a r Barath

Tamil Monthly Calendar 2011–தமிழ் மாத காலண்டர் 2011

2011-01-07T21:38:00.001+08:00

Hi all,

Get From Here

http://www.barathonline.com/blog/?p=94

http://www.arbarath.info/?p=173

Happy New Year to all of you.

Barath – பரதன்

Tamil Monthly Calendar 2010 – தமிழ் மாத காலண்டர் 2010

2010-02-06T16:00:00.003+08:00

அன்பு வாசகர்களே,

இதோ தமிழ் மாத காலண்டர் 2010 பதிவேற்றம் http://www.barathonline.com/Articles/TamilCalendar2010.htm ல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஜனவரி அன்றி மற்ற அனைத்து மாதங்களின் காலண்டர் பதிவேற்றம் செய்கிறேன். தங்கள் கருத்துக்களை பதித்து பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளவும்.

Dear viewers,

Here is Tamil Monthly Calendar for 2010 has been uploaded here http://www.barathonline.com/Articles/TamilCalendar2010.htm.

SAMPLE HERE.

Enjoy and Share your Comments.

Barath

தமிழ் மாத காலண்டர் 2009 – Tamil Monthly Calendar 2009 v2

2009-01-11T14:38:00.002+08:00

FOR 2010 CALENDAR PLEASE VIEW THE LATEST POST

நன்றி..

பரதன்.. Barath

Tamil Monthly Calendar 2009 - தமிழ் மாத காலண்டர் 2009

2009-01-03T17:48:00.008+08:00

FOR 2010 CALENDAR PLEASE VIEW THE LATEST POST

Barath

TIPS / FAQ / HOW TO(s) on LIVE MESH ..

2008-07-30T16:53:00.000+08:00

There are lots of thing that Mesh.com site does not explain about. Everything you got to find is by Trial and Error. This article will help for some of them who just do not know how to get best out of it.

FAQ's

Q1: How or where to know about the folders on Live Desktop from my Computer ?

In Windows XP --> Go to My Computer --> There is a Live Mesh Folder ( a blue colored folder) in Other (group) if you are viewing by type group

In Windows Vista --> Go to My computer --> Go to User Folder --> There you can find "Live Mesh Folder" (same blue colored folder)

A user folder is the folder with your USER LOGON NAME.

Q2: Where to get Information about Shared Folders and Not Shared Folders ?

A: Go to Live Mesh Tray Icon and Go to Folder Activity , Folders that are in Light Blue color (Ghosted Image) are not in Sync with this system and Images that are in Dark blue are in sync with system.

or Go to Live Mesh Folder for Click Manage folders as seen in above image.

Q3: How to change the Sync Settings for the Folder ?

A: Go to Live Mesh Folder (see above), and Right click and Click on Sync With This Device

When clicked on Sync with this Device, The Dialog box as shown below opens up. By Default the Synchronization option is not shown, if you wish to change which devices to sync, click on show synchronization options. By Default the sync folder is pointed to the users desktop. To change that Click on Browse to change.

Once this is finished the Folder Selected Becomes Blue in Color and moves to Synchronized with this device.

Q4: What happened when Synchronized folder is Deleted ? and Non Synchronized Folder is Deleted ? and How to Remove the Synchronization ?

When you Delete Non Synchronized Folder

Go to Live desktop and then Delete the Folder.

When you Delete a Synchronized Folder

I accidentally deleted a folder with huge files, which did not go to recycle bin as well. So be careful.

(WARNING : PLEASE DO NOT DELETE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DELETING THE SYNCHRONIZATION, BUT DELETING THE FOLDER ITSELF)

To remove Synchronization with this device

Once

Q5: What Happens When a Shared folder on My computer is Deleted ? Will it be Deleted on Live Desktop ? What happens When files/folders inside the Shared folder are deleted without Deleting the Main Shared Folder ?

A: When a Shared Folder is Deleted, It is Deleted from your Computer. It will not be deleted from Live Desktop. However when you Delete any files or folders inside a shared folder which is in sync with the live desktop, the files and folders in live desktop will also be deleted.

Q6: How to Share a folder with a friends or Relatives ? Do they need a live mesh account ?

A: To share a folder, You may do in several methods. Go to the folder you want to share. If it is already in live desktop of yours then a pane appears on the right. There you see Members. You can add/Edit members. or Right click on the folder that is shared, Click on Add members in Live Mesh Folder or Go to Live Mesh Folder (in my computer) then right click and Add members in live mesh folder.

or or

Q7: Does Live Desktop Space Consume Live Desktop Space, when a friend /relative shared a folder with contents in it.. or Does we loose our space ?

