your use case and request access to whitelisted-only CalDAV API.
• Google Building Maker helped people to make three-dimensional building models for Google Earth and Maps. It will be retired on June 1, but users are still able to access and export their models from the 3D Warehouse. We’ll continue to expand the availability of comprehensive and accurate new 3D imagery on Google Earth, and people can still use Google Map Maker to add building information such as outlines and heights to Google Maps.
• Google Cloud Connect is a plug-in to help people work in the cloud by automatically saving Microsoft Office files from Windows PCs in Google Drive. But installing Google Drive on your desktop achieves the same thing more effectively—and Drive works not only on Windows, but also on Mac, Android and iOS devices. Existing users will no longer be able to use Cloud Connect as of April 30.
• We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.
• Beginning next week, we're ending support for the Google Voice App for Blackberry. For Blackberry users who want to continue using Google Voice, we recommend they use our HTML5 app, which is more secure and easier for us to keep up to date. Our HTML5 site is compatible with users with Blackberry version 6 and newer.
• We’re deprecating our Search API for Shopping, which has enabled developers to create shopping apps based on Google’s Product Search data. While we believe in the value this offering provided, we’re shifting our focus to concentrate on creating a better shopping experience for users through Google Shopping. We’ll shut the API down completely on September 16, 2013.
• Beginning today we’ll no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows. Existing customers will continue to be able to download the software and can contact us for support. We’ll continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android for free.

These changes are never easy. But by focusing our efforts, we can concentrate on building great products that really help in their lives.

Washington Post article, printing with permission

Google Reader being taken down news is a big concern for many webmasters. I know this news is quite outdated, but hey, I am a blogger, and google reader is about to be taken down this Monday, so just refreshing memories. So memories refreshed? :D See you all soon again. Have a great weekend up ahead! :)

What is Hackintosh? - Tech Tuesday

Hey all my dear friends! :D How are you doing. Posting at 11:00 pm? not my style, I know but it was long tiring day!



Maintenance of blog is going quite cool. I spent 2 hours today to make the banner exchange page look better. Trying to make lengthy pages appear a bit smaller, and decreasing page load time, etc. Phew, this blog optimization is a tiring work. I also accepted a few pending 'adult banner exchange' requests. I was reluctant to add those not so work friendly banners on my blog till now. But somehow I thought I should approve them. The request has lingered quite long :/ And of course as I was adding any other banners, not accepting those was not a cool idea. Let's leave this, and come to our topic of discussion.

And just to keep the article going I would first give a one line definition of Hackintosh - ahem, ahem! "Running Mac OS on any Hardware/Software environment that is not Apple Computer."

Do you know Macintosh(Mac)

I know you are wondering it to be a bad question, LOL! I know you all know the world renowned Apple Inc. Operating System, Macintosh? Rather "The Macintosh" :P But there are a few things not everyone knows, since they don't own it. Of course these are common things that mostly people know, but those who don't think about those extremely expensive products hardly care to add this to their knowledge. Instead of touching upon many of those and losing the essence of the article completely, I'll discuss just one that we need to know for our topic of discussion right now.

Apple does not license OS X for use on non-Apple computers

Yeah, the truth and rather the bitter truth. If you like that ultra bright looking UNIX based operating system and are fascinated by it but don't have the money to purchase that ultra-expensive Macbook, you certainly wished to use Mac. Else, there was some real cool app that runs only on Mac and you cry out loud thinking why you can't afford a Macbook. Then you rush to a nearby store and purchase a Macintosh OS disk(Not sure if they are this easily available to buy! LOL!). Just then you realize that whoa! money burnt! My too good to be bad PC can't boot that damn setup! >_< The problem is Apple doesn't want you to use Mac on anything other than what Apple sells >.> Of course this sounds disgusting, but well that's their rule, if you break it you are doing something illegal then how so much you fight later about it.

Solution - Hackintosh

Recently, I was reading the Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion License Agreement. Yes, I do read license agreements before blindly clicking I agree and proceed since I don't trust the companies and why should I? If they have made a clause that should have been paid attention to, but wasn't gievn much attention, the company might exploit such ignorant users later. So my advice, if not always, when you have time read the terms and conditions of use of those software. Anyways, we were talking about Hackintosh.

