So the USA wants a female President?

George W. Bush


Jimmy Carter


John Kerry


John Kerry/George W. Bush


Jimmy Carter


George W. Bush


Jimmy Carter


George W. Bush


Bill Clinton


George W. Bush


Jimmy Carter


Bill Clinton


Colin Powell


Don Rumsfeld


Bill Clinton


Bill Clinton


Prince Charles

Rapid-Share

RapidShare is a German owned One-click hosting site that operates from Switzerland and is financed by the subscriptions of paying users.

It operates as both a pay and free service (with limitations), allowing any user to upload files of up to 100 MB. The user is then supplied with a unique download URL, which locates the file and enables anyone with whom the uploader shares it to download the file. Non-premium users are required to wait a time period after each download depending on the size of the last downloaded file). Their homepage states they have 170 gigabit/s of Internet connectivity and 4 petabytes of storage for users. Registration and payment allow benefits such as download of several files simultaneously, queue-skipping, and the facility to interrupt and re-start downloads. No user is allowed to search the server for content; all files have to be downloaded by following a given URL.

On October 19, 2006, RapidShare announced that "Unfortunately all drives of RapidShare.de are full right now". A new website, RapidShare.com has been made in an attempt to transfer usage from RapidShare.de to RapidShare.com. Premium accounts for RapidShare.de were not lost as a code could be used to transfer the account between servers. However, this code was only good for as long as the account did not expire, and the promotion did not finish. It is not possible, however, to use a RapidShare.com account on the German site. Despite the one-way compatibility with paid accounts, both sites claim to be entirely different organisations and entities. The new site originally did not impose any download limits, but on October 27, the "Happy Hours" came to an end, bringing back the download limits. The file size limit was also reduced from 300 MB to its current 100 MB.

Why I Like France

France has many beatiful places to visit for. Besides their paris fashion week, museums, dining and wineries, France has a lot more to offer. Hotels in France too are much cheaper compared to hotels in other country (try converting it to your local currencies) and you will realise it well.

Either Hotels in France or Hotels in Paris they offered you many kinds of treatment. Besides their low rates the service too are very pleasing. For every penny you spend they are very worthy.

Every nice hotels there has many local cuisine. Try to eat one of the local cuisine and you will realise it is better than you own favourite food :)

Vacation Maniacs

Today I would like to write something about vacation. After hours or studying or working one need to rest. The jaded feeling will make your motivation decrease. However when you consider a vacation, few things you should bare in mind. Most of them is vacation rentals.

You can get any vacation rental information everywhere. If you are using internet most of the time these vacation rentals are easy to get. Just Google vacation rental information and you will bombard with many rentals site.

Please be more considerate and think on every aspects before you make your decision on which rentals are more suitable to your pocket money. To be wise, you need to talk to them face to face. Avoid using a telephone call as many people can easily disguise you for your money.

The Most Romantic Hollywood Lines of All Times

Only In Egypt

Vacation for Rentals

If you have an online vacation service you can promote it anywhere on the net. Lake Tahoe vacation rentals was one of the service available. As we all know Lake Tahoe is the largest fresh water lake situated in the Sierra Nevada. Apart from that Las Vegas vacation rentals was also available. Lake Tahoe vacation rentals and Las Vegas vacation rentals can be book online. It is very easy and convenient for all net user.

Even Palm Springs vacation rentals too was available. Both Las Vegas vacation rentals, Lake Tahoe vacation rentals and Palm Springs vacation rentals are available throughout the whole year. Please make sure you know where you want to go so that it will give you the most out of what you are expected.

Never Eat Your Hair!

Rapunzel Syndrome (also known as Trichobezoar) is an extremely rare intestinal condition in humans resulting from the consumption of hair.

Movies Mistakes

Diamond Mines At Sandton Hotels, Johannesburg

Hi All. Do you like diamond? I bet every female love it. It's a beauty and the hardest material on earth. Guess what, South Africa is the place abundant with diamond! The largest city in South Africa is Johannesburg.

As a matter of fact, I was very optimistic to visit Johannesburg someday. Maybe I can get a free smallest possible diamond for free :) Other than that the customary service offered by Sandton Hotels too was very eye-catching. I browsed around to search for any kind of information available about the Hotels in Sandton. I heard a lot people talking about Hotels in Sandton, its exquisiteness was incomparable to other hotel.

Hotels in Sandton were available throughout the whole season. Off course to be safe, you can book Sandton Hotels online. Better be safe I presume. In due course I will start saving my money to get to Johannesburg.