A: This is a wonderful thing. You will not loose any space when a friend or relative shares a folder with you. How ever when you add some files to it, the file added by you will consume your space.

Q8: Can we do a Inter mesh File Transfer ? Can we sync file from our computer to a friend / relative computer who has a different mesh ? HOW TO DO A INTER MESH TRANSFER ?

A: Yes we can do a intermesh file transfer. Here is How to..

The Concept is that of a simple sharing..

Step 1: Add the Folder you wanted to share to your live desktop mesh

Right click on the Folder and Select Add to Live Mesh

When you share the Folder is Added to Live Desktop and it begins Synchronization. Folder becomes like this..

Step 2: You can Share this folder now to your Friend or Relative. How to Share ? See Q6 and Answer

Step 3: After you share the folder appears on your friend / relative Live desktop. He can see all the files and folders. In computer desktop a shortcut is created.

Step 4: Now the guest user (ie friend / relative) can choose to sync with his system. How to do that ? See Q3 and Answer

Now it begins to sync. From Live desktop the sync is quiet instantaneous.

Full descriptive Diagram

(Now Mac Client is is not available yet. Mac users can now use live mesh too.you may Check here for releases.. )

Q8: Can we do a peer to peer file sharing, without going into Live Desktop of mesh ? How to do it ?

A: Yes. Now the service is ready for that. How ever from the client tool you may not able to do it.

Step 1 : Add Folder to Live Mesh

Step 2: Go to Live Desktop (Click on Live Desktop on Live Mesh Tray Icon , in Devices Tab or Go to Mesh.com and Go to Desktop)

The Icon Becomes Something Like this..

To Sync with Another Computer which is inside the mesh, Go to the another Computer and select to Sync with that computer. (See Q2 Answers)

The sync occurs but it takes time depending upon the size of the folder. The service is improving and hence we can see much more improvement in future.

Q9: How to view or know what items inside the folder in Live Desktop, which does not sync to Live Desktop ? [GHOSTED FOLDER]

A: By default when you double click on all the folders that are synchronized with live desktop, it just opens in a window.. like this..

But you cannot open a ghosted folder (a folder that is not synchronized with live mesh desktop). If you double click only synchronization option opens up.

So how to view contents inside. follow me..

You see a on the Bottom right of Live Mesh Desktop there is a Mesh ICON.

Click On it..Opens up window, go to Folders Tab

and it shows.. you may see that is what is live desktop is just a broker..

Q10: Can we share this ghosted folder and sync intermesh ?

A : Technically Yes. I tried to share by adding members (How to share with members ? See Q6). The ghosted folder appears on the guest ring. But I have not tried sync. It should work. How to do intermesh sync ? See Q8 Answer.

Q11 : Can we view remote machines desktop using Live Mesh ? Does it required to have RDP server (Remote Desktop Protocol server) to be present ?

A: Yes we can view remote machines desktop using live mesh and it does not require RDP server. The remote desktop protocol is included in Windows XP professional, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise. It is not present in Vista Basic and Vista Home Premium and XP Home. The remote desktop protocol is more powerful compared to what offered in Live Mesh. But it required PORT FORWARDING or FIREWALL PORT OPENING.

Live mesh however does not require to have RDP server. It works on any machine. It looks like a RDP but it is much much slower than RDP. It may improve in future. It uses technology something like VNC's does. It is definitely useful. The biggest advantage is, it does not require you to open a firewall port or port forwarding.

However intermesh live desktop is not possible. This is not greatly required but in some scenarios of support personal it will be very helpful. We can use alternate tools such as Microsoft SharedView or TeamViewer or if you are vista user, use windows meeting space.

Q12 : Can we view media's like photos and movies in live desktop ?

A : Yes can be viewed. but photos only for now. Even to view photos, you require Microsoft Silverlight (Flash like component from Microsoft) to view them. In future you can view even videos using Silverlight.

Q13 : If there are two users using same desktop, but they use different mesh login, or lets say you have two mesh accounts, To sync do you have to keep it logged in with that ID ?

A : This is a very very interesting case and I do not see anybody discussing about it. It actually syncs even without need to Login. You may ask when this situation happens ? This happens when you share the computer with-in your family.

Lets say a Husband (User A) uses the computer who is logged inside live mesh. Wife (User B) is also a live mesh user, also uses this same computer, but shares a different folder.

