REVIEW ON LAVA Z7H TABLET

Shopping FREE of COST. Visit my blog.

Bought this tablet before 1 month @5200/-. The worst electronic gadget I have ever bought in my life with a less price. What to expect with such a small price.

On day 1 the tablet becomes hang on boot screen. After coming from service center new problem found. Charging upto 99%. Backup upto not more than 15min. :(

Advantage-
1. Can play all video formats of every resolution. (also 1080p)
2. Good touch response.
3. Good ram size.
4. Nice internal memory 504 MB + internal SD card 2.32 GB free with it.
5. Nice multi-programing.
6. Android ice cream sandwich os :)
7. Already rooted. (can be rooted perfectly here)
8. My local LAVA Service Center respond me well and have given me the best service.

Thats why I bought LAVA E-Tab Z7H+.

Disadvantage-
1. Hardware is very poor quality.
2. If you install go launcher the tablet becomes laggy. Live wallpaper consumes more memory.
(No Electronic gadget is perfect.)

Rating (3/6)

Suggestions-
1. You can buy this as all the software solution is given here.

If you face any problem in software it will be solved by visiting my other post.

Know how to earn through Cloud computing without investing anything, without doing any work. Visit my other blog to find it out.

How to block a specific DC++ user.

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USB Finger Mouse Optical Laptop Notebook PC 1200DPI

100% Brand new high quality USB finger optical mouse. Resolution: 1200 dpi for quick and precise movement USB interface, also works for PS/2 (adapter not included). Plug and play, no installation needed 3 buttons with scroll wheel. Digital encoder technology, operate precisely, prevent faulty movement effectively. No mouse pad required. Sliding on any surface Suitable for both right and left hand user. Textile coating cable (not rubber coating) - enhance free and easy movement. Compatible with MS Windows 98/2000/me/XP/Vista Mac OS 9 and above.

Price: $19.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

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Review Six Earlier Days

Six Earlier Days is a short prequel to David Leviathans novel, Every Day. Its a light fast read, but doesnt have the heft or development of the novel. It brings together 6 different days of As life, some of which reveals a facet of his character, and two of which foreshadowing the events to come in the novel. I can only recommend this book if you read Every Day and wanted more.

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GOOGLE CHROME

Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google and based on the WebKit layout engine and application framework. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or "chrome", of web browsers. In April 2009, Chrome was the fourth most widely used browser, with 1.42% of worldwide usage share of web browsers.

Chromium is the open source project behind Google Chrome.The Google-authored portion of it is released under the BSD license, with other parts being subject to a variety of different permissive open-source licenses, including the MIT License, the LGPL, the Ms-PL and a MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license. It implements the same feature set as Chrome, but has a slightly different logo.

DOWNLOADS

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introduction tp link mr3020 openwrt

hello guys... this is my second blog... i will introduce you with the item i brought yesterday. It was an portable wireless mini router access point type tp-link TL-MR3020. this thing can connect multiple device like smartphone, android, blackberry, ipod, ipad, tablets, laptop and all other thing which have Wi-Fi enabled device (etc: a pc with usb wireless plug in it) and share the internet connection. And if you havent know  tp-link TL-MR3020 does support wireless n router mode.

There are 3 main mode that can we used in this device.

• 3g router mode
• WISP client router mode
• Access point mode

As for 3g router mode its mainly used for sharing mobile internet connection to area on your place (shared via Wi-Fi).we need a 3g usb modem with any kind of operator that support internet connection like WCDMA /  HSDPA to make this work.  It  can be used with any gsm / cdma operator.  

for WISP client router mode, the devices is being used for catch and forwarding internet connection from another access point connection. Also it can be used for dialling pppoe connection then shared it via wifi.

and last the access point mode. its used for bridge an ethernet cable and wi fi connection so it become connected. (we can share internet connection from cable to wifi so everyone in the area can connected via wifi).

the size is also very small that we can carry it anyhere on our pocket.



as for myself, why i buy this router...? its because i want to tweak this access point portable and changed its firmware to openwrt / linux. for a 30$ access point can compete with devices like mikrotik/cisco wireless 70$++ because its sooooooo~~ many  feature when the firmware changed into openwrt


the tweak possibilities is unlimited because it depends on the developper of the linux firmware itself . as it can be act as an

