opis:
Ashampoo PowerUp 2009 służy do tuningowania i dostrajania systemu operacyjnego Windows oraz pakietu biurowego Office. Podstawą programu jest szereg wbudowanych profili pracy systemu, spośród których użytkownik wybiera ten z ustawieniami najbardziej odpowiednimi do jego zastosowań – np. gry, Internet, praca biurowa itp..Specjalny moduł Profile Assistant pozwala zmienić także poszczególne ustawienia w ramach wybranego profilu. Risk Level Monitor pilnuje, czy aktualna konfiguracja nie zagraża stabilności i bezpieczeństwu systemu, a w razie problemów Rescue Center przywraca poprzednie ustawienia. Program posiada opcję aktualizacji przez Internet.

http://rapidshare.com/files/291976816/PUP_up_by_Lamp5.rar

apocalex: Well, call me naive, nod your head and stroke your wizened old man beards.  Or cackle at my ignorance.  But I’m finding more and more reason to hate on Modern Warfare 2.

I know, you’ve probably heard it all over the interwebs already.  But I just heard about it, and I just realized some of the implications.

I was wrong in my understanding of what IW.net would be before, I thought it was almost a dedicated server system, regulated by Infinity Ward, giving a controlled environment akin to BF2’s “ranked” servers – which were official or authorized by EA.

It’s not.  It’s simply a content regulation service that sits outside of the game itself.  To what end?  Content regulation service that sits blah blah blah.  I cannot think of a single good reason that this would require replacing a dedicated hosting option, since dedicated hosting does not require IW to make any modifications to the game (correct me if you’re well informed, please).

The word is also filtering out through the “real” gaming blogs (Come on people HIT ME!  With a mouse click, not a fist) that MW2 is also limiting the maximum number of players across the board (PC, PS3, 360) to 9v9.  Due to, read it twice:

“the number of players we focused on when we were balancing map size, perks, classes, challenges, etc.”

Ignoring the fact that this implies that the arcade/powerup elements are making significant balance issues over actual player skill, and I will accept that argument and not make a hasty assumption that they’re simply dumbing down the PC version.  HOWEVER.

What happens when there’s only 10 people playing?

I do not think it is practical to argue a point about balancing a game for a certain number of players when there will always be instances of less than that number of players occurring.  If there is a reason, then why not argue for an extra 2 player slots?  Will that many people make that much of a difference?  If so, then why not implement a voting system?  I’ve played more than my share of games where the host player is constantly killing off his teammates and is not kicked because he is the host.  I’ve also played more than my share of games where a clan member is opposite his entire clan team, and it becomes obvious he is giving them our position.

It is an excuse to say 9v9 is the optimal number for balanced gameplay.  Balanced gameplay should be inherent, not based on a certain number of players.  If it wasn’t, then any game I play where there is 8 vs 9 should not count towards “rank” or stats.  Because it is unfair, whether to my advantage or not.

Console players must be content to take a hit on graphics and number of players because the system can’t handle it.  And now PC players must take a hit on freedom and number of players because the developer says so (I mean this in a literal sense – unless IW implements a “max number of players” option in creating private matches on PC, then they are limiting how gamers play).

I’m riled, my friends.  My spark of hopefulness in a good, skill based, massive fight FPS is fading, and it seems IW is hovering a chopper right over my candle vigil.

Download it for PC!!!!!!!!!

The game is all about avoiding the incoming tank. Player handles a tank colored green. The controls are as follows :-

• w – forward
• s – backward
• a – left
• d – right
• l – speed up
• k – speed down
• esc – quits the game
• any other key stops the tank.

There are currently three power ups, namely

• +10000 score (pink circle)
• +1 enemy (orange rectangle)
• -1 enemy (white circle)

The more the number of enemy, faster your score will increase.

I would be glad to hear from those who play the game. Would feel really glad for any report of  bugs, likes, dislikes et all. Hope you enjoy the game…

PowerUp 3 makes life simpler for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista users with a a single control center for all your Windows settings, explaining everything in simple language. It adds more protection against incorrect settings, more control, more configuration options and makes the whole process super easy. And it comes with a beautiful new graphical design for Windows Vista! PowerUp 3 comes with a package of professionally tuned profiles for a variety of purposes. Just select the profile and PowerUp automatically configures your entire system in seconds for office work, games, video, and photo editing or just maximum all-round performance.