User A when changes the contents of the folder which is in sync with Live Desktop and eventually the user has logged in, it synchronizes.

In Mean time User B uses the PC and updates contents of the folder which she (/he) uses . Since User A is logged in live mesh from this desktop, we expect that it will not sync with the Live Desktop. But it actually does sync. Even when you are not logged in the mesh still synchronizes.

So just make changes, rest the mesh deals..

Q14 : From Previous Questions Answer , there is a doubt, Whether other user can see which are the folders that I am in Sync with the Live Mesh and Can he/she change the permissions or sharing to the folders that I share ?

A : No. You may be able to control sharing or view what are folders that are shared and everything only when you login to that system with your own ID. So the other user of the computer may not see what you are sharing. However I have not tested when two users share the same folder to different Mesh. That I should check.

Q15 : Last Question., Is the help on Live Mesh site (mesh.com) helpful ? Where to get more help ? or how to solve problems or troubles ?

A : The help in Live Mesh site is too preliminary. To get further help you may use community forum.. huh very difficult to find the link for Microsoft forums.. here it is http://forums.community.microsoft.com/en-us/Forums/ and for Live Mesh http://forums.community.microsoft.com/en-US/LiveMesh/threads/.

If you got live mesh preview through MICROSOFT CONNECT then you may submit bugs through connect site. You may also ask me. I will try to help if I can.

So Got any other Questions.. write in comments..

hV a Gud Meshing....

==============

Barath

TIPS: Playing ALL MEDIA (Video & Audio) TYPES on Windows PC.

2008-07-28T18:07:00.000+08:00

There are several CODECS (CODEC MEANS - CODER AND DECODER) and these days, many videos are available in different formats and to play them in PC, you got to search for codecs.

The common CODECS used these days are

1. DivX / XviD

2. H.264

3. WMV

4. VC1

5. Mpeg 2 [DVD]

6. MPEG 1 [VCD]

For all windows machines VCD,VC1 and WMV can be played right out of the box [Mpeg 2 Decoder is included in Vista]. But to play H.264, DivX or XviD we may need to install the CODEC. Not only that you may need Dolby Digital / DTS Decoders to play DvDs. There are Open Source Codecs available to play everything.

FFDShow - Codec can be used to decode h.264, wmv, mpeg1 , mpeg2 and so on. Not only that you need splitters for various container formats. You may need halli splitter for matroska format or quick time formats. Finding every codec is a very tough task and to maintain the updates for each codecs is most tougher than jus getting the codec. Each codec is regularly updated and getting those updates is a big problem. Further more, due to system issues the codecs gets broken and it never plays. For instance, i had a video coded with divX 3. I have installed all versions of DivX and tried, but it never played. Then I used a codec fix tool and it just deleted all invalid entries and the video played just fine. To simply there is a very good CODEC PACK.

K-Lite Codec Pack - (www.codecguide.com)

This will solve all the problems of playback/updates/media player and also contains tools which can be used to tweak the codecs.

There are two flavors

1. K-Lite codec Pack

2. K-Lite mega Codec Pack

The Mega Codec Pack includes the real-player alternative while the first one does not.

The Contents of CODEC PACK

Player:

Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.1 rev. 55]

ffdshow:

ffdshow [revision 2035]
ffdshow VFW interface
extra plugins

DirectShow video decoding filters:

XviD [version 1.2.0 build 2008-01-10]
DivX [version 6.8.3]
On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0]
On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0]
MPEG-2 (Cyberlink) [version 8.2.0.530]
MPEG-2 (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
MPEG-1 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.78]

DirectShow audio decoding filters:

AC3/DTS/LPCM (AC3Filter) [version 1.46]
Vorbis (CoreVorbis) [version 1.1.0.79]
AAC (MONOGRAM) [version 0.9.5.0]

DirectShow audio parsers:

MusePack (MONOGRAM) [version 0.9.1.2 | 0.3.1.2]
WavPack (CoreWavPack) [version 1.1.1]
FLAC (madFLAC) [version 1.8]
Monkey's Audio (DCoder) [version 1.0]
OptimFROG (RadLight) [version 1.0.0.1]
DC-Bass Source [version 1.1.1]
AC3/DTS Source (AC3File) [version 0.5b]
AMR (MONOGRAM) [version 1.0.1.0]

DirectShow source filters:

AVI splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.9]
AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
MP4 splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
Matroska splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.3.0]
Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
Ogg splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1]
MPEG PS/TS splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
MPEG PS/TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
FLV splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
CDXA Reader (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.2]

DirectShow subtitle filter:

DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.38]
DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.33]

Other filters:

Haali Video Renderer [version 1.8.122.18]

VFW video codecs:

XviD [version 1.2.0 build 2008-01-10]
DivX [version 6.8.3]
x264 [revision 889]
On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0]
On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0]
Intel Indeo 4 [version 4.51.16.2]
Intel Indeo 5 [version 5.2562.15.54]
Intel I.263 [version 2.55.1.16]
huffyuv [version 2.1.1 CCE Patch 0.2.5]
YV12 (Helix) [version 1.2]

ACM audio codecs:

MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 3.4.0.0]
MP3 (LAME) [version 3.98]
AC3ACM [version 1.4]
Vorbis [version 0.0.3.6]
DivX ;) Audio [version 4.2.0.0]

Real Alternative:

RealMedia codecs [version 6.0.14.806]
RealMedia plugin for Internet Explorer
RealMedia plugin for Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera
RealMedia DirectShow splitter [version 1.0.1.2]

Tools:

Codec Tweak Tool [version 2.2.8]
GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a]
MediaInfo Lite [version 0.7.7.3]
VobSubStrip [version 0.11]
GraphEdit [build 061102]
Haali Muxer
FourCC Changer
Bitrate Calculator

[ Some codecs distributed through this may not be open source or legitimate. Install with your own discretion ]

Installation Guide

I recommend you to download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack which contains everything.

If you have already Installed any of the Above Codec, like DivX, XVid or Real Player, the Installation wizard will ask whether to remove. You may chose to remove or to remain in the system. I have chosen to remain on my system. I used few other codecs that are not provided with this pack.

If the divX is installed then

I have already installed Haali Splitter and hence it showed

and Real Player..

[ I chose NO for all, otherwise it first un-installs all the installations and then proceeds to the Installation]

It is very difficult to explain each options in Codec Selection Page. Here is the Video, which shows the best option to playback all types of media files.

Just watch and Follow the Video. If you do not have H.264 and Mpeg2 codec you may choose to install from the pack.

After installation, you can view any videos(almost all) on your system.

The Media Info tool / GSpot Video Info Tool / Codec Tweak Tool are very useful.

If you are not interested in CODEC installation, now there are players that comes with CODEC with them, such as VLC MEDIA PLAYER or KMPLAYER or Mplayer. I would strongly recommend them to get them and install to watch all videos.

==================

Barath

Tips : Where to Store my Photos Online ?... Online Photo Storage & Management

2008-07-23T14:30:00.000+08:00

With the Digital Camera's in hand, we now take 10 shots in a place where we used to take only one shot earlier during film cameras. Digital Cameras gives us exciting quality, option to choose whether to print or not. But since we take more and more photos, it becomes very difficult for us to store. We generally store in our computers / Laptops and if it crashes .. oops .. everything is lost.. Thus backing up the photos is very essential. Not only that these days, not everyone takes the print of photos to show it to friends or relatives. To share photos we use some of photo sharing websites.

Here I will discuss some of the sites that I use and I find these more easy to upload and share and FREE (with limits).

First some of the photo sharing sites I used are

1. Webshots - Free for upto 1000 photos + 100 more each month of membership (No Size Limit - It can be if any MegaPixel Size)

2. Flickr - Free for upto 100 MB Bandwidth of Photos every month, which is also quiet sufficient. Cannot Access full size photos.

3. pBase - Free trial period only. But it is one of the wonderful site. It does not alter the original image.

4. Fotki - Also free with limitations.

5. PhotoBucket - Free Photo Sharing.

6. Picassaweb - A Google's photo sharing service.

and also there are numerous other sites as well.

I use mostly webshots or Flickr. There are other ways to share a photos as well using Windows Live Skydrive or Live Mesh or any other web storage system.

I will discuss on Webshots, Flickr, Skydrive and Mesh options.

1. WEBSHOTS

Although there are many services out there the way to get the photos to the web is always a difficult thing. You may need to select a file one by one and upload them. Webshots offers a Desktop Tool for Windows & Mac, Webshots Desktop. It is a desktop beautifying tool with account management. You can get the software from here and the tool direct link is http://www.webshots.com/samplers/files/wbsamp5.exe.

After Downloading Install the software, it also includes toolbar for IE (Internet Explorer)

The Main Window Looks like this

If you go the second Tab -> My files Online ->

If you already do not have a account Create a free account.

You may also view slide show with in this. You can set as wallpaper, view as web and so on, as seen above.

