Of Gadgets & Gee-Whiz

The pick of the pluck at CES 2006

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA is one of the mightiest consumer tech expositions in world. Held every January, it provides a product launchpad for nearly 2,500 technology and consumer companies from all over the globe and therefore attracts a lot of eyeballs. Little wonder then that the recently concluded CES 2006 had a gigantic number of gee-whiz gadgets to gawk at and gush over. From the trivial to the tectonic, it is all there. Here’s a pick of the pluck…

Toshiba Gigabeat S Series
A wannabe iPod killer, it is a 30/60 GB portable media center and FM radio tuner with a 2.4-inch QVGA color display. You can watch downloaded recorded TV shows from TiVo Series2 or feature-length movies from movie websites. It is compatible with .WMA, .WMV, .WAV, JPEG, and MP3 etc. media file formats. And its battery holds for 20 hours of audio or 5 hours of video on the trot.

Panasonic 103-inch 1080p PDP
At 103-inches, this is currently the world largest plasma flat display panel. Still in prototype, it is capable of showing video in 1920x1080 (2.07 million pixels) progressive HDTV resolutions with a contrast of 3000:1. This monster has an effective viewing area of 2,269.4 x 1,276.6; diagonally it is 2,603.8 mm.

Pioneer Inno
A dimunitive, portable XM satellite radio receiver for listening to satellite broadcast stations on the move! Not just that, the

Inno can record up to 50 hours of XM programming and playback MP3s. And an onboard FM transmitter lets you "broadcast" your music to a nearby sound system. Like a song you are listening to on the radio and want to keep it? Hit a button and buy the song on the fly…

MobiBLU Cube MP3 Player
You got see this little wonder: It’s a one-inch-square, ultra-light, 1GB MP3 player with an in-built microphone, voice recorder, and FM radio with a 20-station preset and FM recording. It has an OLED screen, dime-sized click wheel controls, supports MP3 and WMA (including Windows DRM) files and lets you set up playlists.

iRobot Scooba
Believe it or not, it is a Frisbee-sized personal floor cleaning robotic vacuum cleaner that scoops dirt, applies cleanser, scrubs, sucks, and dries.

Garmin Nuvi
A pack-of-cards-sized, lightweight, touchscreen GPS and navigation tool that is also an MP3 player, photo viewer, language translator, and currency conversion calculator.

Logitech Harmony 890 Universal Remote
This is a remote that allows you to control your audio-video electronics without being in direct line of sight---yeah even those located in other rooms and floors.

Exkate Raptor 4.0
Ever wanted is a remote-controlled electric skateboard? This is it. And it can whiz at speeds in excess of 20 kmph in 3 seconds. Brakes? Obviously, remote-controlled as well.

Sony E-Book
Moving up to the second generation of electronic books, this Sony is a book-sized portable “E-Ink” display reader that stores over 80 books onboard, and accesses hundreds via Memory Stick or SD card.

Celestron SkyScout
Star-seekers, here’s a personal handheld planetarium device with an onboard GPS that locates, identifies, and teaches you about celestial objects.

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Accelerating Win XP - 2

Ratcheting up XP’s performance.

Judging by the phenomenal response received for last week’s XP tips by this Mammu of yours, I think the going has been good. And no gaalis, galochs, or bumb golas from you means I haven’t turned any PC into a tin pumpkin so far. Ab aagae…

Waitasec: For additional precaution, I would suggest you try only one tweak at time. Then reboot. If everything is hunky-dory, then move to the next ‘un. Else rewind and retract. Ok?

Swat the Unwanted at Startup
Why load proggies at start up that you ain’t going to use? Logical na? To get to the unwanted programmes in the Startup folder, first click Start > Programs > Startup, and right-click items that you want to kill. Alternatively, attack c:\documents and settings\username\start menu\programs\startup (where the username is your Windows logon), and delete the shortcuts of the programs you don’t need at startup.

Next strike: Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to c:\windows\tasks and remove the programme shortcuts of anything you don’t want to auto-run on a schedule.

Final assault: System Configuration Utility. This helps disable hidden startup programs as well. Click on Start > Run, type ‘msconfig’ and click on OK. Go to the Startup tab. Now uncheck the box next to a programme you want to disable. To get more info about a listing, you can widen the Command column. But saavdhaan yaar: Tamper with ONLY ONE setting at a time. Note down what you are disabling. And reboot. Also, tweak with only what you can comprehend. Shun what looks like gobbledygook. Unless you’re trigger happy…

Boot Faster
XP’s boot defragment feature places all boot files next to each other for faster booting. Usually this is enabled. But in case it isn’t, here’s what you should do:

Click on Start > Run, type ‘regedit’ and click on OK. Find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction’, enable it by changing the value to ‘Y’. And reboot.