• firewall
• qos limit streaming downloading so we can keep the latency to play games online
• port forwarding  (if we want to make a server in our private lan so it can be accessed from outside )
• real time monitoring bandwidth, input output, throughput lan
• act as a vpn client / server
• active torrent client (we can use our usb or  external hardisk to save the files )
• remote torrent (torrent box / seedbox)
• traffic shapping
• load balance between two or more usb modem / wifi / wired isp network  
• voip server (voice over internet) 
• file sharing
• usb via ip
• printer sharing via wifi
• webcam streaming via wifi
• web server + php and ajax and captive portal  (making hotspot authentication)
• cloud computing server with owncloud
• ssh access / tunneling protocol
• ftp server
• dhcp server

and other many feature that you can read the rest at  http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/start.

and i recomend to see this link http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox

really great isnt it... and all of that feature can be installed on one devices. that works with a 5 VDC/ 1.0 A adapter :) :)  :)


1 word from me, awesome.....  :)

you can first read my post on  http://tplinkmr3020.blogspot.com/2012/08/basic1-choosing-openwrt-version.html to start flashing and changing the firmware to openwrt....


happy tweaking guys ;)

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A Surprising Change in Google Engagement

In December, I wrote a piece about how Google+ engagement was surprisingly low, considering how many people followed me on Google+ versus Facebook and Quora.

Well, I went back to look at the month of January and wow, what a change a couple of months have made. Google+ is now right on top of my referrals at 262 visits, versus Facebook at 235. Quora is in 3rd place at 168, followed by linkedin. Of course, Googles organic search trumps everyone at 3000 visitors over the same period.

I have no idea whats caused the change, though there is one clue: new visitors from Google+ comprise a much smaller percentage of the referred volume than they do from Facebook and Quora. What this means is that most of my friends (a lot of Google affiliated people) have migrated over to Google Plus, probably from Google Reader, since Reader no longer has any social features.

Im not sure what this means in the long haul: I suppose I could duplicate-post my current Delicious Feed onto Google Plus for a bit to see if engagements goes up even further, but my suspicion is that it will have zero impact.

Regardless, its clear: with engagement going up over the last 2 months, I cannot ignore Google+, even though I would have much preferred Friendfeed to win, for instance.

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REI Series of Talks is Over!

From BayArea

At a WorldCon seminar, Sandra Tayler told me that people get hung up on the bookstore signings, and thats why they try their darnedest to be published by a traditional publisher rather than being an independent publisher. Well, even if youre an indie person, theres no need to give up on doing the bookstore signings, you just have to arrange it yourself. An Engineers Guide to Silicon Valley Startups and Startup Engineering Management dont lend themselves naturally to public venues (though Ive certainly given plenty of talks covering those topics in private venues), but Independent Cycle Touring was a completely different beast. I started off by giving a talk at the local Sports Basement, but after chatting with REI, was put in touch with Polly Bolling back in March about the possibility of doing a series of talks at various REI. Strung together over a period of about six weeks, this is about as close to a traditional bookstore tour as Im likely to get. Polly had great insights as to what worked for an REI talk and what doesnt. She suggested that I focus the talks on Europe, and that destination-oriented talks really got people in the door, so I refocused the talk around Europe. You can see the slides as posted earlier.

Getting into REI is a long lead time process. It wasnt until late May that I was confirmed as booked, and it wasnt until June that I was given the OK to publicize the series of talks. I had no idea there were so many REIs: I could have done even more REIs, but at some point decided that I really didnt need to go to all of them.

The turnout at various REIs was widely disparate. I had as few as four people, and spoken to as many as 70 people in a fully packed room. The venues ranged from a professional looking classroom/community room to a warehouse where REI employees would make room in the space just an hour or so before the talk. With pleasure, I can say that the projectors and screens were always more than acceptable, and equal to what I found in industrial settings. The employees (including Polly herself) were always happy and enthusiastic and willing to do whatever it took to make the talk work. It was a good thing that I was given a few smaller venues to work with first before I started hitting the large ones (Berkeley/San Francisco/Mountain View/Saratoga). This gave me a chance to refine my talk, and let me get a good view of what played well with the audience and what didnt. I knew I had hit my stride when members from the Berkeley audience came to me after the talk and said, "Best REI talk Ive ever been to, and I attend nearly every one." That was very gratifying. One reason Id gotten good at talks, by the way, was that giving talks at Google was even more demanding --- if you did not proceed at a pace fast enough and fun enough to keep an audiences attention, Google employees would flip open their laptops and check e-mail instead. Authors/speakers who were used to a less demanding audience probably did not have a good time at Google.

