Dell To Shut Down Mobile Division

Even though Dell’s Venue Pro is doing pretty well, Dell will be shutting down it’s independent mobile division as it is not able to match the figures it was aiming for especially with models like the Dell Streak.Dell’s Mobile Division head Ron Garriques will be resigning from his post on January 28th 2011 and the division will be shut down. He will receive a payment of 1.44 Million US$ and other payments.

He will continue to provide Consulting Services to Dell till the end of 2011 for which he will receive an additional 6.3 Million US$.

The move does not mean Dell is stopping production or introduction of new smartphones, it’s just that the mobile division will be absorbed into the main company.

Nokia N8 handy shortcuts!

These shortcuts and tricks will work on other Symbian^3 phones like C7, C6-01, E7 too.

Keypad shortcuts (Select “Call” from homescreen)
- Bluetooth ON/OFF: longpress on ‘*’-key
- Call log: press call key
- Contacts: press on contacts icon
- Open browser: longpress on ’0′-key
- Silent profile: longpress on ‘#’-key

Keypad codes (Select “Call” from homescreen and type…)
- *#7370# does hard reset
- *#7780# does soft reset
- *#06# shows your IMEI
- *#0000# shows info about phone software
- *#92702689# (*#war anty#) shows lifetimer

Clock and Profile -widget
- Active and edit profile: press on profile name on the widget
- Calendar: press on date on the widget
- Clock: press on clock on widget

Notifications popup (press on battery icon)
- Clock: press on time on the popup
- Connectivity settings: press on connectivity icon on the popup
- Powersave mode ON/OFF: press on battery icon on the popup
- USB mode: press on USB icon on the popup (when connected) to switch USB mode without unplugging
- WLAN-manager: press on WLAN connection on the popup (when connected)

Miscellaneous
- Alarm Enable/Disable: Set alarm to repeat, then you can disable and enable it
- Animated Themes: Nokia default themes (not Midnight pack) have animated backgrounds, just active it from theme settings
- Disconnect all networks: longpress with red call key
- Edit Homescreen: longpress on anywhere on the homscreen changes to edit mode
- Faster Homescreen: turn of theme effects from Themes settings to make switching between homescreens instant
- Favorites Widget: you can scroll the favorites widget horisontally and add more than four contacts, unlike in N97 homescreen
- Forced Reboot: press power key for eight seconds simulating “battery removal”
- “Full” Reset: hold “Volume Down + Camera Key + Menu Key” and press power button until your phone shake (Warning! Will remove some apps permanently like Ovi Store and Qt!)
- Predictive QWERTY: predictive text and word auto-completion are also supported on QWERTY, not only in keypad
- Screen Saver Notification: Use ‘Music Player’ screen saver to show new sms and missed calls icon on screen. Time, Date, Profile and Music being played will also be shown if enabled.
- Silence Calls/Snooze Alarms: turn around your phone upside down to silence calls or snooze alarms (set it on from Settings > Sensor settings)
- Special Characters: longpress on ’1*’-character on QWERTY keyboard to input special characters like õ, ü, etc.
- Torch (n/a in N8): hold down keylock to use LED flash as a torch
- Two way Charge: Both USB and regular thin-pin adapters can be used for charging
- Two way Keylock: open keylock by sliding keylock button on side OR by pressing menu key and then press on the screen where it says “Unlock”
- Two way TV-OUT: use HDMI cable to get digital TV Out (only N8/E7) with HD resolution or use 3.5mm cable for composite TV out
- Voice Command: hold Call button in homescreen (setup voice command first)
- USB OTG: you can directly connect almost any USB device to the phone (including USB mouse, -keyboard, -pendrive and -external HDD)
- Widget settings: in homescreen edit mode, press on widget (Notifications, Mail, Search and Shortcuts)
- Widgets Online/Offline: select Options > “Widget to Offline mode” from homescreen

Applications
- Calendar: browse through days by swiping through screen from left to right or vice versa to browse back
- Camera: use Pinch zoom to switch between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios (9Mpix vs 12Mpix on N8)
- Camera: double press on screen to zoom (like with browser)
- Camera: you can also zoom by using volume keys
- File Manager: connect to a network drive by choosing the setting from options menu (instead of Settings)
- File Manager: jump down on folder tree by pressing on one of the folder icons on top of the screen
- File Manager: open search bar by lightly pressing on camera key
- Gallery: Three ways to zoom pictures; by making a double press, a pinch zoom or by using volume keys
- Mail: Collapse and expand all days by doing longpress on a day
- Menu (App. Grid): instead of leaving it to background, choose Options > Exit
- Profiles: set profile (except general and offline) to change based on time of the day from profile settings
- Ovi Maps: share current (or favorite) location via MMS or E-Mail to any other Nokia device with Maps
- Task Manager: open Task Manager by doing longpress on (physical) menukey on the phone
- Task Manager: longpress on any of the apps to bring out option to close invidual or all running apps
- Lost Application (general): in case you accidently delete some of Nokia applications, like Communities or Midnight theme pack, use Software Update re-install it

15 Interesting Facts about Nokia

It is time to add some more facts in out facts lists and this time it is about the largest handset manufacturer of the world, Nokia. Nokia fans and mobile phone users will find some of this stuff new and interesting, so let us get started.