Load Menus Quicker
There’s often many a tick between your click and a menu’s flick. To fix this delay in display, click on Start > Run, type ‘regedit’ and click on OK. Next, find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\’. Pick ‘MenuShowDelay’, right-click and select ‘Modify’. Change the value to ‘100’ and scram. The lesser the value, the faster your menus open. Yeah, try ‘0’, and see what happens… heh heh heh!

Speed up the Swap File
This little tweak will help your PC use every iota of RAM before sliding into the swap file. Go to Start > Run, type ‘msconfig’ and click on OK. Now go to the ‘System.ini’ tab and expand ‘386enh’ by clicking on the plus sign. Next click on `New’. In the blank dialog box type ‘ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1’, click on OK and reboot your PC. Those of you with more the 256 megs of RAM will benefit the most from this tip.

Stamp out the Eye Candy
You may not like to hear this but all those glitzy visual effects (animated menus, menu shadows, fade effects, cursor shadows…) that make XP look and feel so dandy actually eat away system resources and processing power. So those of you who haven’t been able to upgrade your PC’s gigahertz but still need to eke max power out of your systems, heed this: Disabling eye candy can boost XP’s performance.

To do so, go to Start > Control Panel and select `System’. Next, choose the `Advanced’ tab and pick the `Settings’ button under Performance. Check the `Adjust for best performance’ box and click on `Apply’. If you want to be more picky, choose `Custom’, and selectively enable or disable effects as you please. Similarly, choosing the `Windows Classic’ display will also ratchet up your routines.

Chaltae, chaltae, here’s a ute to help you monitor your system… right from the number of process running to motherboard taapmaan to fan gati! Go fetch CoolMon from www.coolmon.org. Ji haan, maibaap, it’s free…

Accelerating Win XP - 1

Putting a little potion in XP’s motion.

Agonised by sitting and watching your toenails grow while your PC ambles through its tasks? Crack your knuckles and roll up your sleeves because its time to shrug off this sluggishness by putting a little potion in XP’s motion. Though the efficacy of these tweaks will differ from PC to PC, they are by and large guaranteed to perk up your PC’s performance.

However, remember: Thou shalt try these tweaks at thine own peril. Thou shalt not crack my jaw if thy PC turns into a tin pumpkin. And I beseech thee to heed the Three Golden Rules of Safe Computing afore attempting any actus reus on thy Windows: 1. Backup thy data. 2. Backup thy data. 3. Backup thy data.


Killing Unnecessary Services
I should be talking about unnecessary applications first, but this fascinates me more. So let’s hold the apps. While XP runs applications in the foreground, it also runs services (processes) in the background--to aid the OS or provide support to applications. Several services are auto-launched at start-up though not all of them are required by everyone. Since these unnecessary services tend to bog down your system, it is best to switch them off. However, you need to be very cautious.

Depending upon your needs, there’re a whole lot of services you can suspend. These include: Alerter, Clipbook, Computer Browser, Distributed Link Tracking Client, Fast User Switching, Help and Support (don’t disable this if you use Windows Help and Support), Human Interface Access Devices, IPSEC Services, Messenger, Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing, Portable Media Serial Number, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Remote Procedure Call Locator, Remote Registry, Remote Registry Service, Secondary Logon, Routing & Remote Access, Task Scheduler, Telnet, Upload Manager, Windows Time, Wireless Zero Configuration.

To disable these services, go to Start and then Run. Type ‘services.msc’ to run the Services computer-management console. (This also carries a description of the services.) Double-click on the service you want to alter and change the Startup Type to `Manual’ from the dropdown list. For beginners, this is safer than disabling it straightaway. See how it works. Be sure, only then `Disable’ it.

Speeding Up Folder Access
Each time you open a folder, XP takes time to update the timestamp showing the last access time for the directory as well as all its subdirectories. So, to get faster folder access, you need to kill Last Access Update. (Unless you use this info, of course.) But carefully yaar…

Click on Start, select Run and type `regedit’. Get to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem’. Right-click in the blank area on right pane and select 'DWORD Value'. Next, create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'. Right click on the new value. Select 'Modify'. Now change the Value Data to '1' and click on OK.