Note: This application is for non-commercial purpose only. If you like the product, please purchase it.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A4AZPWPZ
http://www.mediafire.com/?oizmo0mjgzk
http://www.easy-share.com/1907457050/Ashampoo.PowerUp-Havesoftwares-Most.Wanted’s.Blog.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/270526442/Ashampoo.PowerUp-Havesoftwares-Most.Wanted_s.Blog.zip.html

Request: Benefited Users can pray for, well-being of my friend Hemamani Deepa.

GPU-Z, GPU ve ekran kartınızla ilgili size ayrıntılı bilgi veren, kullanışlı bir araçtır. NVIDIA ve ATI kartlarını destekleyen yazılım, GPU, ekran bilgisi ve overclock gibi ekran kartıyla ilgili birçok bilgiyi kullanıcılarla paylaşıyor. Yazılımın bir diğer önemli özelliği ise, kullanımının herhangi bir kurulum gerektirmemesi.

My superpower isn’t running, its democracy, but I ran in the Sun Run today, cape and all.  It was a good run, the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold and no rain or blazing sun.  We had a whole bunch of BC-STV volunteers running and more who showed up afterwards to hand out pamphlets to the crowd leading BC Place.  We got the word out to a lot of people and raised some heads with our capes. Congratulations to everyone on completing their race.

I found that a lot of the people who I talked to already knew about the referendum or were curious to learn more.  I hope everyone had  a fun time. If anyone has pictures of runners with STV shirts or capes let me know or post them up on the facebook group for supporters of BC-STV.

If you saw us in the race and didn’t get to talk to us outside the stadium just head over to stv.ca, comment to this comment or get into the discussion on  twitter by searching for #bcstv.

When we last left our hero, VoteMan, he had been defeated by the misguided henchmen Apathyon and Disinformationatrix.  Now, after a time of exile in his Citizen’s Assembly of solitude deep in the mountains of BC, VoteMan has returned!  With his trusty sidekick Ballotbox they will rid the province of wasted votes and ensure the people of BC get the government they want rather than having to resort to their own limited Strategic Voting powers.

Look for your electoral reform superheros this Sunday in the Sun Run and give them a cheer, they’ll be easy to spot in blue capes.  Then after the run look for even more heroes outside and inside the stadium, get a button, get a t-shirt and help defeat Apathyon and Disinformationatrix once and for all.

Power up your vote, say “Yes” to BC-STV!

Just saw a fudgemaker won 15k in a Brooklyn Bplan competition put on by the local library. This is the fourth year of the PowerUp! competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Business Library and supported by the Citi Foundation (don’t know if that will continue). From the article by Joyce Shelby;

The basic recipe for Brooklyn Fudge has been in the family for generations, said Jones, who majored in acting at New York University. Her business is an outgrowth of her decision to alter the recipe, making it suitable for kosher and vegan diets. Check out the Web site (www.brooklynfudge.com).

The PowerUp! competition is sponsored by the Citi Foundation.

There were two second-place winners in this year’s contest: Nzinga Knight of Nzinga Knight International, who designs modest evening wear suitable for Muslim women, and Elissa Olin of Green Home Green Living. She plans to open a one-stop shop for environmentally friendly goods in Fort Greene. Each winner received $5,000.

The images:

Powerup!

Danger!

Semper Vigilans

Poison.

Refresh (F5)

And, the essay:

Contextual Analysis: Images Unit

This essay aims to explore and reflect upon the production of five images created for the theme: Nature and Technology.

Firstly, an overview of the images that have been created. The first in the gallery is “Powerup!” an image which depicts an iconic videogame object, a Mario mushroom, famous for its ability to give you power. However, overlaid is an image of a faded real life mushroom. While real life mushrooms do not elevate us to the powers the Italian plumber is capable of in various Nintendo videogames, mushrooms are a food which can give mankind great energy. In a way, our need for nature is reflected in this technological videogame, and that is what this image is designed to illustrate.