1. Nokia (Finish pronunciation) is a town on the banks of the Nokianvirta River with 31000 population. Fredrik Idestam, a mining engineer, founded Nokia in 1865 in this town.
2. Nokia created first electronic device in 1962, a pulse analyser designed for use in nuclear power plants.
3. In 1987, Nokia introduced one of the world’s first hand-held phones, the Mobira Cityman 900 for NMT-900 networks.
4. The world’s first commercial GSM call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a Nokia-supplied network, by Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri, using a Nokia phone.
5. Nokia released first touch screen mobile phone in 2004, Nokia 7710 was a huge success.
6. In 2007, Nokia announced that its Nokia 1100 mobile phone (launched in 2003) was best selling mobile phone of all times. Over 200 million Nokia 1100 were sold.
7. Nokia released N82 in 2007, its first N-series phone with Xenon Flash.
8. In 2008, Nokia released E71. First QWERTY keyboard device to compete against Blakberry.
9. According to a Japanese ancestral superstition, the number 4 is considered unlucky in most parts of Southeast/East Asia. It doesn’t appear in any Nokia model either.
10. Nokia is sometimes called ‘aikon’ (Nokia backwards) by non-Nokia mobile phone users and by mobile software developers, because “aikon” is used in various SDK software packages, including Nokia’s own Symbian S60 SDK.
11. The ringtone Nokia Tune, Gran Vals, is the work of Spanish guitarist of the 19th century, Francisco Tarrega. Originally the ringtone was called Grande Valse.
12. Nokia has its own font known as AgfaMonotype Nokia Sans, which was invented by Eric Shpikermannom. The font was used in advertising and in the instructions for the phones before.
13. Nokia mobiles are sold in 150 countries and the company has employees in 120 countries.
14. Nokia marked their one billionth mobile phones sales with a Nokia 1100 sold in Nigeria.
15. Nokia is at number 8 in BusinessWeek’s best global brand of 2010 (first non-US company).

These are some of the interesting facts about Nokia, let use know if you have any other facts to share related to Nokia.

Why smartphones will be the books of the future

Is this too bold a prediction? You might think so until you look at the stats. According to Forrester Research, eBook sales were up almost 200 percent in 2009 and in 2010 they’re expected to top $500 million in the U.S. alone. This July, Amazon announced that 180 digital books were flying off its shelves for every 100 hardcovers. While Mike Shatzkin, CEO of the Idea Logical Company, which advises book publishers on digital change, predicts that within a decade, fewer than 25 percent of all books sold will be print versions. But how can we be so sure that those digital books will be read on smartphones?

Screens are getting bigger and better

One thing that has stopped people reading on their smartphone has been the size and quality of the screen. But displays are getting more reader friendly all the time. Take the Nokia N8 with its 3.5 inch display made from scratch resistant glass. Or the E7, with its 4 inch Clear Black Display. With every new innovation reading text becomes easier on the eye.

Reading on the go

Your smartphone might not be the best reading device, but when you’re waiting for a bus or stuck in a traffic jam, it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. And rather than lug another gadget around like an e-Reader, why not rely on something that fits snugly in your pocket? Books have always been great portable entertainment. Smartphones take that one step further.

A library in your pocket

There are some fantastic mobile apps for bookworms, giving you access to hundreds of thousands of titles, which are available from various places. eReader, for example, is the ‘world’s largest eBook store’ with dozens of different genres available. Wattpad not only gives you access to great writing but great writers too, enabling readers and authors to connect with each other.

The cheapest way to read

Dedicated e-Readers are getting cheaper all the time, but they’re still a hefty investment for anyone other than the most avid reader. You don’t buy a smartphone to read books, but it does the job so why not make the most of it? Add to this the fact that ebooks are up to 50% cheaper than hardcovers and the savings really start to add up.

