Review: Alcohol 120%

I was looking for an alternative to Nero 7 (of which I had got fed up) and I stumbled upon this software about which I had heard of many times. Alcohol 120% is a great burning software and is able to record those "Protected" CDs and DVDs on to your HDD and also to another CD or DVD.

It has this Image recorder and burner for backing up all your important CDs or DVDs - enabling you to use them roughly. I actually recorded my "Gone With The Wind" DVD with its help and it worked wonders. Nero 7 refused to touch the Blank DVD to which i wanted to recorded the protected DVD.
I saw and option while burning a DVD and it said "Play Station 2"! I was shocked! I had never copied my PS2 DVDs earlier so I decided to check this out. I copied "Transformers: The Game" and to my surprise, it worked perfectly.

There's much more to this software so I say you should check it out. Its a little pricey (about $40), but worth it.

You can get it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/78558732/alc_by_mechodownload.rar
The password is "mechodownload"

How to Run:
Now it's a little complicated to run this software. Just follow these steps:
1) Run the installation and it will ask you to restart.
2) Restart and run it again.
3) After you finish the installation, open the file titled "Serial" and copy the serial code. (Yes its that big)
4) Run Alchohol 120% and click Register. You will be asked for a serial number. Paste the number from the text file and enter any email address.
5) You will get an error saying that the code is invalid and Alcohol 120% will shut down.
6) Now run keymaker.exe and click both Activate and Register.
7) Now open Alcohol 120%. It will open and may ask for an update to a newer version. If it does, CANCEL it. Always
8) Then it will say that the code is invalid (again). Click OK. It will ask for the code. Click Cancel. But Alcohol 120% will not shut down now. Enjoy!

You will have to repeat these steps everytime to run Alcohol 120%. It may sound time-consuming, but it's not. Just about a minute-and-a-half.

: My rating

iPhone: A Dream Turns Reality

Recently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the faster and cheaper version of the Apple iPhone - The Apple iPhone 3G. Here are some screenshots:

But the best part is, the COST! In places like India, where the iPhone costs about Rs 30000/-, will now be much cheaper! Hurrah!

Yep! You saw it right! The iPhone is actually (drumroll) $199 only! Thats about Rs 8000/- ! Brilliant! And the iPhone 3G has some great features to boast about:

1) 3G or 3rd Generation (of course)

2) Bluetooth 2.0 (Faster data transfer rates)

3) Wi-fi (for broadband-speed wireless internet and maximum connectivity)

4) Cool looks

5) Awesome interface! (especially the photo resizing)

6) 8GB storage (The N95 offers the same space at almost triple the price with only a better camera)

7) 2 megapixel camera 1600 x 1200 resolution (a little disapoointing. At least a 3.2 megapixel camera should've been there)

Another thing about this great phone is that its makes a kind of status symbol. Like if you whip out an iPhone at a crowded restaurent or departmental store or any public place, you know that eyes will be on you and your phone.

But the new iPhone won't hit the markets until a month or two. However, many of the Indians are happy. Avinash Mukherjee, a 12th class student and a resident of Rohini, Delhi said, "I've waited for this moment for long. I knew such a time would come. My father promised me that he would get me a phone worth Rs 12000 or so, but i save about 8000 bucks and also increase my status in the eyes of my friends. Of course I'm a liitle disappointed that I have to wait for a couple of months to buy it, but hey, it's worth the wait"

Moo-buntu?

Answer to Spot the Mistake

Alright. Nobody tried. Here's the answer. If you look at the window on the back, it says "Anna". And here Anna is chatting with Max. So if its Anna's account, should'nt Anna's name be replaced with "me" ? Get it?

Spot the Mistake

So. If you're a Google Talk user, you should get this one. Whats the mistake in this picture from the Google Talk homepage?

P.S. Look at the names.

Make Your Switched Off Phone Unreachable

You can fool some irritating guys by making your mobile phone "not reachable" even while phone is switched off! All you gotta do is remove the battery of the phone without switching it off. Now anybody calling you will get the message "The number you are trying to call is not reachable. Please try again later"

Yee Hah!!

Multi-Touch Computers: Will this be the Future?

How To Make A Fake Virus

Always wanted to scare your friends by making a fake virus? Heres your guide to making one. Give it to your friends and scare them! Don't worry. This virus won't harm your PC at all. I'll also give an anti-virus solution at the end.