We already discussed Mac won't install in your machine directly and hence you need to do some tweaks. The Virtual one is an easy catch, but the real on requires careful selection and is advisable in 2 cases:

1. You have a lot of money to burn, or
2. You are buying a new PC

Why advisable in these two cases only? Because since Apple doesn't licenses you to use Mac on any other system so you need carefully selected hardware. The choice of your processor is also quite rigid that makes the choice of motherboards too thin. So building a hackintosh is no child's play.

I have found some nice articles on how to build your own hackintosh, and would share the guides with you all soon. But for this post let's keep ourselves just to the definitions, and this post then can be referenced in any post relating Hackintosh later, right? :)

Although here I gotta contradict what I said. Actually, building a hackintosh—that is, installing Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware—used to require extremely restricted hardware choices and quite a bit of know-how. Now your options are vast and the installation process is fairly simple. But that is all in comparison to the earlier versions. The process is not as simple as getting the Windows work! :)

Why would you need a Hackintosh?

• Mac is quite expensive, so cost is a very big reason to go for a hackintosh
• You have fun playing with your computer! :D "GEEKY STUFF" haha :D
• Do I need to buy Mac? I'm not sure it's worth. So just to get rid off these confusions, you can try a virtual hackintosh and see if you would like to buy a Macbook :)
• I don't want to buy Mac. I just want to use that good looking app designed for mac! A good reason to go for a virtual Hackintosh, or a real one if you like to spend more :)

So in summary hackintosh is just running Mac OS on non-Apple Computer. When talking about Virtual Hackintosh, which most people suggest because of costing, etc. issues, I would say it is very easy to build one with a correct set of guidelines. Booting the Vanilla Installer directly is quite a pain in the, *ahem!*, so many HackBoots are available to get through. Sounds all illegal stuff, right? From Apple's point of view, yes illegal, but from a tester point of view it is better to be sure of things before buying the actual stuff, and that too something which is this expensive!

I know I touched the definition of Hackintosh a little, but seriously the article won't have been more than a one-liner if I just shared the definition and walked away. I hope you all like the information I shared with you all. Stay tuned, I'll share the guides of building your own Hackintosh within a week or so. See you all soon again. Good Night for now :) Training tomorrow and also further maintenance work here on the blog. Phew! As the blog gets old the maintenance becomes more and more time consuming, especially when it is done once in a lifetime! LOL!!

Have a great night! :)

Age of Empires HD Edition - Gaming Saturday

Hey all my dear readers! How are you?



I hope that you all have got a bunch of nice plans for the weekend? Well for me it is going to be a studious one! Anyways, recently I came to know that my favourite game, Age of Empires, is released in an HD version. It is basically Age of Empires II:Age of Kings with The Conquerors Expansion, together with support for high resolution displays which are now just too common.

Overall Rating from my side over the original Age of Empires II for the HD Edition: 7.2/10 (10/10 for the original game)

There a few things that don't look good, though some are cool Overall I rate it 72% in comparison to the earlier one.

Something about Age of Empires Series

Age of Empires is a series of computer games developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The first title of the series was Age of Empires, released in 1997. Since then, seven titles and three spin-offs have been released. The titles are historical real-time strategy games, and their gameplay revolves around two main game modes: Single player and campaign. They competed with another popular strategy series, Civilization, and are set amidst historical events.



Age of Empires focused on events in Europe, Africa and Asia, spanning from the Stone Age to the Iron Age; the expansion game explored the formation and expansion of the Roman Empire. The sequel, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, was set in the Middle Ages, while its expansion focused partially on the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The subsequent three games of Age of Empires III explored the early modern period, when Europe was colonizing the Americas and several Asian nations were on the decline. The newest installment, Age of Empires Online, takes a different approach as a free-to-play online game utilizing Games for Windows Live. A spin-off game, Age of Mythology, was set in the same period as the original Age of Empires, but focused on mythological elements of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology.

The Age of Empires series has been a commercial success, selling over 20 million copies. The popularity and quality of the games has earned Ensemble Studios a strong reputation in real-time strategy gaming. Ensemble collaborated with Big Huge Games on Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. Critics have credited part of the success of the series to its historical theme and fair play; the artificial intelligence (AI) players fight with less "cheating" than in many of the series' competitors.