First Create a Album

Select the Album Category and Give a Title for the Album. You can add Description and Tag. You may choose the access level. If it is public everyone on the web can view the album. If it is private., those for whom who you invite to view the album can view, others cannot see the album.

(Sample)

Click on the Image to add title, You may rotate the pictures, Add captions and you may also crop the picture

and then click on upload

After this Click on Finish.

You May Click on Share Online which takes you to this

You can delete a photo. You Can do all organization and all stuff using this tool. You may re-arrange the photos and change the Album Photo all going to the web. Thus webshots offering a complete easy photo sharing solution.

2. FLICKR

Flickr is one of the most popular photo sharing site. Flickr is now part of yahoo. Yahoo photos has been closed and now has been replaced by Flickr Service. Flickr was the one who made tagging very popular. Also organizing in form of sets instead of just albums is a different technique. The free account although has limitations of creating only three Sets. It is well integrated with many tools. For users who use Windows Vista, The photos can be directly uploaded to Flickr using Windows Photo Gallery or Other users can also use Windows Live Photo Gallery which is part of Windows Live for all users with or without Vista. A desktop photo managing software. Also if you are using AcdSEE 10 (a very popular image viewing and Organizing tool) you can directly upload to Flickr.

a. Using Windows Photo Gallery (only in Windows Vista) or Windows Live Photo Gallery (should download and install from live.com)

Select the photo and publish on Flickr..

on Account Page, you may need to Authorize the software to upload to Flickr. So click on Authorize, Login to your Flickr account and click on YES , ALLOW IN FLICKR. and then you may get your account in Photo Gallery.

B. If you use AcdSEE then Authorize as earlier and upload by selecting a photo and go to file menu--> upload..

C. Or you may download the Flickr Uploader from Flickr Tools and then install the software.

Click on Sign-in to Go to your Account. You need to Authorize

Click and OK which takes to Flickr Website, Sign in and Authorize the tool. Then Shows click on Ready... then shows this..

This shows the Bandwidth left for this month and Bandwidth that will be used in this set of upload. Click on Add to Add images or just drag and drop.

You can create set, Add Tags, Description , Sharing Permission...

and then just upload photos. Upload Progress can be seen like this..

3. Windows Live SkyDrive

Though there are lots of benefits with Flickr and Webshots, Backup is a problem. If incase your computer / laptop crashes, you might be loosing all your data's inside there. You may store all your photos online and you can recover them as you stored. There is possibility of Flickr and Webshots doing some image processing or compression when you store online. But in SkyDrive those are stored as file and as it is. Thus when you recover you may recover it easily. The problem is still with the upload. There is no upload tool. There is an ActiveX control which enables Drag and Drop of files in Internet Explorer alone. Also it has 5 GB or storage and unlimited bandwidth, Sharing permission etc. You may use skydrive also as a photo sharing alternative. In skydrive you need not just store photos only.

Sign up for Windows Live SkyDrive and then just Create a Shared Folder, Give who should access and access level permissions..

Standard upload

If ActiveX control is installed then..

4. Live Mesh

If you are having multiple computers and you want to make the picture available to different computers and also share across the friends, you may use live mesh (still under tech preview).

This is just some of sharing sites and tips. There are still numerous ways. PicassaWeb is also a good service. You can Also upload to Windows Live Spaces and So on..

Choose which is convenient for you and enjoy sharing..

Barath...

Windows Live Mesh - Tech preview

2008-07-22T11:42:00.000+08:00

Windows Live Mesh is a very good Service from Microsoft. It's Service of Cloud Computing, which means you can get your data virtually everywhere, on any device. Visit www.mesh.com to find out more and view take a tour. (Requires Silverlight).

What is Live mesh ?

To put it simple, it is a file storage on the Internet (cloud) and to move it across Devices., I.e. Computers, Cell Phones etc.

What we need is a Live Mesh Service and Internet Enabled Device. Now its still under Tech Preview., thus it works only on Windows PC.

To sign up go to www.mesh.com. (Service now available to U.S Registered IDs or else through invitations)

This basically useful for multiple PC owners or the people who want their data anywhere., Online or Offline.

The Dashboard of Mesh is as shown below

I have my Office PC, My Home PC , Media Center PC all the in the Ring, I am yet to set up my Laptop. It all works across Windows XP and Vista.

The Live Desktop is where you can view folders that are added to the Mesh or Cloud.

Features:

1. Add Devices, Different Computers to the Cloud.

2. Stay Connected, Share Across the Cloud.

3. Remote Desktop Feature.

4. Peer to Peer Sharing without Going to Cloud (Yet not in Client but the service is built in)

5. Share Across friends .

6. Get the updates on the live mesh taskbar. Can also add own comments.

and still improving....