Britney Spears Watchful Moment

ONE FOR THE GIRLS YOU CARE ABOUT. " THIS IS NOT A JOKE "

I got this today and thought of as many women as I could to tell. If this is true, please think twice when you buy a new lipstick!

Something to consider next time you go shopping for lipstick....

This comes from someone who works in the breast cancer unit at Mt. Sinai Hospital , in Toronto.

From: Dr. Nahid Neman
If there is a female you care anything about, share this with her. I did!!!!!

Recently a lipstick brand called "Red Earth" decreased their prices from $67 to $9.90.

It contained lead.
Lead is a chemical which causes cancer.

The lipstick brands that contain lead are:
CHRISTIAN DIOR
LANCOME
CLINIQUE
Y.S.L
ESTEE LAUDER
SHISEIDO
RED EARTH (Lip Gloss)
CHANEL (Lip Conditioner)
MARKET AMERICA-MOTNES LIPSTICK

The higher the lead content, the greater the chance of causing cancer.

After doing a test on lipsticks, it was found that the Y.S.L. lipstick contained the most amount of lead.

Watch out for those lipstickswhich are supposed to stay longer.

If your lipstick stays longer, it is because of the higher content of lead.

Here is the test you can do yourself:

1. Put some lipstick on your hand.
2. Use a Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick.
3. If the lipstick colour changes to black, then you know the lipstick contains lead.

This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Dioxin Carcinogens cause cancer, especially breast cancer.

Sydney The Aussie City

One of the place I want to visit before I died is Sydney, Australia. Besides, Sydney Hotels :) I have heard a lot about Sydney. When the right time come, for sure my name must be in the list of any Sydney Hotel.

The reason is quite simple. Sydney is one of the most beauty capital in Australia. Their Sydney Hotels too are very pleasing and attactive. Whenever one choose to visit Sydney the most important thing to consider is their hotel rates.

They are many Sydney Hotels to choose from. Hotel in Sydney were ranging from 2 star till 5 star hotels. Feel free to browse any Sydney Hotel before you book the hotel. Accomodation is 2 thumbs up there :)

Top 5 Family Travel Tips

Recently, the Travel Channel asked me about our top tips for family travel. I pulled together this list and figured I’d share it on the site as well:

1. Attitude is everything: expect problems, go with the flow and everything will work out great. Travel is hard and traveling with kids is even harder. But if you treat your trip like an adventure, annoyances, missteps and mishaps simply become small obstacles for your hearty band of explorers to overcome. I mean, seriously, do you think Dora would let a two-hour delay get to her? Would Indiana Jones get stressed out because the restaurant doesn’t have chicken fingers? This applies just as much for parents as for children. If dogs can sense fear, you better believe your seven-year-old can. If you get stressed when you can’t find your hotel, your kids will get stressed too. When you think of it as “exploring the neighborhood,” everyone will feel better.

2. Things to bring:

• Don’t forget the drugs. It’s always a good idea to travel with some children’s Tylenol (or whatever you prefer) so that you don’t have to worry about tracking down a drug store in a strange neighborhood at 11 P.M. Depending on how much space you have, you might want to bring small containers of cough syrup or Claritin as well. Finally, some parents swear by it and some parents detest it, but Benadryl can go a long way. Especially with long flights, giving you child something to help them sleep can make everyone a lot happier.

• And definitely don’t forget the baby wipes. Even if your kid was out of diapers during the Clinton administration, baby wipes are invaluable when traveling. As one reader wrote, “You can clean hands, faces, toilet seats, almost anything with them. On a hot day you can even wipe your face & neck with them to cool down a bit.”

• Other useful items. Kids get dirty, especially when they’re traveling. Bring a small container of special travel detergent (the Tide from your garage won’t work) so you can use your hotel sink to remove the damage from your child’s meatball mishap. Ziplock bags have thousands of uses and take up hardly any space. Bring a variety of sizes if you can. Finally, a small, sturdy nightlight can help turn a scary hotel room into a cozy den.

3. Leave at the right time. If you kids nap, use their schedules to your advantage. For example, if you’ve got a long car ride, see if you can’t leave an hour or so before their nap time. Most kids can entertain themselves for a little while so that buys you some time right there. Once they fall asleep around their normal nap time, you just bought yourself an hour or two of bliss on the way to your destination. This can work for flights as well. If you want to push your luck with this strategy, consider a red-eye flight. Especially if you’re flying coast to coast (at least in the U.S.), you can try to entertain a kid for 6 hours on a daytime flight or you can have them sleep on a flight that leaves at 11 PM. Be warned, however, this is a high-risk, high-return gambit. When executed to perfection, you get on the plane, give your kid his teddy bear and wake up 3,000 miles away. When things go awry, however, you are awake all night enduring glares from the people seated near you and the whole family is transformed into cranky zombies the next day.