Polly told me to keep my expectations for selling books low, saying that selling one or two books would be about right. Well, I kept my expectations low, but my conversion rate was about 12-15%: in other words, about 1 in 10 people who saw the talk would buy the book. Thats far better than say, Adwords or classified ads, so Id say that the talks were definitely worth the time. It was also interesting to see how every REI was different: some clearly catered to more cyclists than others, and it was clear that the North Bay had a wildly different demographic than the South Bay.

All in all, I probably wont try to do another book tour type event for the foreseeable future. I can see why some authors find them exhilarating: theres nothing like speaking to a fully packed room with an engaged audience, and the people flooding you with questions, asking to buy a book and asking you to sign one is extremely flattering. Its a lot like the high you get from getting to the top of a climb and facing a glorious descent afterwards. Ultimately, though, you still have to get back to writing interesting work for an audience that is willing to pay for it, and the talks and signings are a bit of a distraction from it, though Im grateful for the sales and hope it sparks future sales!

(If you want to watch a short excerpt from the MTV talk, Ive got one up on YouTube)

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Review Wheat Belly

My doctor actually recommended Wheat Belly, or I wouldnt have picked it up. Cure Your Child With Food, for instance, already mentions that gluten, the protein in wheat, is the source of many digestion problems. That book reported loads of success curing kids by eliminating wheat and anything white from their diets.

The Wheat Belly proceeds to blame almost all modern ills on wheat and wheat products. As in Cure Your Child With Food, he claims that wheat has been so genetically engineered or otherwise manipulated that the nutrition in it is not something that your body can absorb or deal with, leading to a bunch of diseases ranging from diabetes to acne (!!) to early balding in men. The book is replete with anecdotes from his practice where the patient is miraculously cured after eliminating wheat from his or her diet.

Unfortunately, things are not that simple. You see, Doctor Davis doesnt just recommend getting rid of wheat. He recommends eliminating all forms of whole grain and potatoes as well as the sugary fruits. Adopt his program wholesale and what do you get? The Atkins diet. If wheat was the all encompassing evil he claims it to be, then there shouldnt be any need to eliminate all the other foods, so this prescription basically undermines the entire first 2/3rds of the book!

Now, it could very well be that gluten sensitivity (not necessarily celiac disease) is far more prevalent than you might think, and that many people with irritable bowel syndrome could benefit by eliminating wheat. But if youre looking for proof that wheat is the culprit, then this book definitely does not provide it. That said, he does reference lots of interesting data, including Denise Mingers excellent debunking of the China Study. Theres a lot of interesting information, though again, since he undermined himself in the last 2 chapters of the book Im not sure how much Id be willing to believe anything he says.

Not recommended.

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Screen Saver Tab Missing Display Properties

Windows XP Screen Saver tab is missing from the Display Properties.
This is because of the malware utilizing Group Policy Objects which enforces policies for system settings and/or user account(s) settings. The Group Policy for Hide Screen Saver tab will cause the Screen Saver tab to be removed from Display Properties when enabled.
Group Policies are typically applied at businesses to control access to programs, system properties, and user account settings. For Home users, the Screen Saver tab can be restricted (removed) by enforcing Group Policies but malware on your computer is usually the culprit. If you are a home user and the Screen Saver tab is missing from the Display Properties and looks like the pictures below then there is a good chance the computer you were using is infected with malware.

Manual Steps Using Group Policy Editor
The Group Policy Editor requires Administrative privileges and is only available for Windows XP Professional Edition. Windows XP Home users can use the Windows XP Registry method to remove the Group Policy.

1. Click Start and then Run.


2. Type gpedit.msc in the Run dialog box.


3. Press ENTER on your keyboard.


4. In the Group Policy Editor navigate to:User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Display


5. Double-click Hide Screen Saver tab.


6. Select Not Configured.
   ***If the Screen Saver tab is missing on a per User account basis then the above method will not work, you will need to use the Registry Editor to remove the Group Policy.***

Manual Steps Using Windows XP Registry

1. Click Start and then Run.


2. Type regedit.exe in the Run dialog box.


3. Press ENTER on your keyboard.


4. Navigate to:HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem
   Right-click NoDispScrSavPage to select Modify.


