Windows Installer Wrapper Wizard

Does anyone out there still know where to get this?  All of the links I google end up pointing back to sywan.nl which apparently doesn’t have the file anymore… L

 

For those that don’t know what it does;

It allows you to take any batch file/setup/script/whatever and call it from a .msi file.  This, if you use Group Policy Objects to deploy software in Active Directory, can come in quite handy.

 

Anywho, it seems I misplaced my old copy and now I can’t find the darn thing on the good ‘ole Internet!! 

TiVo Wins Nod for Users to Share Digital Show

This is a good thing.  The MPAA can go suck on it! 

TiVo Inc., maker of popular digital television recording devices, on Wednesday received approval for technology that would permit users to send copies of digital broadcast shows over the Internet to a limited number of friends.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to certify digital protections on TiVoToGo, which is not yet available but would enable a user to record and send a digital broadcast television show to up to nine others who have been registered on that person's service and has been given a key to see it. The approval came despite concerns by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the National Football League about the risks of unfettered distribution of copyrighted shows and airing regional games outside of their market.

"Each of these technologies has been exhaustively reviewed to ensure contention protection systems prevent the mass indiscriminate redistribution of digital television programming," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. The FCC last year adopted rules to limit distribution of digital, over-the-air television programs over the Internet in an effort to prevent mass illegal copying and sharing, a problem plaguing the music industry.

News source: Reuters

Read full story...

[Neowin.net]

Something to try if your laptop screen regularly goes black and won't turn on

Thank you thank you thank you!!  I have been struggling with this one for a loooong time.

I have been suffering with this problem on my Toshiba Tablet m200 for quite some time, and finally took the initiative to research the issue. At first I thought I was the only one dealing with this so I figured it was hardware specific, but when I asked around I found others with the same problem.

I didn't have an exact repro, but periodically when I closed the lid on my machine and left it alone for a few minutes and plugged in or took out the AC power, the screen would go black and there was no way to bring it back without hard booting the machine. I could tell that the machine was operating fine (the HD was spinning, the lights were on, you could hear the new mail notification in Outlook, etc) but the screen would not come back.

My machine was not set to go into standby when the lid was closed, but it was set to go into standby after 10 minutes. But often I was able to reproduce this in just a minute or two - I'd be using my laptop in a meeting, close the lid and walk back to my office, and couldn't get it back. Of course, this user scenario was also when I'd be changing to or from AC power.

I was pointed at the registry key mentioned in this KB, and after some testing this morning, it appears to have fixed the problem. I am told it is also fixed in XP SP2, although I haven't upgraded yet to verify that.

[KC on Exchange and Outlook]

Military readies directed-energy weapons

Hehe, I say if the folks from PETA object they should put THEM in the cage!

What could be cooler than zapping animals from a few dozens yards away? Apparently nothing overall important for Peter Anthony Schlesinger. While this experiment seems pretty odd it does have some uses according to the U.S. military. It could be used to paralyze attackers, disable missiles, and even disable vehicles. That is if PETA doesn't put an end to the chick experiment.

A few months from now, Peter Anthony Schlesinger hopes to zap a laser beam at a couple of chickens or other animals in a cage a few dozen yards away.

If all goes as planned, the chickens will be frozen in mid-cluck, their leg and wing muscles paralyzed by an electrical charge created by the beam, even as their heart and lungs function normally. Among those most interested in the outcome will be officials at the Pentagon, who helped fund Schlesinger's work and are looking at this type of device to do a lot more than just zap a chicken.

Devices like these, known as directed-energy weapons, could be used to fight wars in coming years. "When you can do things at the speed of light, all sorts of new capabilities are there," said Delores Etter, a former undersecretary of defense for science and technology and an advocate of directed-energy weapons. Directed energy could bring numerous advantages to the battlefield in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops have had to deal with hostile but unarmed crowds as well as dangerous insurgents.

News source: CNN

Read full story...

[Neowin.net]

Alienware Rebrands TekPanel as 'DHD'

Ooooh, I want one of these...  So I can load the BeyondTV network client on it!!!

 

Haha, DHD, they must be Stargate-SG1 fans.

Alienware has a new line of Windows Media Center PCs that are integrated into flat-panel displays which they're calling "DHD" systems (You know, Digital Home, errr, uhm) but you may know as Hy-Tek's TekPanel of The Apprentice fame. So despite Alienware's claims of "innovation," there's not a whole lot new to see here; it's a PC stuffed into a 5-inch deep large-screen LCD TV. That's nice and all, but as eHomeUpgrade's Alexander Grundner rightfully asks, is it really worth paying eight grand and up for an all-in-one unit when the computer part of it will be obsoleted in a couple of years?

I guess if you're already shopping at Alienware, you're not really looking for value in the first place.

Read - Alienware Launches DHD Line - Hybrid Flat Panel TV/Media Center PC [eHomeUpgrade]
Read - Product Page [Alienware]

Related
'The Apprentice' Tek Panel PC [Gizmodo]

[Gizmodo]

Microsoft LimitLogin going public soon

This looks cool!  This way you can limit those generic accounts!  Yeah, I can hear you now, "we don't use generic accounts."  Well....  Yes you do... And I guarantee that more than one person knows the password.

Thanks <b>anon</b>...Limit Logon testers have just been notified that the beta test period is nearly over. A public release will be available soon.

"Thank you for participating in the Beta Test program for LimitLogin. We are pleased to announce LimitLogin will be available for download on Microsoft web site soon. Your bug reports and suggestions for improving LimitLogin have helped us to build a great product."

LimitLogin adds the ability to limit concurrent user logins in an Active Directory domain. This tool will be released as a resourcekit tool for Windows 2003, it requires IIS 6 and is not supported (as all resource kit tools). The tool is 3.55 MB. Read more for further information.

News source: In-House

Read full story...

[Neowin.net]

Shark Repellant That Just Might Work

Not that I would EVER get into deep water and have a need for it, but I thought if funny none the less.  I wonder what they pay their beta testers? :)

I'd always thought "shark repellant" was just sort of an ACMEesque joke product, but apparently there have been a variety of products available for just such a purpose as far back as World War II. The downside of these repellents, though - and this is a pretty big downside - is that they generally didn't work. Now a pair of researchers have developed a new goop that appears to be effective at chasing away at least four species of sharks for up to two hours with just four ounces in the water (tiny, defenseless handheld sharks judging by the picture).

The shark-scaring slime is actually (at least partially) extract from dead sharks, gathered from New Jersey fish markets. No word yet if sharks from other fish markets will create something so foul smelling or if New Jersey is an integral part of the formula.

Read - Shark repellent tested in Bahamas [CNN]

[Gizmodo]