4. Getting the most out of your flight.

• Do a little pre-planning. I always start with SeatGuru.com to check out the layout of my flight and try to pick good seats. Map out aisles, windows and think about where to place your family. Do you want everyone in the same row or would you really rather spread them out a little because Johnnie is always getting under Janie’s skin? You can get creative here.
• Special meals. For the airlines that still serve food, most have Children’s meals. They tend to include more kid friendly options and often come with toys or stickers.
• Board separately. Lots of airlines have dropped special boarding for families with small children. If that’s an option for you, consider using it, especially if there is only one grown-up. But for me, I like to split up the parents to minimize the amount of time you spend on the plane. Send Sherpa Daddy onto the plane first with as much stuff as he can carry. Keep Mom or Grandpa or whoever in the boarding area until the gate agents physically force you onto the plane. This way your kids can run around and burn energy in the much roomier boarding area than in the 672 square inches they will attempt to occupy for the next four hours.

5. Choose your toys and books wisely. Toys with lots of small, moving parts are bound to end up as vacuum food. “One-trick” toys also take the express train for boredom town. Things like a good set of portable art supplies with crayons, markers and some paper can transform into hours of amusement (or at least distraction). One school of thought is to bring your kids’ favorites. If you daughter can play at home with her Groovy Girl for four hours, it’s probably a pretty good bet it will entertain her in the car as well. Another school of thought suggests holding toys in reserve for travel. Save a couple of brand-new toys to be dramatically unveiled just when your child is about to meltdown.

From: http://www.travelwithyourkids.com/before-you-go/top-5-family-travel-tips

London Chimes Nearby

One of my good friend was at London until now. I really missed her. The last time we met was during the summer last year, when she came back to Malaysia from her holidays. But this time, I decided to come and visit her :)

First thing first, I need to find a suitable Hotels in London. Thank God many Hotels in London are able to be book online. The rate varies but I can choose which one that support my wallet.. :)

London Hotels basically were much cheaper compared to here. There is value in my money. From what I heard Hotel in London offered you tip top services and they are quite cheaper. My friend recommend me some hotel but I decided to pick myself. I still have a lot things to do if I'm ever gonna visit London soon.

Basic Hard Disk Drive Components

Many types of hard disk drives are on the market, but nearly all share the same basic physical components. Some differences might exist in the quality of these components (and in the quality of the materials used to make them), but the operational characteristics of most drives are similar. The basic components of a typical hard disk drive are as follows:

Disk platters

Read/write heads

Head actuator mechanism

Spindle motor (inside platter hub)

Logic board (controller or printed circuit board)

Cables and connectors

Steps For Buying Insurance

Use these three steps when buying insurance:

Step One: Do I need this type of insurance at all? Figure out what the type of insurance you are considering covers and decide whether you need it.

Step Two: How much of this type of insurance do I need? Policies vary in how much they cover. Some cover specific dollar amounts. Others cover percent of loss. Some have a deductible. Others exclude certain types of damage. Look at these differences among policies and decide which one is for you.

Step Three: Where will I buy it? If you are working on your own, the web has a host of services to help you comparison shop among companies. Type in "insurance" on most search engines and you will come up with a number of sites. If you are working with an agent, you may be working with a captive agent which means (s)he can only sell you policies form one company or an independent agent which represents several.

When selecting a company, consider also whether the company is both able and willing to pay on claims should you make one.. AM Best and other companies rate the financial solvency of insurance companies. The web comparison shopping services usually include and explain the ratings. You can also ask the company itself or your agent.

Consider also the company's record for trying to refuse to pay claims. Your state insurance commission may have a record of complaints.

When buying any insurance, you will most likely save money if you pay annually or semi-annually. Sometimes buying several types of insurance from the same company will save you money. Often taking steps to make claims more unlikely, such as installing deadbolt locks or taking a safe driving course will lower your premiums.

When shopping for insurance, also look into group policies offered by alumni associations, professional associations, or religious bodies. Usually you can forget about specialized insurance advertised on television with paid endorsers. They usually cover very little.