5. Change the value to 0.


6. Navigate to:HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem
   Right-click NoDispScrSavPage to select Modify.


7. Change the value to 0.


8. Quit the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
   *** You may need to log off then log on to your user account or restart your computer for the changes to take affect.***

Manual Steps Using REG ADD

1. Open a Command Window.


2. Type:REG ADD "HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem" /v NoDispScrSavPage /t REG_DWORD /d 0


3. Press ENTER on your keyboard.


4. Type:REG ADD "HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem" /v NoDispScrSavPage /t REG_DWORD /d 0
5. Press ENTER on your keyboard.


6. Type EXIT and press ENTER on your keyboard.
   ***You may need to log off then log on to your user account or restart your computer for the changes to take affect. ***

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Writing an library to shiftregister continued

Now the code has been cut down to less that 30 lines. here is a part of the code...

do{
if(input(pin_a0))
{
test = 0b11011011;
}
else if(input(pin_a1))
{
test = 0b10011001;
}

for(i=0;i<8;i++)
{
value = bit_test(test,i);

output_low(S_CLK);
output_low(L_CLK);

if(value==1)
{
output_bit(Data,1);
output_bit(S_CLK,value);
output_bit(Data,0);
}
else if(value==0)
{
output_bit(S_CLK,1);
output_bit(S_CLK,0);
}

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Google planning online store to sell tablets

Google is preparing to open an online store that will sell tablets directly to consumers, according to reports.

The store will sell Google-branded tablets as well as models made by Samsung and Asus, claims the Wall Street Journal.

It is being widely seen as an attempt to win back market share from Apple, which dominates the tablet sector.

Google declined to make any comment on the report.

Google had mixed success with its first online hardware store. That sold the first Android phone, the Nexus One, to consumers in early 2010.

Sales of the phone via the web store were sluggish and were quickly outstripped by the numbers of handsets sold through mobile operators and other stores. Online sales were ended in mid-2010.

This time, Google is said to be hoping to fare better because of the way tablets tend to be used - ie in the home and on domestic wi-fi rather than on the street and depending on a mobile network.

This may also have made operators reluctant to push tablets because customers are not using them on mobile networks.

Fierce competition
Another influence on the decision could be the fact that Google is poised to take control of Motorolas mobile division, which will give it the ability to manufacture its own handsets and tablets.

Google will have to sell a lot of tablets to catch up with market leader Apple. Figures compiled by analysts Gartner suggest 70% of all tablets sold are iPads.

No date has been set for when the online store might open, said the WSJ, quoting people familiar with the project.

Google has a diminishing opportunity to launch the store because competition for tablet customers is getting fiercer all the time.

Amazon launched a touch screen Kindle e-reader in the US in late 2011 and the gadget will come to Europe in late April.

In addition, Microsofts Windows 8, which is optimised for touch screens, is expected to be launched in October 2012.

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First Impressions GoPro Helmet Hero HD

One of the daily deals site offered the GoPro Helmet Hero HD for $135, and at that price I jumped on it in the hopes that I might be able to replicate the results of my touring videos locally, without having to carry a stoker up mountains (or deal with a stokers sway as she manhandles the camera at speed!).

At that price, the camera can double as a HD camera as well, for general use as well as if my brothers or friends want to borrow it for skiing.

The device comes with the camera, a waterproof case (with both a waterproof backing and a non-waterproof backing), several adhesive mounts for attaching it to a motor-vehicle, as well as a helmet mount. Sadly enough, the device as is does not come with a scuba unit, though a scuba case can be bought separately through eye of mine for about $100.

The camera comes with a few modes, 720p, 960p, and 1080p. The default is the 960p, which is a weird mode which produces a square picture. The reason for this is that on a bike you might look up and down often and it could be useful to get more picture of road. Having tried it once (see sample video), Im likely to stick with 1080p.

On the helmet, the camera does weigh your head down more. Im not sure I would want to carry it up a major mountain pass on my head, though sticking it into your saddlebag (or jersey pocket) and mounting it for the descents seems like something eminently doable. (Uphill, I have no issues with manipulating a Canon S100.