Second in the gallery is “Danger!” which depicts the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, photoshopped to be within an oven. Traditionally, Maori cultures have actually used their geothermal location to their advantage, including to cook food. And real life experience of this inspired this image, which shows that there are parallels between technology in nature, especially in how humans harness such things.

Third is “Semper Vigilans” (which literally translates to: “Always Vigilant”), an image which shows a selection of children, in a playground, having fun. However, the sky in the background is grey and shows, that the clouds that watch over the children have logos of technology corporations within (Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple). This image is supposed to represent technology monitoring (in a somewhat negative way) the nature of children. All those children are to those companies, who have enormous power, are potential customers and nothing more. They’re being watched, studied, and evaluated. The fact that Nvidia’s logo looks somewhat like a Big Brother eye inspired this image.

The penultimate image in the gallery is of a similar nature, “Poison.” , a picture of a poisonous frog, with its vibrant red markings now containing the logos of Coca Cola, KFC and Virgin. A parallel is drawn here between the nature of a frog or other poisonous creature and the insidious ways in which corporations gain and keep control of their market shares, all of these corporations being a product of technology.

Finally, an image titled “Refresh (F5)”, showing the Planet Earth, from space, with a Computer cursor over the moon, which is emblazoned with an iconic Refresh logo from Internet Explorer. This image is deliberately polysemic, but either way it is a comment on the fact that technology can refresh or rejuvenate nature.

All the images have been put in a gallery named “Rendezvous”, which, as the name suggests, is about a meeting of nature and technology rather than a fight or just the two things in the same area. A sort of mash up between the world and the things Man has created within it.

Various issues arose during the production of these images. Firstly, the constraints of this image project state that the images created have to be digital in nature. A lack of Photoshop experience restricted the creative possibilities, ideas and inspirations that were thought of and sketched in the visual diary. For example, an image about technology interfering in a usually natural process (in this case, insemination) was scrapped from the list of ideas due to simply being unable to craft such an elaborate image as was desired to illustrate this point.

Another restricting factor in the creation of these digital images was that images were sourced from various online places and images suitable for use in some ideas were impossible to find.

Inspiration arose from a variety of places, varying from image to image. Some images were inspired by life experiences and rooted in hobbies (For example, the inspiration provided by Mario videogames for the image titled “Powerup!”) or the surroundings in which the person creating the images has found themselves (As seen in the images “Danger!”). Other aspects of design were inspired by lectures or other educational material.

The independent film “Helvetica” (Helvetica, 2007, [Film] Directed by Gary Hustwit. USA: Swiss Dots/Veer) provided the most dramatic impact on the typography choices throughout the gallery. This is especially obvious in the image “Poison.” Where the font is deliberately similar to Helvetica… A font so common place and so inbuilt into our world that we hardly even notice anymore. It (from a design point of view) is like the companies shown on the back of the frog in the image, in that it is a poison within society that society itself is too immersed within to even see.

Other typographical choices were made on the basis of iconic images and the familiarity they have with what the image contains. A classic videogame font such as Press Start is itself almost as iconic, if not more than, the Mario mushroom within the main part of the image itself. It is steeped in connotations for anyone from a video gaming era of various retro games on 8-bit systems.

Composition wise, the various images have their own compositional styles. Such as “Refresh (F5)” which deliberately does not draw the eye to the moon with refresh logo (The part of the image wherein the meaning and readings lie), but instead let the reader focus at first on the image of the world. Using focus (Grill, T. & Scanlon, M. (1984) Photographic Composition. New York, Fountain Press) to achieve subtlety allows the audience to gaze upon an image and be thinking about the topic of the image for a short time before they notice the potential readings or perceptions.

Subtle parts to an image is also used in the image “Semper Vigilans”, which deliberately has a grey, uninspiring background containing the parts of the image that actually matter, while the starting point and main focal area is a colourful foreground. Opacity is used here to obscure the parts of the image that are eventually the main point of the image, and the parts that provide the preferred reading. (Hall, S. (1980) ‘Cultural Studies: two paradigms’, Media, Culture and Society 2, 57-72)

A key part of composition is lines. Lines have meanings and these have been explored in some of the images in the gallery. The image “Powerup!” in particular contains diagonal line in the typography, lending itself to the meaning of action or movement. This pertains to the energy implied by the image in that it is about the energy nature (or the Mario Mushroom Powerup) provides us (or the player).

