First Windows 7 Tweaks

I love a fast clean system that will focus all it's attention to the tasks I give it to perform. So I turn off or optimize all features that I don't need to run all the time. Here are the tweaks I start with. User Account Control When you are tweaking features you will be prompted to ALLOW access to almost everything you try to change. The following procedures step you through the tasks of turning off UAC, disabling Admin Approval Mode -thus disabling (most) prompting. Click "Start" and type "use" and select "User Accounts" then "Change User Account Control settings" and slide the bar to "Never notify" Turn off Windows Search Indexing It has a severe impact on system performance. (I think it will be removed in future versions of Windows because it beats a hard drive to death.) My hard drive finds anything I want in a few seconds without indexing. Click "Start" "Computer" (or winkey + e) and Click the C: Drive Then RIGHT click to get to Properties. On General Tab, Uncheck "Index this drive for faster searching" On the subsequent dialog box, Select Include subfolders and files Here is a tip for locating files: Since I'm usually trying to find "what is turning that program on" and it's usually a system file that has hidden and system attributes, the Windows search feature probably will not find it anyway. So I use this trick from the DOS age: Go to the command prompt and change to the root: cd\ Then run this command: attrib filename.ext /s The first time I run it, it takes about 20 seconds to search through every file name on my system and reply "file not found" but the next time it takes less than 3 seconds.... EVEN if I close the command prompt window and open it again later it only takes 3 seconds to locate any file. Only rebooting slows it down the first time it runs. Several Windows "features" are not needed and they hinder system performance. To disable these services, Click "Start" and type "fe" and select "Turn Windows Features on or off" These are the most unnecessary: Remote Differential Compression Offline Files (unless you’re using Offline File Sync) Tablet PC Input Service (unless you have a tablet PC) Terminal Services Fax (unless you’re using a fax modem) You can turn them all off EXCEPT "Windows Search" because that one will remove the search box that you type into when you click "Start" You may want to leave on the "Internet Explorer" and "Media Features" since they add extra features to those programs. Put the Axe to Scheduled Task Windows 7 has over 100 tasks scheduled. I turned ALL mine off because I will run them when I want them to run (like defrag, backup) and I'm not interested in sending Microsoft about 20 diffrent reports on a daily/hourly basis. You can look them over and decide for yourself. There is a brief description when you mouse-over them. Click "Start" and type "ta" and select "Task Scheduler Manager" go to Microsoft/Windows and right click and start disabling. There are tweaking utilities that make it easier by giving you boxes to uncheck... but the ones I have used don't show all the tasks that are listed by this method. Check this FREQUENTLY because this has become a very popular method for third party programs to secretly get loaded and run all the time. Install Ad-Aware and go to the Task Scheduler and see it checks for updates weekly. This service will be abused more and more as companies realize their products are being removed from the start menus. Turn off Hibernation Unless you are worried about your laptop battery going out while you are working on an important document and losing the data, Hibernation is a waste of disk space. It builds large files that slow down backup and cloning. To disable hibernation: Click "Start" and type "powercfg -h off" (without quotes) and when you press enter a screen with come up and disappear. Windows Defender - Too much defence - it wants too run often. Click "Start" and type and enter "def" and select "Windows Defender" click "Tools" "Options" and uncheck the box "Automatically Scan" It's easy to create a desktop shortcut and run it when you want it to run. Create a desktop shortcut to "\program files\windows defender\MSASCui.exe" and run it from time to time. It searches for malware and spyware, much like AdAware Turn off automatic Defragmenter Defragging every week or two is often enough, so run it manually when you are going to take a break. Click "Start" type "di" and select "Disk Defragmenter"and "Configure scheduler" and uncheck the "Run on schedule" box. A little more speed (yeah, I can never get enough) Click "Start" "Computer" "System Properties" "Advanced System Settings" and under Performance click "Settings" Then click "Custom" (under the Visual Effects tab) and uncheck all the boxes EXCEPT "Show window contents while dragging" "Smooth edges of screen fonts" and "Use drop shadows for icon labels" Reboot and Enjoy. Whew... this is enough for today. I should be getting paid for this! I'm writing this from my research notes and my personal experience setting up Windows 7 several times and running it for a few months... not copying and pasting from some webpage.