The output of the video is huge. For 1.5 hours, itll use up 8GB, so at least a 16GB card would be recommended for any kind of extended use. The battery will run out in 2.5 hours, so getting more than 16GB would be pretty pointless unless you have a spare battery. As for the lens quality, you can see it generates a lot of flare when pointed into the sun, so I would make a note of that. This is pretty bad, because cyclists dont usually have control over the flare or not. Note that the camera is designed for what I call "point and pray". Since theres no display for the image youre getting, and the cameras mounted on your helmet, you just cant possibly know what youre shooting until you get home.

On an unsupported tour, Im not sure I would want to have this on my head or in my saddlebag. It weighs only 213 grams (without the charger), but since it uses up video pretty quickly, youd either have to carry a stack of SD cards, or youd have to carry some sort of additional storage, which would be even more weight. On a supported tour, however, such as the first half of our tour of the alps, I would consider it eminently usable. I am now extremely curious to see if I can get Pardo or some other fast descender to stick it on his helmet and take it down Page Mill Road or Highway 9.

For editing the video, unlike indoor videos, where lighting frequently demands color correction (meaning you pretty much need Adobe Premiere Elements or some other such software), outdoor videos dont need much color correction, and all the editing can be done with say, Windows Live Movie Maker, which is what I used for the above sample. The output will likely be huge, but with storage essentially free on YouTube, theres no reason not to store your video there and delete it from your hard drive afterwards.

Would I recommend this? I hesitate. First of all, video editing is much tougher than photo editing. Its not clear that I want to do it, or for that matter anyone else. Secondly, Ive been very happy with my compact camera photos, and Im not sure if video would help. On the other hand, I want to attach it to some of my friends helmets so I can see how they descend, or get their comments on my descents as well, so in that sense its a useful tool.

Ironically, the one place that the HD Hero would be most useful is actually for Scuba. The 2.5 hour battery life is just right for a 2-tank dive, and the fact that the Scuba case comes with a wrist attachment means that it wont get in the way, unlike the Canon underwater housing Ive been using. Neutral buoyancy would also be a non-issue since it would be attached to you, and the case has essentially no air, unlike the Canon cases. Ill probably give it a shot and see. In the mean time, I see no reason to regret the decision at the price I got it for.

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HOW TO DOWNLOAD APPS FROM GOOGLE PLAY ON PC

This is a small tutorial which will let you know how you can download all the apps to your PC or desktop computer. The time comes when your Google Play will not work. At that time this tutorial will help you. :-)

Steps:

1. Go to play store.
2. Choose the app you want to download.
3. Copy the id of the app or copy the whole url.
4. Then open this website.
5. Paste the id/url in the text box and click on "Generate Download Link".
6. After some time You will get a download link to download the apk file.
7. Simple Enjoy.

Note: You cant download paid apps.

LIST OF CUSTOM ROMs FOR Spice Stellar Pinnacle Pro Mi-535

STOCK ROM for Spice Stellar Pinnacle Pro Mi-535

Root Spice Stellar Pinnacle Pro Mi-535

CWM Recovery for Spice Stellar Pinnacle Pro Mi-535

HOW TO MAKE SPICE STELLAR PINNACLE PRO Mi-535 ALIVE AGAIN FROM BRICKED / DEAD STATE?

Stop Automatic running of Apps and gain more from battery

Know how to earn through Cloud computing without investing anything, without doing any work. Make your PC Earn for you. 

Smatter Way for Online Shopping. Spend more and Earn More.

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ANTIVIRUS PROGRAMS

Which anti-virus program is the best?

A number of computer magazines perform regular anti-virus roundups and note the best performers. But over the long haul, which anti-virus program is the best one for you?

---

Each year, one of the magazines I write for regularly, Australian PC User, does an in-depth assessment of the main anti-virus programs available, and gives the nod to the anti-virus program which does the best job. The most recent winner of the PC User anti-virus gong was Esets NOD32. In fact, NOD32 has claimed the top spot in the last four PC User anti-virus shootouts. Its priced competitively and runs at lightning speed.

What more could you want?

Well, some people do want more. For instance:

• Those on a strict budget want to know whether they can use free anti-virus software and still get decent protection.
• Those who have used one anti-virus product for years want to know whether they should stick with it or give it the heave ho.
• Those battling spyware and spam want a product that can defend them on all fronts.
• Those whose systems came with anti-virus Product X already installed want to know it its good enough to do the job.
• Some people want a program that not only offers good protection but which also provides a little handholding.