One compositional theory observed in the creation of these images was the Golden Ratio/Rule of Thirds (Petersen, B. (2003) Learning to See Creatively, Design, Colour and Composition in Photography. New York, Watson-Gupthill). While many of the images do not contain an obvious example of this, the image “Danger!” represents a consideration for the rule of thirds that is supposed to be pleasing to the eye. The object of an oven is supposed to look appealing to customers and has been designed with that in mind, the horizontal lines demonstrating the technique.

Colour wise, the colours nature uses were the ones that were focused on the most. The red in “Poison.” is universally a colour with connotations of danger, and nature’s choice of colour to show that the frog is poisonous. But, red has many connotations, and it’s the other connotations that the companies depicted in the picture focus on. Warmth, love and vibrancy are the aimed meanings behind the various company logos, but the polysemy of the colour red allows the image to portray the companies in an alternate light. (Hebdige, Dick, 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. New York: Metheun:4)

A different technique was used in “Semper Vigilans”, wherein the background is completely devoid of colour and deliberately bleak. While it contains important aspects to the image, the focus of the audience is directed by the contrast of colour, as discussed earlier in this essay. The lack of colour shows a lack of warmth that those companies would otherwise portray in their logos, and a grim, dark skyline is a sort of pathetic fallacy in image form: an implication of mood through use of colour.

Consideration of semiotics is perhaps the most important aspect of any image creation process. Creating meaning is the aim of the project and semiotics is the study of those meanings. This essay has discussed in part the connotations of various aspects of the images, all of which is part of a semiotic analysis.

Saussure talked at great lengths about the relationship between signifier and signified, which creates meaning at its most basic level (Saussure, Ferdinand de ([1916] 1974): Course in General Linguistics (trans. Wade Baskin). London: Fontana/Collins). This is in all images, and the ones created for this project are no exception. All the images have signs, whether the signifiers are frogs, refresh icons, or hand drawn clouds. And they have a signified, for example: a real life cloud in the mind of the audience.

One last important thing to touch on is mythology and ideology, as discussed by Barthes (Barthes, Roland. Image-Music-Text New York, Noonday Press 1977). Images and their meanings change completely in different cultures, belief systems and contexts. Perhaps the best example of this in the images created for this project is “Refresh (F5)”, in which the meaning of the picture is completely different perhaps for someone of a religious persuasion. To that audience, the picture could have an almost biblical, “Noah and the Ark” sense of heavenly punishment about it.

In conclusion to this, all the images created for this project are inherently, the result of various inspirations rooted in a desire to express semiotic meanings. They are shaped by compositional choices and in some small ways, restricted by the limitations of ability.

Word Count (Without References): 1530

Word Count (With references): 1615

Blog: http://animpgrimoire.wordpress.com

Bibliography:

Helvetica, 2007, [Film] Directed by Gary Hustwit. USA: Swiss Dots/Veer

Bonnici, P. & Proud, L. (1998) Designing with Photographs. New York, Rotovision

Grill, T. & Scanlon, M. (1984) Photographic Composition. New York, Fountain Press

Hedgecoe, J (2006) The Art of Digital Photography. New York, Dorling Kindersley

Petersen, B. (2003) Learning to See Creatively, Design, Colour and Composition in Photography. New York, Watson-Gupthill

Hall, S. (1980) ‘Cultural Studies: two paradigms’, Media, Culture and Society 2, 57-72

Hebdige, Dick, 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. New York: Metheun:4

Saussure, Ferdinand de ([1916] 1974): Course in General Linguistics (trans. Wade Baskin). London: Fontana/Collins

Saussure, Ferdinand de ([1916] 1983): Course in General Linguistics (trans. Roy Harris). London: Duckworth

Barthes, Roland, 1993 [1972]. ‘Myth Today’, in Mythologies, translated by Annette Lavers. London: Vintage: 142-143

Barthes, Roland. Image-Music-Text New York, Noonday Press 1977

http://brisbane-stories.powerup.com.au/scatteredpeople/

-Aaron’s story – China

My story contrasts with Aaron’s story very much.

Aaron says ‘[he has] two identities-at home I am a farmer’s son, and that’s the identity I was born with.’