Something about my love for this series

I got this game as a gift from one of my cousins in 2000, almost one year after I bought my first computer. I was just 8 years old when I played this game, and no wonder I became a huge fan! My love for this game started to heighten. I was addicted playing it day and night. All the music, narration, cutscenes and history in the game was totally engraved in my brain by the age of 12(played and finished the AOE I and II millions of times by then). My love for history is the gift of this game only. It made me think of situations from a strategic point of view. I would call this game not just a simple RTS(real time strategy), but a nice package entertaining you and helping in development of logic and brain with it.



All this I am saying from my own personal experience since I love this game. This game has not only helped me by entertaining me for so many years(until the age of 18 after which I got really busy with college, but now again I am back at playing this game since I got hold of the HD edition, Thanks Steam! :D)

Anyways, if I'd not stop speaking about my own experience with this game, I will go on speaking and would not get time to tell you about the HD edition, etc.

Something about Age of Empires HD Version: What's new?

In 2012, Hidden Path Entertainment began work on an HD remake of Age of Empires II (an effort spearheaded by Matt Pritchard, an original Ensemble lead programmer) and on 7 March 2013, its release was announced, branded as Age of Empires II: HD Edition. It claims to have improved graphics, widescreen support and new multiplayer options through Steam. It was released on 9 April 2013, and there was a preorder available on the 5th of April.

In 2013, Age of Empires II: HD Edition was announced and given a release date of 9 April 2013 on the Steam digital distribution platform for Windows operating systems only. The HD Edition includes both the original game and the expansion The Conquerors, as well as updated graphics for high-resolution displays. It also supports user-generated content through the Steam Workshop and multiplayer games provided through the Steam servers.



Since these days my final exams are going on, I am not getting much time to explore the game of new features. But I have found a few as yet, which I would like to share with you all. If I will find more worth sharing, I'll update:

1.	Background	Not new as such, but in the higher resolutions the backgrounds have got a new finishing touch. They look good! :)
2.	Graphics	Oh yeah! Real HD is here! :D Never thought to play this game in such a great experience with graphics. The health indicators look a little bad, but overall graphics are nice. But there are a few problems, the game looks like we are watching from way too far awaya and a few things don't look that good anymore :/
3.	Multiplayer	Not tried in the HD version as yet(though I had tried it in the normal version), but people say it is buggy
4.	Population Limit in Standard Game	Perhaps one feature that will make you drool straightaway! The maximum population limits in Standard Games has been increased to 500. Yes! FIVE HINDERED! :D That means straight away increase of 300 limit, sounds superb!
5.	Background Music(in-game)	Though in Menus the background music of Age of Empires has always been great, but now it is there in the gameplay too! :D I don't know if it were earlier too, my copy never had it! :P
6.	Fire on Buildings	Remember when you tried to destroy the buildings earlier? The fire looked like original. The new fire is a big turn off. Doesn't look good and looks totally fake. :/

More I'll add if I could find worth sharing ones! :)

Trailer of HD Edition:

Found this on YouTube. Trailer? This is the video that comes in the beginning of the game. Oh well! LOL!



The above screenshot is of warchiefs(AOE III), LOL! Don't get confused :P

I hope that this post could catch your interest. All suggestions, comments and experiences are welcomed. Good Day friends! :)

Margarine and Vanaspati Ghee, quite similar? - Fromrum Friday

Hey all my dear readers! How are you? Hope you are enjoying your Friday evening? :)



My final practicals for the sixth semester started today and the first one went on nicely. Let's hope the best for the rest too :) Anyways, talking about the topic of this post, I guess you all know what margarine is, right? If not, we will discuss it in a minute. Meanwhile, I want to draw your attention towards "Vanaspati Ghee" which is hydrogenated vegetable fat, which is quite widely used in India for frying purposes in cooking. But the doctors don't recommend it to the heart patients, instead they recommend them to replace it with Refined Oil, and Butter with Margarine. SO what? I shall discuss this too in a minute. Gimme a second!! :D

Why am I writing this post?