You may just add Folders online or you can share any folders on the computer..

Once Installed you may find the Mesh Icon on the System Tray and Live Mesh Folder as Special Folder in My Computer.

Sign into the Live Mesh using your Live ID.

on Mouse Hover it shows the Devices.

Once the Other PC's are online, you may use the remote desktop directly. There need not be any router configuration separately to enable remote desktop. However the remote desktop experience in local clients in same LAN is very poor and this can be understood because it is still in very early stages. But the whole point of service is very good.

Lets see how to add a desktop folder to a cloud..

Simply Go to any folder on your drive.. Just Right click and Click on "Add Folder to your Live Mesh"

and after OK it becomes like this..

It begins to sync with your live desktop in few seconds. and Notification is shown of how much is uploaded or Downloaded.

You may also choose to Sync with Other Devices from Mesh Desktop

The coolest thing in live mesh desktop is, it just works like your normal windows panels with in the web interface (web browser). You can move the window inside the browser area etc.

The Live Folder gets always attached with all shared folders, which gives information on what is going on. All the news, about modification, addition, deletion is all displayed here. This info is shown even in Local Desktop, when you click on the folder that is shared on Live Mesh.

Live folder on Live Mesh Online Desktop

Live Folder on Personal Desktop .

From the Live Mesh Panel You may View News, Members with whom this folder is shared and the Devices with which this folder is shared.

If they are part of buddy List it shows whether the Member is online or Offline.

You may share a folder across anyone, Just click on add members to send them a email invitation to view the shared folder. It also now includes live mesh invitation.

Lite Version of Live Mesh is already there for Windows Mobile Devices. The Mac version

Work is being done behind the scenes of Live Mesh, today they are rolling out an infrastructure update:

From LiveSide.Net
Live Mesh infrastructure update
We will be rolling out an update to Live Desktop today, July 21. There will be no update to the Live Mesh software. You may notice a slowdown in service or some display issues while the servers update. If you are still seeing these problems after the 21st, please report them on the forums or through Microsoft Connect.
So don’t think it’s you, your browser or computer if you experience these! Besides that they are reminding us that we can now synchronize between devices without synchronizing them with the Live Desktop (also known as "Ghosting"). We already gave you some tutorials, I’ll list them at the bottom, to show you how to use that and give some ideas on what to use it for.
Did you know?
Now you can choose to synchronize folders between devices without synchronizing them with your Live Desktop. Sign in to your Live Desktop, right-click the folder, and click Change sync settings.
You can install Live Mesh on multiple devices—then Live Mesh can keep all the folders in your mesh synchronized for you. To add a computer to your mesh, visit http://www.mesh.com/ from the computer you wish to add, sign in, and click Add Device on the Devices page.
If you didn’t get all your friends and family in yet, you can get them in by using an invite if you still have one left:
To get even more from Live Mesh, share folders with friends and family. Simply open a folder you’ve added to Live Mesh, click Members in the mesh bar, and then click Add.^* Your friends will be able to access your folder as well as install Live Mesh on their devices.
* You can enter any e-mail address to invite others to a folder; it doesn’t have to be a Windows Live ID. However, they will need to use a Windows Live ID to sign in to and use Live Mesh.
Feedback can be left as usual:
Feedback
Thanks for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We’re working hard to create the best experience and appreciate any feedback you have. Please send us feedback using our online form. You can also submit (and view others’) feedback and bugs here on the Microsoft Connect website.
Thank you
The Live Mesh team

Also the Mac Version Desktop., Early Pictures (not out yet released as of today).

From the Channel9 Video on Peer 2 Peer sync, the feature is already in the system where it can sync from PC to PC without need to be stored in the Cloud or Mesh. However now the it is being disabled in the client side. But this is enabled automatically when your storage limit is full in the cloud.

Further there are lot of developments planned ahead, to make it sync without going into cloud even when you have space in the cloud, By having only Schema's or feed or Meta Data about the folder.

What I wish to have is ?

If there are two different Mesh, I should be able to connect to Other mesh's Device, provided the user gives permission, Mainly to enable remote desktop. The folder Sync can be done even today. But remote desktop is not possible. In channel9 Video they have however hinted on this. the mesh has long way to go...

The New windows Services are really promising, and as I said Microsoft is trying to keep up its name in not just Desktop oriented Technologies but also in Web Based Technologies.