To be identified as someone’s son/daughter or someone’s sister/brother is not exactly ideal for your self esteem. It seems that nobody knows anything about you, besides the fact that you are someone’s kid. Being known as someone’s child based on occupation (farmer) is just like being called a PK (pastor’s kid). Obviously you wouldn’t like it to be called the doctor’s kid, or accountant’s son. Therefore, my life contrasts: I only have one identity.

Other contrasts: Aaron explains, ‘To go to university free of charge means you have to be among the top 5% of your peers. A very challenging and very ambitious plan for a kid, for a farmer’s son, to get such an idea, such a plan, and to have such a desperate need to restructure your life.’

He is still referring himself as a farmer’s son, but expresses himself that he wants to restructure his life. Many of us (me included) have not had a thought of ‘restructuring’ their lives. To restructure is ‘to construct or form anew or provide with a new structure.’ This means that restructuring your lives may even be a lifelong process.

After a day of watching the original Zorro accompanied by a live orchestra (which was great), I came home looking for a fun game. My friend had tried the Audiosurf demo and loved it, so off I went to grab it. It’s very entertaining and works fine in Linux under Wine which is great too.

Audiosurf is available in different forms of resale, the most widely recognized on Valve’s Steam. I decided to get it and give it a shot. I’ll explain it’s game-play first though. You can “ride” your music in different ships that you unlock from playing all the ones available to at the time.

The point is to make clusters of three or more of the blocks (in all except the “mono” rides, there are multiple colours) to get points they are located along the highway which is essentially your music. There are also power-ups that you can grab which will modify/ add blocks in your stack.

There are three stacks per normal play (two per player if in a multi-player ship) which if you overfill, you’ll lose points and can’t collect blocks for a certain amount of time due to you “re-spawning”. I haven’t tried all of the ships yet; mainly due to being too entertained by just the mono versions (they are easier too ).

I enjoy the excellent visuals as well; there are great particle effects and the track and blocks go along very well with your music due to some form of software which is quite revolutionary, the track will also bump along to your music if there is a strong beat (the track sometimes does barrel rolls too!). Other background visuals are nice too; and none of them get too distracting. I also greatly enjoy the scoreboards to see if I ever receive a place on one.

There’s lots of minute things and other twists and turns on this game (which style is wonderful; never really seen anything like it) which you may discover yourself when you give the demo version a shot. As well as being able to choose your own songs to play on; there is also a radio feature where new songs are set up every week; but one song (my personal favorite), the Audiosurf overture, remains there forever.

I highly suggest you try it and give me your feedback, I enjoy it’s “genre” and you probably will too. Give it a shot and look at some of the screen-shots and other information/ news on it’s official site. Have a blast of audiovisual gaming fun.

Audiosurf homepage:
http://www.audio-surf.com/

Audiosurf overture:
http://www.mediafire.com/?nzh4ipvxlto

Farewell,
nikoPSK

Enfocado en principios de ingeniería y medio ambiente, la nueva plataforma virtual aparece coincidiendo con la Feria Internacional de Energía y Medioambiente.

IBM ha lanzado Power Up (www.powerupthegame.org), un nuevo videojuego en tres dimensiones que reta a los jóvenes a ayudar a salvar un planeta virtual llamado “Helios” de un inminente desastre ecológico a través de misiones relacionadas con la energía solar, eólica e hidráulica. Este juego, de descarga gratuita, se sirve del interés de los niños en los mundos virtuales para sumergirles en temas como la conservación de la energía y en nociones sobre ingeniería. En este marco, los jugadores deberán construir torres solares o reparar turbinas de viento buscando las piezas en depósitos de chatarra.

Power Up anima a los jugadores a convertirse en expertos en energías renovables y crear electricidad utilizando fuentes verdes. El calentamiento global atrapa al jugador que acepta el reto de reducir las emisiones de CO2 y reparar las infraestructuras de energías renovables que han sido destruidas a causa de las tormentas de arena o las inundaciones que amenazan el planeta. El lanzamiento de este juego coincide en España con la Feria Internacional de Energía y Medioambiente, que se celebra esta semana en Madrid, un encuentro con un enfoque orientado a la eficiencia energética y el respeto al medio ambiente.