How to bypass Megaupload download toolbar, Workaround for IE6 or IE7

Start–>Run–>Regedit–>OK

In Registry Editor window:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mcft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform]

Right click Post Platform–>New–>String Value–> Type “Alexa Toolbar"=""

Restart PC. Done!

Note: For IE 7.0 the “Post Platform” will located at:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mcft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]

Bidding Cheap Gadgets Here

I started bidding goods online when one of my friend introduce me to Free Sweepstake Cash about months ago. My initial thought was bidding is only for rich people. But it change when I realised there is another way to bid thing which is reverse-auction game, where the lowest unique bid will win the prize.

Amazingly the prizes range from Apple I-Phone’s, HDTV’s, Designer Bags, SCION XB’s to Cash Prizes. Everyone can win at Free Sweepstake Cash. Everyday there is a winner. You too can be the winner.

Besides, Free Sweepstake Cash offered a very user friendly sevice basis. The friendliness and playability of Free Sweepstake Cash was helpful to someone noob like me :)

So guys, what are you waiting for? Come now and join me at Free Sweepstake Cash!!

I'm LOST At Hawaii - Season 1

Did anyone watch the movie before me? Sorry guys I'm just bluffing. The urge to take a break from my computer come everyday, but.. There's always a but :)



One of my friend came back from Hawaii weeks ago. She gave me few souvenirs as a present. The thing that shocked me the most is when she told me how cheap it was using many hawaiian vacation packages available.

A hawaiian vacation packages attract me a lot. I can book ticket online, arrange my accomodation even re-arrange my activities there. I'm not going Hawaii alone.. Off Course!! :)

I make a research online about hawaiian vacation packages to see which one suits me the most. I found a few which are quite intriguing but the hawaiian vacation packages offered by them are the most suitable, for me and for you.

Lets take a break and go to Hawaii guys!!

Just Say Hi 2 Net User

Since time immemorial, I just can't recalled when was the last time I chatted with someone using mIRC. At that time, I was looking for an online dating especially someone whose passive like me. I grew up as a native teenager who seek for alternative loves and passion.

Until then, I wandered and started digging for the true meaning of love. I realised if I want to live happily ever after (like a fantasy maybe), I need to find my dates, through which I found many online dating website that offered these services.

Online dating website truely can look after someone suitable for your life. But please beware of someone who poised to be the true love of your life. It can be harmful enough if someone camouflaged and doomed you. That is what we called as blind date :)

So, in my opinion go for an online dating website that can offered you many choices of recognition as love is around you!!

What are good "quality" settings for JPEG?

Most JPEG compressors let you pick a file size vs. image quality tradeoff by selecting a quality setting. There seems to be widespread confusion about the meaning of these settings. "Quality 95" does NOT mean "keep 95% of the information", as some have claimed. The quality scale is purely arbitrary; it's not a percentage of anything.

In fact, quality scales aren't even standardized across JPEG programs. The quality settings discussed in this article apply to the free IJG JPEG software, and to many programs based on it. Some other JPEG implementations use completely different quality scales.

For example:
* Apple used to use a scale running from 0 to 4, not 0 to 100.
* Recent Apple software uses an 0-100 scale that has nothing to do with the IJG scale (their Q 50 is about the same as Q 80 on the IJG scale).
* Paint Shop Pro's scale is the exact opposite of the IJG scale, PSP setting N = IJG 100-N; thus lower numbers are higher quality in PSP.
* Adobe Photoshop doesn't use a numeric scale at all, it just gives you "high"/"medium"/"low" choices. (But I hear this is changing in 4.0.)

Fortunately, this confusion doesn't prevent different implementations from exchanging JPEG files. But you do need to keep in mind that quality scales vary considerably from one JPEG-creating program to another, and that just saying "I saved this at Q 75" doesn't mean a thing if you don't say which program you used.

In most cases the user's goal is to pick the lowest quality setting, or smallest file size, that decompresses into an image indistinguishable from the original. This setting will vary from one image to another and from one observer to another, but here are some rules of thumb.

For good-quality, full-color source images, the default IJG quality setting (Q 75) is very often the best choice. This setting is about the lowest you can go without expecting to see defects in a typical image. Try Q 75 first; if you see defects, then go up.

If the image was less than perfect quality to begin with, you might be able to drop down to Q 50 without objectionable degradation. On the other hand, you might need to go to a *higher* quality setting to avoid further loss. This is often necessary if the image contains dithering or moire patterns.