Go digital or die

Printed books have been around for more than 500 years, and despite radio, TV and the Internet, they’re yet to be consigned to the cassette tape bin of history. But the publishing industry is changing. More and more authors are bypassing publishers altogether. Best selling authors like Seth Godin are giving up on traditional publishing. It’s easy to see why. Ebooks are cheaper to produce, easier to distribute and more profitable for authors. Smaller publishers are either having to rely on charity or disappearing completely. To thrive in the future, publishers will have no choice but to go digital.

Are you convinced? Can you imagine a future where you’ll read the latest bestseller on your Nokia Nseries? And if not, why not?

What does the colour of your Nokia N8 say about you?

It’s probably no surprise to discover how passionate the Nokia N8 design team are about form and function. However, the fact they’ve been able to introduce a little colour into our lives has got them buzzing too. Most us have a favourite colour, but have you ever wondered what the colour of your smartphone says about you?

The Nokia N8 comes in five cool colours. A while back we had a vote on which of these rocks your world the most. The results showed that black, silver and blue were the most popular choices. Curious as to what this result showed about you, This is what I discovered.

Black 
Black is the colour of mystery and people who choose this colour want to be dignified and impressive without being showy. You are also probably artistic and sensitive. Apparently, your choice might indicate a suppression of desires and worldly aims, suggesting hidden depths and inner longings. The colour black is often associated with power and sophistication. Easy to see why it was the top choice, then.

Silver
Rather than being sentimental and looking to the past for inspiration, people who like silver tend to be modern and futuristic in their outlook. Resourceful and flexible, you’re open to new possibilities and are more likely to try anything once. Silver is associated with elegance, so you like to aim for an understated air of sophistication and classiness.

Blue 
If you choose blue as your favorite Nokia N8 colour, you are more likely to love harmony and be compassionate and caring. Blue is serene and tranquil, the colour of peace and contentment, deliberation and introspection. You like to be admired for your steady character and wisdom and tend to be suspicious of flamboyant behavior.

Orange 
Orange is the only colour named after an object. It’s the colour of youth, strength, fearlessness, curiosity and restlessness. If you choose orange as your favourite N8 colour, you’re likely to be a flamboyant and fun-loving person who loves to socialize. Orange fans hate being alone and may be inclined to dramatize a bit, but they are generally good-natured and popular.

Green 
Studies show that the colour green increases wellbeing and calmness. Green symbolizes hope, renewal and peace, and is usually liked by the gentle and sincere. If you choose green, there’s a good chance that you’re frank, loyal and community minded. Green lovers are also aware of what others think of them and consider their reputation very important. Fairly sociable but preferring peace at any price, fans of green tend to be refined, civilized and reputable.

Of course colours can mean different things to different cultures. In China for example, brides wear red as it symbolizes a good life, while in South Africa it’s the colour of mourning. But the study of colour has a long history. So what do you think? Does your favourite Nokia N8 colour give us a clue about you?

Few Funny Tricks About Google

1.)
-Go to "www.google.com"
-type in "French Military Victories" and press "I'm feeling lucky"
-Look at the question "Did you mean:...".
2.)
-Type in adress bar "www.google.com/unclesam;
-This is a google function which search will list only .gov(governamental) ending sites.
3.)
-Type in adress bar "http://www.google.com/Easter/feature_easter.html;
-Here you can find an hidden game,offered by Google
Enjoy!
4.)
-Type in adressbar "http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en; for language tool
-Translate "The Girl's mom is very nice" from English to Spanish
-Copy the translated text and translate it back from Spanish to English
What do you see?
5.)
-Go to "www.google.com"
-Type in search field:"elgoog"
-Go to first link finded!

How to Use Rupee Symbol?

Steps to include Indian Rupee Symbol Font in MS word applications

Given below are the steps to use the new Indian Rupee Symbol as a Font in your word applications:


1. Download the attached font Rupee.ttf or Rupee_Foradian.ttf
2. Copy the font and paste it in "Fonts" folder in Control Panel.
3. Open any Microsoft Office application (For E.g., Microsoft Office Word). (See Figure 1.a)
4. Select the font type as Rupee or Rupee Foradian.
5. Click on ` (Grave accent) symbol. This key is just above "tab" button in your keyboard. (See figure 2)
6. You can see the new Rupee symbol in your off
.

Download Rupee Font
Download Rupee Font : Rupee.ttf

Google looses its Gravity

Google looses its Gravity
Type "google gravity" and then click "I'm feeling lucky" on Google, the entire page will lose it's gravity!! Though you can still search on it and play with the webpage!!


try google sphere also............