Power Up provee un manual didáctico teórico-práctico que ayuda a los profesores a acercar a estudiantes temas como la transformación y el uso de energías renovables. Al mismo tiempo, los jugadores se encontrarán con personajes “ingenieros” que les acompañarán como guías a lo largo del juego.

Los expertos en innovación de IBM aplicaron su conocimiento en 3D y mundos virtuales para desarrollar el juego en aproximadamente 16 meses y cerca de 200 jóvenes sirvieron de consejeros durante ese tiempo hasta dar vida a Power Up.

Este proyecto se engloba dentro del programa de acción social IBM TryScience (www.tryscience.org) en el que participa IBM, New York Hall of Science y centros científicos de todo el mundo para estimular el interés por la ciencia y la tecnología.

IBM julkaisi ilmaisen 3d-pelin teineille ja muillekin opettaakseen ympäristönsuojelua, uutisoidaan tänään. Yksin ja moninpelattava PowerUp päästää pelaajat pelastamaan Helios-nimistä planeettaa, joka kärsii mittavista kasvihuonekaasujen aiheuttamista ongelmista, kerrotaan uutisissa.

Olisiko tämä helpompi keino saada nuoria tajuamaan ympäristönsuojelun merkitystä arjen elämässäkin?

22nd January 2008 

I didn’t really think I’d be adding to this blog so soon but I’ve just spent an hour on something so thought I’d best log it while it’s fresh.

I’ve recently bought a Treo 650 smart phone to replace my dog eaten Palm VX, and my Nokia 6210i, which wouldn’t let me use the S key.

I really like my new phone, which is now superceded. It is really clever and can be modified and adjusted using a variety of add-on applications.  I have enabled the Bluetooth reverse dial up on it, and am actually using it to update this blog.

There is only one problem with using bluetooth to surf the net: when I subsequentally use the phone in the car my bluetooth handsfree (Parrot CK3100) doesn’t connect unless I reset the Treo. Why this I don’t know but I suspect the Treo doesn’t clean up the connection settings when the bluetooth to PC session is over.

So, anyway, I got to thinking: why can’t I automate the reset?

I had “softReset” on the phone, and an idea that there were applications that can launch applications on a schedule.

Off to mytreo.net I went.  I looked through the various schedule programs and found one called “crony”.  It was tiny, looked simple and appeared to do what I wanted.

I installed it on the phone (direct from the website).

The interface was difficult to get to grips with, but once I’d figured that it had a seperate time tab for each component of time (minutes/hours/days/months) and that I had to tick the time on EACH tab I was able to get it to work.

Once I had the hang of this I set it up to launch softReset at 6 am, also figuring out to tick the “wakeup” checkbox on the crony setup screen.

I reset the clock to test it, and sure enough the application launched, but it didn’t reset.

This is because you have to press a button on the SoftReset application screen to get it to work.

Crony can be set to automatically press on a button when the application is launched, however you need to type in a button ID programming code, rather than just typing the button.

I tried to find out this programming code using a tool called “Bird” but it was more complex than I had time to invest, so I abandoned the SoftReset approach.

Back to mytreo.net to look at the other soft reset tools, and there I found a really tiny application called mReset. 

This was ideal.  When you press the icon from Launcher it immediately resets the Treo – no menus – no options, straight to a reset Treo.

Perfect.

Set it up in Crony and success!  My Treo reset as planned.

Except….

The phone didn’t connect to the Network.  Now, this is odd – sometimes when the Treo resets the phone auto connects, sometimes it doesn’t.

Back to mytreo.net to look for an application that forces the phone to switch on when reset, and, thankfully, there is a program called PowerUp that does exactly this.

Download and install the program, click on the “Turn Phone On after Restart” box and test.

I reset the clock and it worked, exactly as I wanted it.

I’ll see how it works tomorrow, and whether the Treo connects with my Handsfree in the car, but I’m confident.

end.

24th January 2008

Update 

It certainly worked!  However I’ve learned that all three applications need to be in main memory. 

Also PowerUp is not Freeware (unlike Crony and mReset).  Costs 5USD, so I may look for an alternative, as I’d prefer to buy an application that does the whole job, not just part of it.  I may email the author and see what he suggests.

end.