Except for experimental purposes, never go above about Q 95; using Q 100 will produce a file two or three times as large as Q 95, but of hardly any better quality. Q 100 is a mathematical limit rather than a useful setting. If you see a file made with Q 100, it's a pretty sure sign that the maker didn't know what he/she was doing.

If you want a very small file (say for preview or indexing purposes) and are prepared to tolerate large defects, a Q setting in the range of 5 to 10 is about right. Q 2 or so may be amusing as "op art". (It's worth mentioning that the current IJG software is not optimized for such low quality factors. Future versions may achieve better image quality for the same file size at low quality settings.)

If your image contains sharp colored edges, you may notice slight fuzziness or jagginess around such edges no matter how high you make the quality setting. This can be suppressed, at a price in file size, by turning off chroma downsampling in the compressor. The IJG encoder regards downsampling as a separate option which you can turn on or off independently of the Q setting. With the "cjpeg" program, the command line switch "-sample 1x1" turns off downsampling; other programs based on the IJG library may have checkboxes or other controls for downsampling. Other JPEG implementations may or may not provide user control of downsampling. Adobe Photoshop, for example, automatically switches off downsampling at its higher quality settings. On most photographic images, we recommend leaving downsampling
on, because it saves a significant amount of space at little or no visual penalty.

For images being used on the World Wide Web, it's often a good idea to give up a small amount of image quality in order to reduce download time. Quality settings around 50 are often perfectly acceptable on the Web. In fact, a user viewing such an image on a browser with a 256-color display is unlikely to be able to see any difference from a higher quality setting, because the browser's color quantization artifacts will swamp any imperfections in the JPEG image itself. It's also worth knowing that current progressive-JPEG-making programs use default progression sequences that are tuned for quality settings around 50-75: much below 50, the early scans will look really bad, while much above 75, the later scans won't contribute anything noticeable to the picture.

How well does JPEG compress images?

Very well indeed, when working with its intended type of image (photographs and suchlike). For full-color images, the uncompressed data is normally 24 bits/pixel. The best known lossless compression methods can compress such data about 2:1 on average. JPEG can typically achieve 10:1 to 20:1 compression without visible loss, bringing the effective storage requirement down to 1 to 2 bits/pixel. 30:1 to 50:1 compression is possible with small to moderate defects, while for very-low-quality purposes such as previews or archive indexes, 100:1 compression is quite feasible. An image compressed 100:1 with JPEG takes up the same space as a full-color one-tenth-scale thumbnail image, yet it retains much more detail than such a thumbnail.

For comparison, a GIF version of the same image would start out by sacrificing most of the color information to reduce the image to 256 colors (8 bits/pixel). This provides 3:1 compression. GIF has additional "LZW" compression built in, but LZW doesn't work very well on typical photographic data; at most you may get 5:1 compression overall, and it's not at all uncommon for LZW to be a net loss (i.e., less than 3:1 overall compression). LZW *does* work well on simpler images such as line drawings, which is why GIF handles that sort of image so well. When a JPEG file is made from full-color photographic data, using a quality setting just high enough to prevent visible loss, the JPEG will typically be a factor of four or five smaller than a GIF file made from the same data.

Gray-scale images do not compress by such large factors. Because the human eye is much more sensitive to brightness variations than to hue variations, JPEG can compress hue data more heavily than brightness (gray-scale) data. A gray-scale JPEG file is generally only about 10%-25% smaller than a full-color JPEG file of similar visual quality. But the uncompressed gray-scale data is only 8 bits/pixel, or one-third the size of the color data, so the calculated compression ratio is much lower. The threshold of visible loss is often around 5:1 compression for gray-scale images.

The exact threshold at which errors become visible depends on your viewing conditions. The smaller an individual pixel, the harder it is to see an error; so errors are more visible on a computer screen (at 70 or so dots/inch) than on a high-quality color printout (300 or more dots/inch). Thus a higher-resolution image can tolerate more compression ... which is fortunate considering it's much bigger to start with. The compression ratios quoted above are typical for screen viewing. Also note that the threshold of visible error varies considerably across images.

When should I use JPEG, and when should I stick with GIF?

JPEG is *not* going to displace GIF entirely; for some types of images, GIF is superior in image quality, file size, or both. One of the first things to learn about JPEG is which kinds of images to apply it to.

Generally speaking, JPEG is superior to GIF for storing full-color or gray-scale images of "realistic" scenes; that means scanned photographs, continuous-tone artwork, and similar material. Any smooth variation in color, such as occurs in highlighted or shaded areas, will be represented more faithfully and in less space by JPEG than by GIF.