Shutting Down Faster
Does your XP takes ages to shut shop? Here’s what you should do to speed up the process: Click on Start and select Run. Type 'regedit' and click on OK. Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'. Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'. Then right-click and select 'Modify'. Alter the given value to '1000' and click on OK. Next pick 'HungAppTimeout'. Right click and select 'Modify'. Modify the value to '1000' and click on OK. Then find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'. Choose 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'. Right click and select 'Modify'. Again, change the value to '1000' and click on OK. Lastly, find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\' and select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'. Yet again, right click, select 'Modify', change the value to '1000' and click on OK.

Lots more to come. Be back here next week. Now if you want to want to have a bit of fun, take a peek at this:

http://elgoog.rb-hosting.de/index.cgi

It's a Google mirror. Literally. And it works perfectly. But you figure out how. If you want know more about it check: http://www.alltooflat.com/geeky/elgoog/info/

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Some Free Fun-do Stuff

Still basking in the aftermath of the new year? Let’s keep that cheer and not plunge into the bloodbath of bits and bytes straightaway. So here are some fancy desktop enhancements that will help keep your PC groomed, plucked, lacquered and coiffed… for free.


Toon Clock
Stay in sync with the world with the help of a real kooky animated desktop alarm-clock. You can mix ‘n match interchangeable cartoon character's skins--heads, bodies, clock hands, clock dials, clock bodies, and sounds to express yourself with your own style of toon clocks. Ok, the goon-toons may be all Amrikan hot dogs but what the hell… a dash of free colour and fun never hurt nobody. Along with an alarm function, it also has a tool for syncing the clock with atomic servers!
Requirements: Windows XP, 2000, NT, 98, 95
File size: 5.75 MB
http://www.toonclocks.com


CursorXP
If you keep cursing your humdrum, monotonous cursor and pointer, this one is for you. CursorXP gives Windows XP and Windows 2000 cursors a nifty range of candy canes, gears, and other fun images—yeah, even an animated 3D hand that presses buttons and drums its fingers while idle! And to top that, you can add semi-transparent effects, advanced shadows and alpha blending. A customizable hotkey switches back to the default Windows cursor when the need of the hour is precision, not flourish. CursorXP integrates into the Mouse panel, nibbles about one meg of RAM, and doesn’t hamper cursor speed.
Requirements: Windows XP, 2000
File size: 2.27 MB
http://www.stardock.com/products/cursorxp


JetToolBar
This is a simple, highly configurable organisational tool that allows you instant access to any file or program on your PC through a toolbar. It lets you create 14 default categories of shortcuts for files, applications (Control Panel, desktop, system utilities, and programs) and bookmarks of recommended websites.

Does it save time, or waste it? Well, that depends on your sense of adventure (as it takes a little time getting accustomed to its nuances). But like a famous ketchup, it’s different! And its not kaddu bhara. So sample karo, and khud jaan jao…
Requirements: Windows XP, 2000, NT, Me, 98, 95
File size: 1.81MB
www.cowonamerica.com/download


Rick's Picks Screensaver
Who’s Rick? Never mind. He takes damn good pictures and bakes a damn neat 30-picture screensaver. The screensaver offers a beautiful assortment of shots on the great glories of nature—ranging from places like the majestic Grand Tetons, the exotic beaches of Mexico, scenic slopes of the Canadian Rockies, and craggy landscape of Yosemite National Park. This screensaver lets you tweak transition effects, resize images, play with the appearance of the descriptive captions, as well as tamper with the hiatus between images. No audio, but nonetheless photography fans and nature enthusiasts will love it.
Requirements: Windows XP, 2000, NT, Me, 98, 95
File size: 15.23 MB
http://www.cowonamerica.com/download


Yahoo! Widgets
Called Konfabulator before Yahoo! gobbled it up and renamed it, this is a JavaScript runtime engine for Windows (and Mac OS X) that lets you run elegant little applets called Widgets. Widgets are an assorted array of slick but simple desktop bells and whistles. These include alarm clocks, calculators, WiFi signal gauges, stock tickers, moon phase tellers, local weather forcasters, battery indicators, and newsreaders... Best of all, you can fool around with the look, layout, feel, and functionality of a widget and alter it to match your desktop, lifestyle, chashma or chaddi. And believe it or not, you can even craft your own widgets.
Requirements: Windows XP, 2000, 2003 Server
File size: 8.91MB
http://widgets.yahoo.com

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