NOD32 is a great choice for many users, but its not everyones cup of tea.

The problem with anti-virus tests

One of the problems with anti-virus tests is that they focus almost exclusively on accuracy and scanning performance. But what about usability? What about the way the program interacts with your operating system and other applications over time? What about a friendly interface, understandable error messages, unobtrusive virus handling, configurability? How about aesthetics?

Those may seem like trivial issues in comparison to effectiveness and accuracy, but in many ways issues such as aesthetics have an influence on the effectiveness of any program. If you hate the way an anti-virus program looks, works and alerts you to problems, chances are youll either stop using the program or limit how often or how closely it monitors your computer. It will no longer be as effective.

Thats not to say NOD32 is defective in these areas, but its certainly a utilitarian product, designed to do a single job very well without coddling the user. For experienced computer users, its the perfect choice.

If you dont think of yourself as an experienced user, or if youre recommending anti-virus software to someone who lacks computer nous, there are alternative choices well worth considering. After all, 17 products in PC Users September 2004 wrap-up received the independent Virus Bulletins top-rank VB100% Award; three products in addition to NOD32 scored perfectly in every single test. In a usability shootout, some of those other programs would trounce NOD32.

So lets take a look at some of the alternatives.

Freebies

Traditional advice about free anti-virus software is that its okay as an emergency interim measure and better than no protection if you really cannot afford to buy a "real" anti-virus product, but not all that reliable in the long term. That judgment was based on the limitations imposed on free versions and their track record in anti-virus tests over the years.

Its probably time to revise that assessment. Take, for example, AVG from Grisoft, one of the best-known free anti-virus programs. In the past, it only rarely earned the VB 100% Award; in the last two years, it has earned the award six times on multiple platforms. Thats a good recommendation. In addition, if you look at the limitations placed on the free version, youll find very few of them are likely to have a major impact on the programs effectiveness, unless you work in a large networking environment. You can only schedule a single scan per day (but you can run any number of scans manually); you can only schedule one update per day (but once again you can update manually at any time); it cant be installed on server operating systems; theres no technical support; and several advanced testing options are not available. For the average home user, those limitations are immaterial and AVG makes a good choice. Even better, because its free you can try it out and see whether you like how it works.

AVG is not the only free program out there. A Google search for "free anti-virus" will turn up a number of other products, including AntiVir Personal Edition, which runs on Linux, Solaris and a number of other operating systems in addition to Windows; avast! 4 Home Edition, which missed out on a VB 100% Award running on Windows XP, but has a fairly good track record overall; and BitDefender Free Edition v7, probably the only anti-virus program with a skinnable interface.

Combos

Viruses are only one of the threats you face as a computer user. Spyware, phishing scams, intruders, spam…the list is long and gruesome. In fact, for most people these days spyware is a far greater danger than viruses. So products which combine multiple lines of defense – firewall, anti-spyware, spam blocker, anti-virus, and so on – are particularly attractive. Instead of having to pay for the individual components, you can get a bargain by opting for a security suite.

The leading suites are McAfee Internet Security Suite, Norton Internet Security, PC-cillin Internet Security and ZoneAlarm Security Suite. Each includes an anti-virus module, a firewall and a content filter. Some add a spam filter and a spyware remover. Each of the anti-virus modules, in their standalone form, scored a VB 100% Award in the latest testing.

Despite the financial benefits and ease of installing a single security suite, there are some drawbacks to these combination programs. Firstly, the interface can get a little cluttered and the array of options somewhat dazzling. PC-cillin provides an exceptional interface and Norton is pretty good, too; McAfee falls down in this regard.

Secondly, individual components in a suite are not necessarily of the highest calibre. For example, even if you choose a suite with an anti-spyware tool, youll probably need to install additional spyware removers to ensure good protection.

Finally, the all-in-one approach of the suites can lead to some pretty hefty code bloat. Norton Internet Security, for example, is just too heavy for its own good. It bogs down your system, causing slow boot up, slow application load times and a general decline in performance. Youll frequently find Norton scores very well in tests in computer publications, but user ratings (including my own assessment) fall far short of those scores. Thats because its performance deficiencies show up over time and are exacerbated on a well-used machine. McAfee, too, suffers similar performance problems.