GIF does significantly better on images with only a few distinct colors, such as line drawings and simple cartoons. Not only is GIF lossless for such images, but it often compresses them more than JPEG can. For example, large areas of pixels that are all *exactly* the same color are compressed very efficiently indeed by GIF. JPEG can't squeeze such data as much as GIF does without introducing visible defects. (One implication of this is that large single-color borders are quite cheap in GIF files, while they are best avoided in JPEG files.)

Computer-drawn images, such as ray-traced scenes, usually fall between photographs and cartoons in terms of complexity. The more complex and subtly rendered the image, the more likely that JPEG will do well on it. The same goes for semi-realistic artwork (fantasy drawings and such). But icons that use only a few colors are handled better by GIF.

JPEG has a hard time with very sharp edges: a row of pure-black pixels adjacent to a row of pure-white pixels, for example. Sharp edges tend to come out blurred unless you use a very high quality setting. Edges this sharp are rare in scanned photographs, but are fairly common in GIF files: consider borders, overlaid text, etc. The blurriness is particularly objectionable with text that's only a few pixels high. If you have a GIF with a lot of small-size overlaid text, don't JPEG it. (If you want to attach descriptive text to a JPEG image, put it in as a comment rather than trying to overlay it on the image. Most recent JPEG software can deal with textual comments in a JPEG file, although older viewers may just ignore the comments.)

Plain black-and-white (two level) images should never be converted to JPEG; they violate all of the conditions given above. You need at least about 16 gray levels before JPEG is useful for gray-scale images. It should also be noted that GIF is lossless for gray-scale images of up to 256 levels, while JPEG is not.

If you have a large library of GIF images, you may want to save space by converting the GIFs to JPEG. This is trickier than it may seem --- even when the GIFs contain photographic images, they are actually very poor source material for JPEG, because the images have been color-reduced. Non-photographic images should generally be left in GIF form. Good-quality photographic GIFs can often be converted with no visible quality loss, but only if you know what you are doing and you take the time to work on each image individually. Otherwise you're likely to lose a lot of image quality or waste a lot of disk space ... quite possibly both.

Why use JPEG?

There are two good reasons: to make your image files smaller, and to store 24-bit-per-pixel color data instead of 8-bit-per-pixel data.

Making image files smaller is a win for transmitting files across networks and for archiving libraries of images. Being able to compress a 2 Mbyte full-color file down to, say, 100 Kbytes makes a big difference in disk space and transmission time! And JPEG can easily provide 20:1 compression of full-color data. If you are comparing GIF and JPEG, the size ratio is usually more like 4:1.

Now, it takes longer to decode and view a JPEG image than to view an image of a simpler format such as GIF. Thus using JPEG is essentially a time/space tradeoff: you give up some time in order to store or transmit an image more cheaply. But it's worth noting that when network transmission is involved, the time savings from transferring a shorter file can be greater than the time needed to decompress the file.

The second fundamental advantage of JPEG is that it stores full color information: 24 bits/pixel (16 million colors). GIF, the other image format widely used on the net, can only store 8 bits/pixel (256 or fewer colors). GIF is reasonably well matched to inexpensive computer displays --- most run-of-the-mill PCs can't display more than 256 distinct colors at once. But full-color hardware is getting cheaper all the time, and JPEG photos look *much* better than GIFs on such hardware. Within a couple of years, GIF will probably seem as obsolete as black-and-white MacPaint format does today. Furthermore, JPEG is far more useful than GIF for exchanging images among people with widely varying display hardware, because it avoids prejudging how many colors to use. Hence JPEG is considerably more appropriate than GIF for use as a Usenet and World Wide Web standard photo format.

A lot of people are scared off by the term "lossy compression". But when it comes to representing real-world scenes, *no* digital image format can retain all the information that impinges on your eyeball. By comparison with the real-world scene, JPEG loses far less information than GIF. The real disadvantage of lossy compression is that if you repeatedly compress and decompress an image, you lose a little more quality each time. This is a serious objection for some applications but matters not at all for many others.

What is JPEG?

JPEG (pronounced "jay-peg") is a standardized image compression mechanism. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the original name of the committee that wrote the standard.

JPEG is designed for compressing either full-color or gray-scale images of natural, real-world scenes. It works well on photographs, naturalistic artwork, and similar material; not so well on lettering, simple cartoons, or line drawings. JPEG handles only still images, but there is a related standard called MPEG for motion pictures.