Gmail Dot Trick

What is the Gmail DOT Trick ?
> See the following example

Suppose There is a Gmail account : Example@gmail.com
with password : abcd

You will get logged in to example@gmail.com If you use
email as : E.xample@gmail.com
password : abcd
email as : Ex.ample@gmail.com
password : abcd
email as : Exa.mple@gmail.com
password : abcd
email as : Exam.ple@gmail.com
password : abcd
email as : Examp.le@gmail.com

password : abcd
and so on..

That means gmail does not count periods (.)

So you can use this trick for using the same email for various GPT, PTC, Twitter accounts as they interpret all the above emails as different but gmail considers it the same.

Some crazy tricks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Endless Notepads

*************************This will pop up endless notepads until the computer freezes and crashes**********************

Code:-

@ECHO off
:top
START %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe
GOTO top

Crazy caps lock

****************************This constantly turns caps lock on and off really fast continuously*********************

Code:-

Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject(”WScript.Shell”)
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys “{CAPSLOCK}”
loop


Endless Backspace

***************This makes it so the backspace key is constantly being pressed**************************

Code:-

MsgBox “Let’s go back a few steps”
Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject(”WScript.Shell”)
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys “{bs}”
loop

What is autorun(.inf)

INFO:

Autorun.inf is the primary instruction file associated with the Autorun function. Autorun.inf itself is a simple text-based configuration file that tells the operating system which executable to start, which icon to use, and which additional menu commands to make available. In other words, autorun.inf tells Windows how to deal open the presentation and treat the contents of the CD.

The entire sequence is initiated when the "disk change notifcation" polling discovers a new disk in the CD or DVD ROM drive. Then, if the "Auto insert notification" feature is enabled (it is by default), Windows checks in the new disk's root directory for the existence of an "autorun.inf" file. If found, Windows then reads and follows the specific instructions this file defines. If no autorun.inf file is found, then Windows refers to the new disk by its serial number and executes the default actions associated with the (data or audio) content on the disk

The Autorun.inf file defines the following:
Autorun.inf Defines the following: The process or application that will automatically run when a disk is inserted
Automatically run when CD is inserted Optionally, one can define the process or application that will run for specific Operating environments.
Icon Representing CD or DVD The icon that will represent your application's CD or DVD when the drive is viewed with My Computer or Explorer.
Menu Commands when CD-ROM is clicked Menu commands displayed when the user right-clicks the CD-ROM icon from My Computer or Explorer


CODE:
A simple Autorun.inf example:
[autorun]
open=autorun.exe
icon=autorun.ico
so in this way it may be used to call malicious file too, so beware

Open zip files without winzip

Open Zip Files even if Winzip not installed
Open Zip files in Pc if u dont have winzip software installed..


In Start>Run, type the following and press enter.

regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

now u can open zip files easily..

Unlocker

Have you ever tried to delete or rename a file or folder and got one of the following messages?

1. Cannot delete/ rename file: Access is denied.

2. There has been a sharing violation.

3. The source or destination file may be in use.

4. The file is in use by another program or user.

5. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected.

If you are sure that no program running at that moment is using that file, you can try "Unlocker" next time you get such a message. After installation, Unlocker is added to context menu. Just right-click on the file or folder which you want to delete or rename and select Unlocker. If the file or folder is locked then a window will appear with a list of processes locking the file or folder. Click on "Unlock" and then you can delete or rename that file or folder. Alternatively, you can start Unlocker from the "Start Menu" or a desktop shortcut and choose the target file or folder.

32-bit Vs 64-bit

Which Is The Right Choice?

What Is 64-bit?

64-bit refers to the number of bits (the smallest unit of information on a PC) that can be processed or transmitted in parallel, or used as single element in a data format. The term is often applied to the following in a PC.

1. Microprocessor:

Indicates the width of the registers which are special high-speed storage areas within the CPU. A 64-bit microprocessor can process data that is represented by a minimum of 64 bits.

2. Operating system:

Refers to the minimum number of bits used to represent memory addresses.

Which Is The Right Choice?
Normally, the Operating system (OS) we are using in a PC is 32-bit version of Windows 7, XP, Vista, Linux or Mac. 64-bit OS gives multitasking ability (running many programs at the same time) with higher speed. Those users who fulfill at least the first 2 of the following criteria, can go for 64-bit version of their Operating system.

1. Those who own more than one PC!!

Always use 32-bit version of OS in your main PC. This is because most of the programs developed for 32-bit OS, won't work with 64-bit OS. Naturally if you have a second PC, you can try 64-bit OS in that.

2. 64-bit Compatible Hardware:

The PC on which you want to install 64-bit OS, should have a CPU capable of handling 64-bit data and a high capacity RAM (minimum 2 GB).