A local grocery and daily needs store in my locality had an offer for the customers a couple of months ago which was sponsored by a famous Margarine company in India(I won't use the name, since I don't wish to pin-point anything), "Buy goods worth 300 INR and get a 100gm Margarine free after filling a small form". It wasn't a lucrative offer, but wasn't an idiotic one either. Since we buy certain house supplies on monthly basis, we thought to buy from that store then not because of the offer, but more because of the prices that were quite nice. I filled the form and submitted it. The owner said, "It would take a little time before you get your margarine since we are running low on supplies and the company is not responding well in this regard these days." Though I wasn't startled by this statement, still I said, "You should remove the offer banner if it meaningless, moreover I bought the supplies because I needed them, not because of your offer. But since you have put that banner on your store, as a shopkeeper it is your responsibility to give people the free goods then. Anyways, I don't care about your margarine, but since I live a couple of blocks away and I am around here in this market every few days, I'll keep checking on you if you could give me my free product." I left and kept checking in for a few weeks until I assumed it to be a hoax offer and thought never to return to that store again. But I was in the same market a couple of days ago and just fleetingly checked on that store. The store owner, though recognised me refused to give me the free margarine saying I had taken it earlier, though I never got it! Huh! but anyways, I got it from him later, LOL! :D Using that margarine on my toast I found that it had no taste. It had the softness and color of butter, but nothing else. Then I recalled what margarine is and to confirm did a little research on the Internet. To my amazement, I was quite correct. I didn't find a good reason of margarine being suggested by the doctors to heart patients, so I thought to write this post.

What is Margarine?

Quoting this from Wikipedia:
"It is a foodstuff used for spreading, baking, and cooking. It was originally created as a substitute for butter in the 1800s. Margarine is made mainly of hydrogenated or refined plant oils and water. While butter is made from fat from milk, margarine is made from plant oils and may also contain milk. In some locales it is colloquially referred to as oleo, short for oleomargarine. Margarine, like butter, consists of a water-in-fat emulsion, with tiny droplets of water dispersed uniformly throughout a fat phase which is in a stable crystalline form. Margarine has a minimum fat content of 80%, the same as butter, but unlike butter reduced-fat varieties of margarine can also be labelled as margarine. Margarine can be used both for spreading or for baking and cooking. It is also commonly used as an ingredient in other food products, such as pastries and cookies, for its wide range of functionalities."
In plain English, I'd say from an Indian's point of view Margarine is Vanaspati Ghee or Dalda!! O_O

An eMail that was circulated a few years back

During my research about the topic on Internet, I found a copy of an eMail message that was rapidly spreading on Internet a few years back. On further reading and searching thoroughly, I found not everything is correct, but most of it is CORRECT! The email message: (Found HERE)
"Pass The Butter ... please

This is interesting. .

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When they killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. ! It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW.. the difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.

Eating margarinecan increaseheart diseasein women by 53%. Over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study, just add calories and more grams of fat. (no further harm done)

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.

Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarinehas few.

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

Very high in trans fatty acids .

Triple risk of coronary heart disease .
Increases total cholesterol and LDL(this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.

Lowers quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC..

This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)

* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?"

This eMail message has a lot of things that are true, but many that are completely false. I found some nice articles on Internet and thus I would present the following summary about the facts which are true. Rest of the facts can be considered as unproven, since they may or may not be false.

Difference between margarine and butter: Both Margarine and butter contain the same amount of calories present in them. On the contrary butter contains natural fats, which are essential for the strengthening the bones and has many nutritional benefits.

Ill-effects of margarine: Excess intake of margarine can worsen illnesses such as colitis and arthritis. The hardening agents used in the production of margarine include nickel and cadmium. Nickel is a toxic metal that when consumed in excess, causes lung and kidney problems. Cadmium is among the most toxic of the heavy metals. It may contribute to serious diseases such as arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and malignancy. The study conducted at Harvard University, found that a diet high in trans-fat, which doubles the chance for heart attack and decreases life expectancy.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study A Harvard study of women between 1980 and 1994 found a significant reduction of heart disease risk by reducing smoking, hormone treatment, and dietary improvements including reducing or eliminating saturated fat (such as in butter). Further research has shown, however, that some margarines contained trans fat, which was even worse for the heart than saturated fat.

Margarine is high in trans fatty acids

Margarine lowers quality of breast milk

Margarine decreases immune response

The above "true facts" were found on truthorfiction.com THey call that email message more of an eRumor since not everything is true.

What is the stupid logic prevailing in India about Margarine?