There are still few problems with Microsoft, they just concentrate things to make things work on windows, or else up to mac, and I find the LINUX community is doing wonderful job, and after earned this much of money, Microsoft should support its technologies for everyone.

I wish that Windows Live Hotmail to enable POP and/or IMAP services, so that everybody can use it. I prefer GMail because they support everything.

I wish that Microsoft to unify their services. There are three services Windows Live SkyDrive, Windows Live FolderShare, Windows Live Mesh which more or less are doing analogous job. If everything is united, it will be wonderful.

I wish that Microsoft Keeps EVERYTHING FREE. Don't make just share holders happy, bring happiness to consumers too.

A Comparison of Windows Live FolderShare ,Windows Live SkyDrive & Windows Live Mesh

Of all the three, Windows Live mesh gives the more controlled environment.

In future it should get add more features and if More space can be added, that would be great.

--------------------------------------------

Barath

Its All New Windows Live Services - Windows Live Folder Share

2008-07-18T11:41:00.000+08:00

Microsoft is actively trying in every possible ways to fight GOOGLE to make its presence in this Internet Computing (Cloud Computing). Here are some new very interesting services...

1. Windows Live Folder Share (www.foldershare.com) beta

2. Windows Live Mesh (www.mesh.com) - Technical Preview

3. Windows Live Skydrive (http://skydrive.live.com/)

All earlier windows services are improved and updated like Hotmail, windows live writer, messenger etc.. There is one problem with Microsoft., still the customers (including myself) are not convinced that Windows Vista performs better. Personally I have lot of problems with the software's and sometimes with the drivers. All the tools that Microsoft creates is mainly for Windows Platform or at far to Mac. After using UBUNTU a bit (still not a mainstream OS) I really find Linux is so amazing and above all everything is for free. Also with Compiz Fusion Plug-ins they surpass the graphics provided by Microsoft or Even Mac. I guess Microsoft should consider effort of Linux developers and what ever service they create, the service should be open to LINUX as well. Any ways Linux always has tons of alternatives. Microsoft Silverlight is available to LINUX as MoonLight. Microsoft has promised Live Mesh for Linux as well but.... lets hope they do it. Lets get to the story ..

I am not sure what Google is up to these days. There are no new services while Microsoft remains quiet aggressive. The skydrive has been improved a lot. The interface the upload has all been improved. But I am still expecting for a desktop upload tool. There is an activeX control which allows you to drag and Drop. To find out more on skydrive visit http://skydrive.live.com or read my review here.It's been rumored that Google GDrive is in action but no news yet.

Ok Now Lets Move on to Windows Live Folder Share

This works Like a Peer to Peer File transfer Program ( a feature which I would like in Windows Live Mesh). It is very common these days that household have more than one computers. Managing Data and Sharing Digital Media and Documents is hell of work and keep it all in sync is very very difficult. I have a Home PC , A media center PC and a Laptop Computer + my Office PC. I need some documents to be all in sync but to do I use an external HDD and then carry data to every computer and Sync Using sync tools like SyncToy. With Windows Live Folders you may share the folders Peer-Peer.

Features:

1. Can sync Files of Different Computers.

2. Use FolderShare to create a mirrored image of your most important folders - like your Favorites, Pictures, and Documents.

1. Sharing files with Friends Sharing with friends, co-workers, and family is easy when you add and update files in a shared library.

2. FolderShare can sync files up to 2 GBs in size. And it works on both Mac and PC., Sorry No LINUX. :(

1. Get to your files instantly when you're away from home through Remote Folder Access

2. Can Install FolderShare in all the computers and Login with same ID and create a name for computer, to view all files.

It all Gets started Here

To begin with Folder Share Download your FolderShare Client for Windows or Mac.

After Download Install FolderShare.msi (For Windows)

Then when you begin

For New account click on Sign Up

After Creating .. You need to check whether your system ports are forwarded properly. Click on FolderShare icon on system tray and click on settings.. To set you need to add ports TCP 6571, TCP 8000, TCP 80 and TCP 443 forwarded to your computer. For Local computers on subnet if your Windows Firewall / Personal Firewall port is open then it should be fine. For Internet Access you should forward the port on your NAT router to your system IP. ( This is a difficult part in large enterprise system, I have not tried without forwarding, Yet to test. With forwarding it just works fine). uPNP port mapping is also available but doesn't seem to work well for me.

So now How to Share a Folder..

Go to FolderShare Website.. from the option in FolderShare Tray icon.

1. Create Personal Library

Select the folder and Click Create Library Here button.