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TinEye Adds Reverse Image Lookup to Firefox [Downloads]

 

Last year we introduced you to TinEye, an image-based search engine that helps you find other instances of the image in question across the web. TinEye is now available as a Firefox plugin, making it much easier to use. For the unfamiliar, TinEye is a search tool that takes an image you give it and searches out other copies of that image online. In our original review of the service we used a picture of our own Gina Trapani for our test search. Check out the original article for a run down on the results. One of the inconveniences to using TinEye was that you had to grab the URL or a copy of the image you wanted to have TinEye scan for and then go visit the TinEye website. It seems a trivial detail, but in the age of right-click "Search Google for..." convenience, an add-on that places the TinEye search right into the right-click context menu is great for ease of use. A caveat that remains from our original test of TinEye is that it is surgically precise. The sample photo, seen in the screenshot above, is a picture of Christina Hendricks—from the television show Mad Men—attending the 2008 Emmy Awards. Photos of her from that award ceremony are all over the internet. When searching with TinEye, however, you are given the locations of the exact instances of that image, not images that are almost the same. The TinEye Firefox extension is free and works wherever Firefox does. If you have your own tips and tricks for image searches, let's hear about them in the comments. TinEye Firefox Extension [via Firefox Facts]

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Earliest hominid discovered - Yahoo! News Photos

 

Thu Oct 1, 6:36 PM ET

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This image provided by the journal Science shows the reconstructed frontal view of the skeleton 'Ardi.' The story of humankind is reaching back another million years with the discovery of 'Ardi,' a hominid who lived in what is now Ethiopia 4.4 million years ago. (AP Photo/Science, J.H. Matternes) NO SALES NO ARCHIVES, MUST USE BY OCT. 15, 2009

Earliest hominid discovered - Yahoo! News Photos

Before Lucy came Ardi, new earliest hominid found - Yahoo! News

 

AP – This undated digitally rendered composite image provided by the journal Science shows the foot of the …

• Slideshow:Earliest hominid discovered

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid, Ap Science Writer – Thu Oct 1, 6:33 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The story of humankind is reaching back another million years as scientists learn more about "Ardi," a hominid who lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The 110-pound, 4-foot female roamed forests a million years before the famous Lucy, long studied as the earliest skeleton of a human ancestor.

This older skeleton reverses the common wisdom of human evolution, said anthropologist C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University.

Rather than humans evolving from an ancient chimp-like creature, the new find provides evidence that chimps and humans evolved from some long-ago common ancestor — but each evolved and changed separately along the way.

"This is not that common ancestor, but it's the closest we have ever been able to come," said Tim White, director of the Human Evolution Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

The lines that evolved into modern humans and living apes probably shared an ancestor 6 million to 7 million years ago, White said in a telephone interview.

Before Lucy came Ardi, new earliest hominid found - Yahoo! News

Rush Working Men CD/DVD compilation

Rush Working Men CD/DVD compilation tracklist, cover images

UPDATE - 9/30@9:44AM: And here's the press release as a pdf directly from the Rush website which includes a CD cover image and the DVD cover image.

UPDATE - 9/30@8:44AM: Here's the official press release (thanks RushFanForever). It doesn't really reveal any information that we didn't already know other than to say that One Little Victory will be a previously unreleased version, which one has to assume is the the version that was left off of R30 and that will appear on the R30 re-release. Also a couple of corrections to my list below; Subdivisions was not on Rush in Rio and YYZ was not on R30 but will be on the R30 re-release.

I recently let you know that Rush would be releasing a new CD/DVD compilation on November 17th which will include cuts from their 3 most recent concert DVDs: Rush in Rio, R30 and Snakes & Arrows Live. The compilation will be titled Working Men and Music Tap recently revealed the tracklist (thanks RushFanForever).

Atlantic Records will be releasing Working Men for Rush, which is a 12-track performance collection ("Limelight," "The Spirit of Radio," "2112," "Freewill," "Dreamline," "Far Cry," "Subdivisions," "One Little Victory," "Closer to the Heart," "Tom Sawyer," "Working Man," "YYZ") planned for November 17. Rounder will release the DVD title for this one, same date.