1) Right-click on the Desktop (in the blank space) and goto New-->Shortcut
2) Type into the shortcut field the following

shutdown -s -t 200 -c "This is a Trojan Horse"



3) Click Next and then give a name to your virus. Say virus.
4) Double click on this and the PC will shut down in 200 seconds (3 minutes and 20 seconds)

Make the antivrus

In Run dialog box in start menu, type shutdown -a and press Enter.

Making an Invisible Folder

Ever wanted to store files not for others? Ever afraid that a text file containing your account password might be stolen?

Here is a great trick!
Step 1--> Right-Click on the blank space on the desktop
Step 2--> Click on "New" and click on folder. This should create a new folder on the desktop.
Step 3--> Without pressing enter, type in 0160 in the name field while holding ALT on your keyboard. Don't worry if you can't see anything being written. This trick is supposed to work that way.
Step 4--> Release ALT. There will be nothing in the name field.
Step 5--> Press ENTER. Tada! You have a folder with no name.
Step 6--> Make this look more professional. Right-Click on the folder you've just made and click properties.
Step 7--> Click "Change Icon" and select a white space while scrolling through the list of icons.
Step 8--> Click OK and wow! You have an invisible folder! Just don't lose it.

Macworld Bloopers - A must watch!

Gaming Rig: The HP Blackbird 002 Reviewed

This is THE PC I've been waiting for a long long time. I got the news from an HP forum that an ultimate Gaming PC will be released quite soon. This is the ONE! It's available in the following models:
1) HP Blackbird 002 (Affordably Priced)
2) HP Blackbird 002 LC
3) HP Blackbird 002 LCi (Expensive, but gives a brilliant output)

I havent seen the PC but it looks awesome. Gets its coolness 'coz of this stuff:
1) Made of aluminum : tough metal casing for frequent LAN parties
2) Tool-less entry : Screwdrivers are history. Even the hard-drives and DVD RAM drives are clicked into position. The only thing you need is a light - which is tucked behind inside the tought casing
3) 8-in-1 Memory card reader.

Well this is the most reasonable Blackbird I recommend. Here are the specs:
Processor Dual-Core:Intel Core2 Duo [2.66GHz x 2] E670
Memory 4GB DDR2 667 MHz SD Ram
Thermal Management Air Cooled
Motherboard Asus Striker Extreme 680i
OS Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Warranty 1 year limited hardware and 1 year limited support
Graphics Card NVidia GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM
Audio Boards ADI Onboard
Power Supply 1.1 Kilowatt
Primary Storage 320 GB 7200 SATA
Secondary Storage 320 GB 7200 SATA
Optical Disk Bay 1 Super Multi-Drive, slim slots with Lightscribe (DVD+/-R/RW+/-DL)
Software Grisoft AVG Professional AntiVirus 1 Year Subscription
Keyboard Voodoo keyboard by Razer
Mouse Voodoo mouse by Razer

Total Cost (including shipping and taxes within the US) =
$ 2880 USD

Visit the official website

Gibbon-y!

Alright then. The Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) has finally been released! I had been waiting for this for a long time now. It's really awesome and the features are great! Here are some screenshots:

1) This one shows System Monitor (the Windows equivalent to Task Manager), Buddy list (a chat messenger) and Restricted Drivers ( a part of the device manager)



2) See the windows are flexible! Reminds me of the good old rubber band.


There is also a great feature which is missing in Windows XP as well as Vista - which is to remount the removable drives - but is available in Ubuntu 7.10. Once you "Safely remove the hardware" you can click on "Remount" in the Filesystem menu. Tada! You don't need to unplug and replug your device. This is useful especially if you have a USB port at the back of your CPU.

Want this free OS? This is how you can own it:
1) Download the 700 MB CD image and burn to a CD. Then boot from it. Choose this if you have an unlimited plan and a fast connection.
2) Buy a CD or DVD with Ubuntu, Edubuntu or Kubuntu CD, or a large number of CDs from a distributor near you. If you are in North America you can get Ubuntu and Kubuntu on DVD from Amazon.com.
3) Request a free Ubuntu, Edubuntu or Kubuntu CD from Canonical. I prefer this method although it takes about a two month to arrive (if you live in India like me).

You can also run this CD live. No need to install. Simply boot from the CD and use it.

But the only problem is that you cannot play MP3, AVI, MP4 files in Ubuntu. You need to download the codec. Open any MP3 file in Ubuntu and follow the on-screen instructions to download the codec.