2. Creating a Shared Library is the Similar. If you already have folder then Select the folder and Click Create Library Here button.

Just add the Email invitation. Invitation looks like this..

Just the respondent must download and you can share directly.

This works only when both are online Just like a Peer-Peer Sharing program. This does not have a online storage. Thus you may not able to transmit when one is offline.

3. View your desktop files remotely and Download.

Go to any drive. and then select the file.. and Can Download directly.

The Remote Computer has to be online to get the files.

But it is one of the best way to keep multiple computer folders in Sync.

Windows Live Mesh is something similar to this but has an offline file support. The more insight will be in next article..

I wish these services are integrated with MSN/LIVE Messenger. Actually Messenger has folder share. But its all independent. If it is under same cloud it would be great.

thanks for reading.. Enjoy FolderShare service..

Barath ..

ICOFX - The best Free ICON EDITOR for Windows - v1.6 is here

2008-05-06T11:55:00.000+08:00

Hi,

I have already posted about the ICO FX, a wonderful tool to create ICONS for Windows. To learn More go here.

A new version ICOFX 1.6 is out here and it has the full feature support for vista icons & import facility for Macintosh icon resources.

What's New

New: Built in resource editor for creating icon libraries or changing icons inside exe files

New: Zoom icons up to 10000% for increased precision

New: Import image dialog, for creating icons from images

New: Convert Macintosh icons to Windows icons and vice versa

New: Open, save, edit and convert Macintosh OS X icons

New: Extract Macintosh icons from resource files

New: Snapshot window for creating overviews of the icons

Now it has a built in resource editor which allows you the create a ICON library. You may also edit icons inside exe files(Note: please always backup the original exe in case you damage the executable). What is so exciting is, we can create ICON LIBRARY in professional icon development tool like ICONWORKSHOP, but however even iconworkshop does not store compressed VISTA style icons inside library and hence 256px ICON LIBRARIES made from iconworkshop are of too huge in size. Now with ICO-FX it is now easily possible.

A new look, with additional features and No-Cost makes this not only a wonderful tool but also competes with the commercial softwares. GREAT WORK AND I APPRECIATE the developer for his hard work.

You may download the copy from here.

Enjoy.

Barath

Windows Vista SP1 Released - Officially...

2008-03-19T10:54:00.000+08:00

Windows Vista SP1 is now available

The long-awaited service pack for Microsoft's latest consumer operating system is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The 32-bit download weighs in at 434.5 MB while the 64-bit download is a bit larger at 726.5 MB -- both versions include English (US), French, German, Japanese, and Spanish (Traditional) languages.

SP1 ushers in a number of updates for the Windows Vista operating system including the following:

Adds support for new UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) industry standard PC firmware for 64-bit systems with functional parity with legacy BIOS firmware, which allows Windows Vista SP1 to install to GPT format disks, boot and resume from hibernate using UEFI firmware.
Adds support for Direct3D® 10.1, an update to Direct3D 10 that extends the API to support new hardware features, enabling 3D application and game developers to make more complete and efficient use of the upcoming generations of graphics hardware.
Adds support for exFAT, a new file system supporting larger overall capacity and larger files, which will be used in Flash memory storage and consumer devices.
SP1 addresses issues many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Windows Vista, as reported by Windows Error Reporting. These include issues relating to Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player, and a number of drivers included with Windows Vista.
Improves the performance of browsing network file shares by consuming less bandwidth.
Improves power consumption when the display is not changing by allowing the processor to remain in its sleep state which consumes less energy.
Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
Improves the copy progress estimation when copying files within Windows Explorer to about two seconds.
Service Pack 1 includes supported APIs by which third-party security and malicious software detection applications can work alongside Kernel Patch Protection on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. These APIs have been designed to help security and non-security
ISVs develop software that extends the functionality of the Windows kernel on 64-bit systems, in a documented and supported manner, and without disabling or weakening the protection offered by Kernel Patch Protection.

A full list of updates/fixes related to SP1 can be found on Microsoft's Windows Vista TechCenter.

Direct Links

X86 SITE LINK : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en

X86 DOWNLOAD LINK: http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/a/9/3a9b72c2-527d-4694-8a49-84c056d4c34d/Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe

X64 SITE LINK : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=874a414b-32b2-41cc-bd8b-d71eda5ec07c&displaylang=en

X64 DOWNLOAD LINK: http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/3/b/83b8c814-b000-44a4-b667-8c1f58727b8b/Windows6.0-KB936330-X64-wave0.exe

Barath