JPEG is "lossy," meaning that the decompressed image isn't quite the same as the one you started with. (There are lossless image compression algorithms, but JPEG achieves much greater compression than is possible with lossless methods.) JPEG is designed to exploit known limitations of the human eye, notably the fact that small color changes are perceived less accurately than small changes in brightness. Thus, JPEG is intended for compressing images that will be looked at by humans. If you plan to machine-analyze your images, the small errors introduced by JPEG may be a problem for you, even if they are invisible to the eye.

A useful property of JPEG is that the degree of lossiness can be varied by adjusting compression parameters. This means that the image maker can trade off file size against output image quality. You can make *extremely* small files if you don't mind poor quality; this is useful for applications such as indexing image archives. Conversely, if you aren't happy with the output quality at the default compression setting, you can jack up the quality until you are satisfied, and accept lesser compression.

Another important aspect of JPEG is that decoders can trade off decoding speed against image quality, by using fast but inaccurate approximations to the required calculations. Some viewers obtain remarkable speedups in this way. (Encoders can also trade accuracy for speed, but there's usually less reason to make such a sacrifice when writing a file.)

Adware

What exactly is Adware?

Adware is a software application that can show advertisements on your computer in the form of pop-ups, pop-unders, and banner ads. Usually they disrupt the user -- giving an option to either continue on the web or click the pop up. Certain Adwares have the ability to track down the surfing habits of any user, without prior knowledge or consent, thus being a threat to your own security since it is being sent to unauthorized parties.

How does it work?

Adware applications technically run in the background of the computer and function as a spy watching all your moves. The information gathered will then be logged and used to create a user profile that is relayed to advertisers. The user profile may include unrelated personal information too and then sent to a data collection site. It is extracted on to narrow online search results to match the profile or, as a data mining tool, to evaluate the surfing habits.

Adware attacks usually start by attaching it to an installed program like a freeware, software that is available for free. Freeware installers inadvertently sign up for unlimited pop-up ads supply.

Common examples of freeware that may include Adware are computer games, unusual mouse pointers, instant news or weather updates, applications boasting to improve efficiency of your computer, and even the smileys being used on e-mails.

What can you do?

You can block unwanted ads by installing a reputable Adware scanning and removal tool. Make sure that you update it with the latest version because new versions of Adware are cropping up in as short as a week’s time.

Mailware

What is Mailware?

Have you had enough of those unwanted pop-ups that are a source of endless annoyance while surfing the net? Even your mails are being bugged by those pop-ups from authors that are investing a wide range of targets for advertisements. They make big money but at a great price for you and your computer.

How it works?

Mailware generally dwells on your mailbox, as what the term suggests. It may come in the form of spam on your mail or even disguise through the popular chain letters. Once the Mailware has entered your mail server, it starts to generate information that can be easily traced by spammers or the creators of Mailware. When you respond to these Mailwares, the authors will have an automatic confirmation on your address and would continue on sending you spam and more spam. Mailwares are mainly characterized by usually strange unsolicited commercial e-mail and bulk e-mail. The targets are usually targets individual users with direct bulk email or from online services that provide bulk email.

A variation of this is sending spam to mailing lists, either public or private email discussion forums. Since several mailing lists draws line to their subscribers’ activity, spammers will take advantage of automated tools to subscribe to as many mailing lists as possible. Thus, they are able to get the lists of addresses, or use the mailing list as a direct target.

Spyware

What is Spyware?

Spyware is a software that attacks the user’s internet connection at the background without the user’s knowledge. Spyware can do a lot of things that you wouldn’t generally want to happen, such as: capture all the information that you enter through the web; add unknown sites to your internet favorites or to your desktop (as icons); hijack your default settings and homepage, monitor your browsing activity, and; append unwanted and disrupting search bars and toolbars to your browser. Your privacy will be compromised because Spyware makes it possible for someone to sell any of your personal information that you entered on your PC, and with all of these occurring either in combinations, your hard drives become stuffed. Thus the PC slows down.

How does it attack the computer?

Spyware can enter your computer in different ways. It may be pop-ups or window ads, through an instant messenger service, attachment of spam through your e-mail, by sharing files, music and photos, or it can be installed by a hacker or someone who uses your computer. At times Spyware is bundled with a preferred program which is being unveiled in hidden text as a component of the end-user-license agreement (EULA).

Once the programs have entered your PC, they will find their way onto your system and install themselves in various potential dwellings like your registry, start up menu, folders and files.
Most Spyware programs ensure their survival by sprinkling traces of the program throughout your system to make full removal more difficult (and sometimes nearly impossible). Once installed, Spyware operates insidiously in the background.