If you want to use a suite, try the 2005 version of PC-cillin Internet Security. It provides excellent anti-virus protection, a spyware scanner, spam blocker, and a content blocker. Its firewall is so-so and you may want to adjust the frequency of its pop-up alerts, but it wont hurt your computers performance and its a pleasure to use. Its also available in an economical 3-pack – great for homes with several computers.

Online scanners

If youre in the unfortunate position of having no anti-virus software installed and you think your system may be infected, you can always try one of the free online scanners. These Web-based programs are stop-gap measures only, but useful in times of emergency. They can also provide a useful test of your existing anti-virus defences: run your computer through a battery of online scanners and you may be surprised to find viruses lurking on your seemingly well-defended machine.

Trend Micros Housecall provides free online virus and spyware scanning. (Click the image to see a full-size screenshot.)

There are almost a dozen online scanners available. Note that some of these programs do nothing more than scan your computer for viruses; they wont remove them if they find them. Some do a full job of scanning and disinfecting, while some even add spyware scanning and removal to their tests. Youll need to use Internet Explorer to access most of these online scanners, because they run ActiveX scripts to perform their task, so if youre a Firefox or Mozilla user, be ready to load up IE for a change.

Four of the best online scanners are BitDefender Online, Panda ActiveScan, RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan and Trend House call.

Conclusion

Theres plenty of choice when it comes to choosing effective anti-virus software. You probably wont go wrong if you choose any of the 17 programs listed below in the Award Winners box: each scored a perfect 100% on Virus Bulletins recent tests. Most of these programs provide a trial version you can download and take for a spin, but note that some anti-virus programs are notoriously difficult to uninstall (Norton is one such), so make sure you set a System Restore point before installing.

Whichever program you choose, make sure you keep it up to date. New threats emerge on an almost daily basis, so even the best anti-virus program is only as good as its last update.

Award winners

Each of these programs qualified as a VB 100% Award winner in recent tests:

Authentium COMMAND Antivirus Computer Associates eTrust Antivirus 7.1 Computer Associates Vet Anti-Virus Cat Quick Heal X-Gen * Eset NOD32 Antivirus System FRISK F-Prot Antivirus F-Secure Anti-Virus * G DATA AntiVirustKit Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus Professional H+BEDV AntiVir * Kaspersky Anti-Virus McAfee VirusScan Norman Virus Control * Norton AntiVirus Sophos Anti-Virus Trend Micro PC-cillin VirusBuster

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Review The Newlyweds

The Newlyweds belongs in that category of mainstream fiction known as the immigrant womans narrative. Its considered an important literary art form, though unfortunately its become so cliche that you can list the tropes as a series of checkboxes and watch the author clicks through them one at a time.

This book is a typically cliched example of the genre. The protagonist is a Bangledesh woman (about 10 years ago, it would have been a Chinese woman via Amy Tan or Maxine Kingston Hong) who marries an American engineer and comes to the USA to start a new life. Theres the culture shock moments, theres the clash of religions/expectations, and theres the woman itself: she has next to no skills, and arrives penniless, and is wholly dependent on her software engineering husband. How about once in a while we get a protagonist whos capable of getting a green card all by herself for a change?!

The narrative revolves around the woman (for a change, I would also like to see someone write about the male immigrants, but I guess theyre all too busy being successful software engineers for someone to bother writing about their experience), and the discovery that her husband-to-be had lied to her before the wedding. In the grand scheme of things, these are small lies, and theyre lies of omission, rather than lies of commission. Ive heard of much worse stories in the Asian community. But in this genre, the smallest thing can be blown up into the biggest issue, because thats how the genre works. More importantly, the book is predictable right down to the ending: at no point does the protagonist make an attempt to effect her life in a positive way, or gets over her sense that shes at the center of the universe.

Towards the end of the novel I found myself flipping pages forward out of boredom. I was not surprised that at no point did skipping entire chapters cause me to lose sight of the plot --- thats how slowly the book moves, and how many worthless digressions are woven into the story.

If you enjoy this genre, I suppose this book might be interesting to you: the author is capable of putting together decent prose, and has a good grasp of Bangladeshi life. I cant tell how authentic this is or how well the authors done her homework without putting more effort into this book than it deserves. For all others whove read at least one book in this genre, I suspect that the book will feel ridiculously familiar.

Not recommended. Go read some science fiction instead. At least thats one genre where competent women protagonists are not excluded.

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