Notice that they did not indicate from which of the 3 DVDs each track would originate, although we can narrow things down a bit. Here's the tracklist along with a footnote indicating which DVD(s) it might be taken from:

Limelight - RiR,R30,S&A
The Spirit of Radio - RiR,R30,S&A
2112 - RiR,R30
Freewill - RiR,S&A
Dreamline - RiR,R30,S&A
Far Cry - S&A
Subdivisions - R30,S&A
One Little Victory - RiR,S&A R30 re-release version
Closer to the Heart - RiR
Tom Sawyer - RiR,R30,S&A
Working Man - RiR,R30
YYZ - RiR,S&A

RiR - Rush in Rio
R30 - R30
S&A - Snakes & Arrows Live

 

Soundgarden's Other Guy Speaks!

Lest Chris Cornell, who drifts further and further away from the non-ridiculous aspects of his legacy every time he opens his mouth to sing, be the lone voice holding forth in the wilderness, guitarist Kim Thayil, one of the undersung heroes of '90s heavy music, has broken his silence of about the state of affairs on the good ship Soundgarden. In this interview with Rolling Stone, Thayil discusses reunion rumors, the forthcoming box set full of unreleased goodies, the reason Soundgarden's presence in hesher America seems to have diminished so dramatically in the past 10 years, and generally what the hell he has been up to. Legitimate guitar heroes don't get much better spoken than Kim Thayil, so enjoy. How did the recent "3/4 Soundgarden reunion" performance come together? Tom Morello was coming through with the Justice Tour, and he had asked Susan Silver [Soundgarden's manager] — Tom wanted to get some notorious rock locals. Ben Shepherd and I were asked separately — we were going to be on the bill separately. As things worked out, it was getting close to the gig date, and Ben had not put together any project, and the guys that I was jamming with, our ideas were not gelling. We were going to do some old punk rock covers, and have [Mudhoney's] Mark Arm sing. That fell through. And Tom called, and said, "Would Ben and Kim like to join me on stage to do 'Spoonman'?" And we said, "Sure. But we heard Matt is coming down to the show, and I'm not going to play it in front of Matt — I would play it with Matt." So I called Matt, and he said sure. Ben said, "Let's do the first single, 'Hunted Down'/'Nothing to Say,' and then we'll do 'Spoonman.'" And then this left a problem with who we would get to sing with us. A lot of people that I asked were real hesitant — they didn't want to replicate Chris' performance. So it had to be Tad [Doyle], right? It had to be the guy with God's Balls to say, "Fuck yeah, I'll do it!" We went down to the Pearl Jam rehearsal space and had one practice on a Monday and rehearsed for an hour and a half. The next day, we went over them at soundcheck, and then we busted out those three songs [at the Crocodile Cafe]. Looking back, what's your favorite Soundgarden album and why? I think I have three albums that stand out for different reasons. Screaming Life is distinctly different with Jack Endino's production and our original songs from that period that Hiro [Yamamoto, original bassist] played on. I just like those songs, and the sound of the production — the ambience and the feel. Just the way the room sounds. We recorded that at Reciprocal Studios, which a lot of early Sub Pop records were recorded at, including Nirvana, Mudhoney and Tad. And Superunknown. Once again, it's the ambience — the implied and created room. And I like the material and the performances very much. There's a dark feel to it that is powerful, and is great with headphones on. Badmotorfinger I love because it sounds great in a car. It's got a lot of weird quirks in it — as is typical with Soundgarden. We always added that element of crazy and weird. We had an ability to not take ourselves too seriously, while committing to the heaviness. Sort of like laughing while kicking your ass. What exactly is the status of the much talked about Soundgarden box set of B sides and unreleased material? It's a matter of just working with the record company. Y'know, a year or two after we disbanded, A&M Records disbanded — it got bought, and all of our friends there got fired. The record company dissolving and our management company dissolving put a big hit on Soundgarden's catalog and merchandise. I think our merchandising catalog suffered quite a bit due to neglect from the record company and management. Which wasn't intentional, it's just the record company was gone and the management company wound up being a P.O. Box and a voicemail. Basically, a box set slowly and surely will happen. We need communication with the band, our record label and management. I really cannot emphasis my apologies to all our fans worldwide — it pisses me off to no end that you can't walk into a mall, go to the local head shop or record store, and find a Soundgarden T-shirt or poster. It bugs the hell out of me, and everyone in the band. Just be patient — nobody's more bugged about it than I am. It's all inertia, if it's a big giant stone wheel, it comes down a hill really fast. But it goes up a hill very slow. Right now, it's at the bottom of the hill, and we've got to push it back up. And more...