3. Crazy Gamers!!

If you are a great lover of PC games, 64-bit OS will give you a big time with large games specially created for 64-bit.

Change Windows 7 Logon Background

Go to Window -> Run (Shortcut Window Button + R)
Type REGEDIT and hit Run.

Navigate to the following folder.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Authentication/LogonUI/Background

You should see a DWORD, OEMBackground. If not, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value with the name, OEMBackground

Once created, double click it, Keep Base as Hexadecimal, and update "Value data" to 1. Click OK.

Close the Registry.

Now, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder, C:\Windows\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\

Add the jpg file that you wanted to be your welcome screen here. Please make sure that the file size is below 256 kb.


Rename the file to "backgroundDefault.jpg".

Close the Window...

You are done! :-)

19 secrets of XP

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.

8 hacks to make Firefox ridiculously fast

Firefox has been outperforming IE in every department for years, and version 3 is speedier than ever.

But tweak the right settings and you could make it faster still, more than doubling your speed in some situations, all for about five minutes work and for the cost of precisely nothing at all. Here's what you need to do.

1. Enable pipelining

Browsers are normally very polite, sending a request to a server then waiting for a response before continuing. Pipelining is a more aggressive technique that lets them send multiple requests before any responses are received, often reducing page download times. To enable it, type about:config in the address bar, double-click network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining so their values are set to true, then double-click network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and set this to 8.

Keep in mind that some servers don't support pipelining, though, and if you regularly visit a lot of these then the tweak can actually reduce performance. Set network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining to false again if you have any problems.

2. Render quickly

Large, complex web pages can take a while to download. Firefox doesn't want to keep you waiting, so by default will display what it's received so far every 0.12 seconds (the "content notify interval"). While this helps the browser feel snappy, frequent redraws increase the total page load time, so a longer content notify interval will improve performance.

Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click (Apple users ctrl-click) somewhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.notify.interval as your preference name, click OK, enter 500000 (that's five hundred thousand, not fifty thousand) and click OK again.

Right-click again in the window and select New > Boolean. This time create a value called content.notify.ontimer and set it to True to finish the job.

3. Faster loading

If you haven't moved your mouse or touched the keyboard for 0.75 seconds (the content switch threshold) then Firefox enters a low frequency interrupt mode, which means its interface becomes less responsive but your page loads more quickly. Reducing the content switch threshold can improve performance, then, and it only takes a moment. 

Type about:config and press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.switch.threshold, click OK, enter 250000 (a quarter of a second) and click OK to finish.

4. No interruptions

You can take the last step even further by telling Firefox to ignore user interface events altogether until the current page has been downloaded. This is a little drastic as Firefox could remain unresponsive for quite some time, but try this and see how it works for you. 

Type about:config, press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Boolean. Type content.interrupt.parsing, click OK, set the value to False and click OK.

5. Block Flash

Intrusive Flash animations are everywhere, popping up over the content you actually want to read and slowing down your browsing. Fortunately there's a very easy solution. Install the Flashblock extension (flashblock.mozdev.org) and it'll block all Flash applets from loading, so web pages will display much more quickly. And if you discover some Flash content that isn't entirely useless, just click its placeholder to download and view the applet as normal.

6. Increase the cache size

As you browse the web so Firefox stores site images and scripts in a local memory cache, where they can be speedily retrieved if you revisit the same page. If you have plenty of RAM (2 GB of more), leave Firefox running all the time and regularly return to pages then you can improve performance by increasing this cache size. Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click anywhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type browser.cache.memory.capacity, click OK, enter 65536 and click OK, then restart your browser to get the new, larger cache.


7. Enable TraceMonkey

TraceMonkey is a new Firefox feature that converts slow javascript into super-speedy x86 code, and so lets it run some functions anything up to 20 times faster than the current version. It's still buggy so isn't available in the regular Firefox download yet, but if you're willing to risk the odd crash or two then there's an easy way to try it out.

Install the latest nightly build (ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/), launch it, type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Type JIT in the filter box, then double-click javascript.options.jit.chrome and javascript.options.jit.content to change their values to true, and that's it - you're running the fastest Firefox javascript engine ever.

8. Compress data

If you've a slow internet connection then it may feel like you'll never get Firefox to perform properly, but that's not necessarily true. Install toonel.net (toonel.net) and this clever Java applet will re-route your web traffic through its own server, compressing it at the same time, so there's much less to download. And it can even compress JPEGs by allowing you to reduce their quality. This all helps to cut your data transfer, useful if you're on a limited 1 GB-per-month account, and can at best double your browsing performance.