The problem with Spyware has gone a long way. It can even invade your privacy like your bank account numbers, social security number and even passwords can’t get away with it.

What can you do?

There are some very good programs that can help you protect your computer from this threat. Install, run, and update them regularly to ensure your system’s protection.

Dialers

What is a dialer?

A dialer is a type of program that can alter the settings of a user’s dialup connection. Dialers can disconnect your computer from your local Internet provider and then reconnect you to other sites usually connected with expensive pornography, toll, or international phone number. A connection to international phone numbers happens instead of connection to local internet provider.

What does it do?

Dialers will generally grant you access to pornography by dialing a country like AFRICA from YOUR HOME PHONE. Once they are connected, charges as high as $5.99US per minute can occur. Now-a-days, most dialers will ASK YOU TO CONNECT, be sure to NEVER ACCEPT these charges. Unlike other viruses, it does not scout your files and other personal belongings on your computer but rather may rack up these significant long distance phone charges. Some dialers will turn off your PC speaker and dial these far off contries without you knowing!! So....

Be Aware

Any time you happen across a POP-UP AD or Program on your PC asking you to connect/dial a phone number to get access to porn, CLICK CANCEL or restart your PC!!. Also verify the number you use to access the internet, be sure it was the one provided by your ISP or Internet Service Provider. Another easy way to tell if you have become a victim is unexplainable tremendously high bills!!

Virus

What is a computer virus?

A computer virus is a set of computer codes that overwrites, replaces or attaches itself to some part of a program or operating system in order to make a copy (or copies) of itself. It comes with instructions that set off some task(s) that affect the infected computer. These may range from the comparatively harmless to really destructive. Some viruses display text or pictures, but other than that, they are relatively harmless. Others, reduce memory space, modify existing data, or use up CPU processing time. But the destructive ones may overwrite or destory all your files or even crash your hard disk!

How does a computer get a virus?

A virus can be introduced to a computer in various ways. It can be attached to any file or programs that you copy from floppy disks, or download from the Internet. While many viruses today spread through email, and they are released not only by opening the attachment but also by simply opening the email itself.

The virus can be activated the minute it is installed on your computer; but in many cases, it can remain inactive until you run or execute the program that contains it. You will not usually be aware of the presence of the virus, and may innocently spread the virus to others.

An ounce of prevention

A virus can do its dirty work on your personal computer or your network; but there have been many cases that a particular virus wreaks havoc on the entire world, severely compromising many corporate businesses and government functions. Thus, it is important to take the necessary precautions before it is already too late.

As the world gets connected with today’s intricate cyber world, viruses spread faster than ever. So when you notice that your computer is acting a bit weird or erratic, you should immediately scan for a virus.

Trojans

What is a Trojan?

A Trojan is a type of program that enables a hacker to intrude and make changes to your computer. It is a threat in disguise. Like the Trojan Horse popular in the Greek history, it appears safe (in the form of software program and e-mail attachment). But once opened, the Trojan may install itself on your computer and gain access without your consent.

Generally, the initial objective of a Trojan is to browse your hard drive to determine anything of worth such as credit card information, passwords, confidential documents, email addresses, confidential designs or pictures, or even calendar information regarding the user’s whereabouts. Once found to be a potential source, the intruder then gets inside and manages your files totally. The intruder can do the following: rename, create, delete, view and even transfer files to or from your computer.

Trojans will enable the intruder to open and close your CD-ROM drive, spam and gain control to your keyboard and cursor. Trojans can also use a program manager that will allow the intruder to install, execute, open or close any software programs. Indeed, it is big threat to security.

How does it affect your computer?

The business starts first by the user installing the Trojan itself. This is done by deceiving the user with a seemingly useful system enhancement or perhaps a free game containing Trojans. By installing a free game, for example, Trojan will be automatically installed too. Trojans can also come in common disguises such as files from unknown sources, e-mail attachment from unknown sources, and files from any online activity client like ICQ. Once contaminated by Trojan, any distant user will inevitably have free access. The dirty work then starts.
Other types of Trojans are: Remote Access Trojans, Mail Trojans, FTP Trojans, Telnet Trojans, Keylogger Trojans, Fake Trojans, and Form Trojans.

Protect your Computer from Trojans

Trojans can also be distributed as email attachments, or bundled with other software programs. You should always be wary of opening attachments and downloading programs from the Internet unless you are sure it is from a secure and trusted source. If possible, confirm with the sender.