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Flood Warning, Wednesday, 23 September 2009 01:54

GAC047-TNC065-230754-
/O.EXT.KMRX.FL.W.0013.000000T0000Z-090923T2249Z/
/CHKT1.3.ER.090921T0923Z.090922T2145Z.090923T1649Z.NR/
954 PM EDT TUE SEP 22 2009
THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
THE SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK @ CHATTANOOGA TN
* UNTIL WEDNESDAY EVENING.
* AT 9:15 PM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 28.2 FEET.
* MAJOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING. THE FORECAST IS FOR MAJOR FLOODING.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER CRESTED AT 28.5 FEET AT 6 PM TUESDAY AND WILL
CONTINUE TO FALL TO BELOW FLOOD STAGE TOMORROW EARLY AFTERNOON.
* AT 28.0 FEET...MAJOR FLOODING OCCURS IN AREAS AROUND THE AIRPORT
IN CHATTANOOGA. SEVERAL ROADS ARE BLOCKED, INCLUDING HIGHWAY 153
NEAR SHEPHERD ROAD. MANY HOMES IN EAST RIDGE ARE FLOODED, AND SOME
BUSINESS AFFECTED.

9 deaths blamed on Southeast storm; flood lingers

AP – Jennifer Bozeman, 19, and Nabor Torres stand at the edge of Sweetwater Creek after it overflowed its …

• Slideshow:Southeast Storms
• Play Video Video:Raw Video: Floodwaters overtake Georgia counties AP
• Play Video Weather Forecast Video:National Forecast weather.com

By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press Writer Kate Brumback, Associated Press Writer – Tue Sep 22, 7:10 pm ET

AUSTELL, Ga. – Neighborhoods, schools and even roller coasters at Six Flags over Georgia remained awash in several feet of murky, brown water Tuesday, even as an emerging sun shed light on the widespread flood damage.

So far, at least nine deaths in Georgia and Alabama were blamed on the torrential downpours in the Southeast. The storms finally relented and relief was in sight with just a slight chance of rain overnight, but the onslaught left many parts of the region in stagnant water.

In Tennessee, a man was still missing after jumping into the fast-moving water as part of a bet. Boats and trucks evacuated 120 residents from a retirement center as nearby creeks rose, and several hundred others were ferried from low-lying neighborhoods and motels to dry land.

Escaped insane killer recaptured in Wash. - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

Man escaped from a field trip organized by his mental hospital.

SEATTLE - An insane killer who slipped away from the staff of a mental institution on a field trip to the Spokane County International Fair was recaptured Sunday without injury more than 220 miles away in south-central Washington state.

With a helicopter overhead and dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers swarming around Goldendale, Phillip Arnold Paul seemed ready to surrender when he walked out to the Goldendale-Bickleton road about 22 miles east of town shortly after 4 p.m., just as search personnel arrived at the scene, Klickitat County Sheriff Rick McComas told The Associated Press.

Spokane County sheriff's Capt. Dave Reagan said Paul, 47, was preparing to hitchhike, but McComas said Paul offered no resistance.

Escaped insane killer recaptured in Wash. - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

New Rush CD/DVD compilation and full concert R30 Blu-ray

Rush will
be releasing a new CD/DVD compilation this coming November which will include
cuts from their 3 most recent concert DVDs: Rush in Rio,
R30 and Snakes &
Arrows Live. The compilation will be titled Working Men
and is slated for release on November 17th. The compilation will also be offered
as a standalone CD. The CD/DVD combo is already available for pre-order at
Amazon at this
link. Also slated for release on November 17th is a Blu-ray version of R30
which will include 8 additional tracks - meaning the full concert! More
details as I learn them.

...