Photoshop, a very nice software indeed. Many want to have have the Full package from Adobe, that is  CS4 Extended (at time of writing) and keep wanting more and more and more and the new version as soon as it comes out.

When you stop and think about it, how much space does it consume on your PC/MAC? Do you make full use of the whole package? And how many other services get install in background, do you know about them?

I know many who will actually install the Extended version of Photoshop just to fix a few photos. I don’t understand why the need of using such a fully fledged package for such simple editing. Picasa does the job, but because it is free, many people think it is not worthy. Another rival (the way I see it) for Photoshop is GIMP. GIMP was initially developed for Linux systems, but now the windows version is available. It does most of the job as Photoshop (not extended version) will do and the good thing, it is free. It also support loads of plug-ins and ad-dins.

So, the question is, why so many people feel the need of having/using photoshop, when the only task they’ve got to do is nothing much that a simple photo editing???

I’ve just come across something funny on xkcd which reminded me of the nice time I had in PCWorld once.
I already made up my mind about which model of laptop I wanted after comparing the specs on the internet.
I stepped in, and asked the salesman, can I have this laptop please. He went to check his stock, and came back with a smile. So far so good.
Then, he asked: “Would you like any additional warranty or software with it”. I replied back, “No thanks”.
We when to the till point for the payment. Then he asked me again: “You would like Office with it?”I said: “No”. After a few second he said, “Well you need to buy anti-virus software with it, else your PC will not be protected…” I again said: “No, thanks”.
Now the funny thing happened. He stood up. And told me: “Sir, I’ll have to speak to my supervisor first, because I don’t think I can sell you a laptop if you are not willing to protect it with an anti-virus.” I told him: “Fine, go on.”
After a few minute he came back. He said: “Well, sir, you are lucky. My supervisor has authorised this transaction.” He took a few details and then my credit card. Then he tried it one last time: “Sir, I’ll give you 30% off if you buy antivirus software.” Now I was about to lose it. I told him: “First thing, that I’ll do, I’ll wipe the hard drive and get Linux on the laptop and for office, and I’ll get Open Office which is free of charge.”
He paused. Then said: “Sir, I don’t think you are allowed to remove Windows from the laptop. Also, Linux is a very bad operating system and it got loads of viruses that’s why all laptops we sell are shipped with windows. You’ll definitely have to buy an anti virus, install it on windows and use it to scan your Linux partitions to remove any virus.”
I’ll let you guess that I did after hearing that…..
Please add your guess as a comment below… Thanks!

Have you been wondering how to convert .DMG files made on MAC platform into .ISO or .IMG files so that it can be used easily in windows or Linux platform.

Well, I’ve come accross these tiny tools which does the job perfectly and its free. They are made by vu1tur.

dmg2img: Converts .DMG file to .IMG file.

dmg2iso: Converts .DMG file to .ISO file.

I’ve also noticed that MagicISO does handle .DMG files. I can open it, so I guess it can also generate an .ISO file for it. If you’ve got MagicISO and it worked for you, please let us know by adding a comment below. Thanks

Don’t forget once you’ve made your .ISO or .IMG file, save the world by avoiding burning unnecessary CD/DVD for single use only. Use a CD/DVD emulator like daemon tools which will save you time and money. Or if you got some money to spare and want a more powerful CD/DVD emulator, try Alcohol 120%.

Windows 2000 (with the Resource Kit installed) and Windows XP (natively) have an actual shutdown command that can be launched from a command prompt — and which, therefore, also can be launched from a shortcut. To see all available options for this command, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and click OK. Then, in the box that appears, type:

SHUTDOWN /?

You can also study the available options in the Microsoft KB 317371, “How to Use the Remote Shutdown Tool to Shut Down and Restart a Computer in Windows 2000.” (The article is basically suitable for Win XP also.)

This command starts a 30-second countdown for a shutdown or restart, which permits you to abort it (with a shutdown -a command). It you want the command to execute, use the -t flag, which lets you set the time lapse in seconds. The examples below use a 1-second delay.

For a shortcut to RESTART Windows XP:
SHUTDOWN -r -f -t 01

For a shortcut to SHUT DOWN Windows XP:
SHUTDOWN -s -f -t 01

Unfortunately — especially on Windows XP — this option only shuts down Windows. It does not shut down your computer, at least on most hardware. For that, on Win XP (and for most Win 2000 users also), I recommend the freeware utility Shutdown.exe (not to be confused with the Windows utility by the same name) by MS-MVP Andrej Budja. I’ve seen several shutdown utilities recommended, but this is the only one that I’ve seen actually shut down Windows XP and then powerdown the computer behind it. For more information on the tool, see here. After you place this utility in the root folder of C:, the commands for a shutdown, restart, or hibernate (respectively), each without a time delay, would be shutdown -u -f -t 0 for shutdown, shutdown -r -f -t 0 for restart, and shutdown -h -f -t 0 for hibernate.

Using the TSShutDn Utility

If you don’t want to use a third-party utility, you may be able to get by with a lesser known utility in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The native commandline tool tsshutdn.exe was originally designed for shutting down servers, not work stations. It was introduced in Windows 2000, and retained in Windows XP. See MSKB 320188, “How to Use the TSSHUTDN Command to Shut Down a Terminal Server in Windows 2000 Terminal Services,” and MSKB 243202, “Windows 2000 Terminal Services Session Management Tools.” From a command prompt, type tsshutdn /? for a list of its subcommands and syntax. A command line of C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\TSSHUTDN.EXE 0 /DELAY:0 /POWERDOWN will powerdown most Windows 2000 and Windows XP computers, though some (according to correspondent “perris,” who first turned me onto this native utility) will get an error message 1702

I’ve been using Windows Vista Home Premium for quite a while as it was shipped with my new laptop. At first look I didn’t like it. It was different from Windows XP; very different indeed. Then gradually, I started getting used to it and now I like it. I’d rather not comment on XP vs. Vista. They are both different and are both good at what they’ve been built for.

I have got a LAN at home and I like to use remote desktop to other computers (XP Pro & Linux).

What I have noticed with Vista Home Premium is that the Remote Desktop feature has been disabled just like in Window XP Home Edition. That is, you can remote desktop to another computer from Vista Home Premium but cannot remote desktop to it.

I searched Google and found something called “Termsrv.zip“. It contains three .bat files. You need to run the one which describes your version of Vista as Administrator, and BINGO! Remote desktop will be enabled.

You can Google for “Termsvr.zip” or download it from TonyChan.org

It works fine on my laptop. So one more problem solve.

Please do add a comment below to say whether this worked for you or not. Thanks!