The heart patients are recommended to use Margarine instead of Butter and Vegetable Oil instead of Vanaspati Ghee. Now the idiotic part is Vanaspati Ghee and margarine are the same thing but since they are popular in two different kind of packaging and uses, depending on when buying whether you ask from Vanaspati Ghee or Margarine, people perceive them to be two different things. On one hand people are asked to avoid a thing and the same person is asked to eat it. To me this seems more of a marketing strategy to sell Margarine which is otherwise a neglected and less sold commodity in the Indian Market. Being a huge potential for profits for any company, everyone tends to make a fool out of people and sell them products. The Margarine and Dalda story is no different, at least don't seem to be different.



I hope whatever I have found out is true and helps people. Staying healthy would ask nothing more than a balanced diet and regular exercise, starting them as soon as possible; rather than asking you to cut on calories using these stupid synthetic alternatives which only seem appealing, but are not so good as they seem to be.

"Only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - Intellectual Thursday

Hey all my dear readers! :D I welcome you all at my blog on this amazing Thursday! :)



Am I becoming accustomed to this now? No, I am not talking about blogging, I am talking about, "Thinking something amazing to write about and then forget about it when the time comes!?" I don't know, but it's not good :/ Again I forgot like the Tuesday what I thought for Thursday to post here.

But hey!! I recalled! Damn, this was a bad jump back on the topic! :O Anyways, let's get serious, and start talking.

The famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt - "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" is what's on my mind to discuss with you all today. The famous quote reminds me of an amazing story I read in my last school year, "Deep Water". It was the story about William Douglas' fear of water and how he overcame it. It was an amazing excerpt and it was quite inspiring. To be honest I am not sure if these were first said by Roosevelt only because the Internet sources have these words in his speech.

The quote I mentioned above is a great quote and I just think it's one of my favourites. It not only fills my heart with courage but gives me strength at times when it is needed the most. This even makes me recall the famous advertisement of a beverage that said "Everyone is afraid of something, but the one who moves ahead of it, is the one who wins". In the context of the quote, this line is quite matching. Actually if you say you don't fear anything, you are just reassuring yourself that you are brave, thought maybe you are not. But if you are honest and know things that scare you, you can think of ways to deal with your fear and be a winner.

The point I want to highlight is that, being scared is not bad. Now you must wonder how does that goes with the quote I was sharing? Actually, the quotes have a hidden meaning. You should fear nothing, means you should be brave to face anything that scares you. Fear the fear itself, means only thing you should not let your mind be is afraid of a situation and step back. You might be scared for once, but if you be courageous and take a step further, you never know what you may achieve. This reminds me of a pic I saw on facebook(I'll upload here if I find it on the Internet again) that said you never know how close to your goal you are, so never give up.

Aha! I found the pic and uploaded it! :D :D

So coming back to what we were discussing. Actually fear is a feeling that is there in everyone's heart. The only thing is who fears what. Someone might be scared of dark, and the people'd be laughing at him and at the same time, the one's laughing might be scared of thunderstorms! So don't be disheartened that you are scared of something. Being brave doesn't mean that you are not scared of anything, but it rather means that nothing can scare you. What's the difference? Well, being scared means you are scared of something, but if something can scare you it means it will throw you away from your path, but being scared of something and taking a step further shows that yes! you are the most courageous person in the world. now some readers find this misleading and think they are scared of their parents and now they won't be and they will be rude to them. Excuse me! There is a difference in being brave and decent. Ah, I always go off topic.

Fear the fear itself means that there should be nothing that makes you take a step back on your path. Of course your path should be the right one and justified. You should not take unjust steps.

One important thing is if you are not wrong, fear itself will be less cross ways with you. If you are doing something wrong that might raise a brow, in that case the caution level is high and you'll be scared of any sound, even a pin drop. The point is simple, if you are right you should not be scared of anything. Moreover, the fear of fear doesn't mean that you have to be scared of fear, NO! It simply means that you don't have to let fear push you back on your way ahead to success.

I know my article had a lot of off-topic jumps and was not very well formatted, but I think I have made my point clear. The only thing one should fear is fear which only means never let anything push you back just because you are scared to move forward. Always have faith in yourself, and do whatever it takes(of course the justified path!) to achieve success! :)

I hope you like the article and all comments and suggestions are welcomed always! :D Take care, have fun! :)