With electricity prices on the up, we're either going to have to spend more cash on the bills or find a way to decrease the amount of power our computers and gadgets use.

Fortunately, the latter is easy. Here are eight money-saving tips to help you keep those power bills under control:

1. Tweak your PC

You don't need 100 per cent performance to smirk at b3ta or check your email, so use energy-saving settings to reduce power usage when you don't need sheer speed. In Vista, you can adjust power settings for individual adapters and even the processor.

2. Go for LCD - or stick with your CRT

CRT displays typically use the least power and plasmas the most - although the figures vary with size and any energy-saving technology that's been used. Whatever you've got, the brighter the display the more power it's pulling.

3. Put your router to bed

Do you really need Wi-Fi when you're asleep? Apple's Time Capsule draws up to 30W when it's on, and nothing when it's off.

4. Switch off the screensaver

If you're not looking at anything, why not put the display to sleep - or better still, shut the whole thing down until you need it again?

5. Use Auto Shutdown

Downloading big files overnight? Use the Auto Shutdown plug-in for Firefox to turn off your computer when the job's done.

6. Stop overcharging

Turn off mobile, laptop and battery chargers when you reach full power: if you don't, they'll continue to use electricity to the tune of £60m per year in the UK alone.

7. Unplug peripherals

Individual add-ons don't take much power, but if you take a bunch of USB lava lamps, an external hard disk and a printer and leave them constantly connected you're wasting precious pounds.

8. Use the off switch

Standby modes can still draw plenty of power, especially with gadgets such as big-screen TVs - but 71 per cent of us do it, and the government reckons it accounts for six to 10 per cent of the typical home's energy bill. Judging by our last bill, that works out as a million jillion pounds - each.

Well, you're in luck! Enter SaveHollywood, the free and universal binary app that does just this, and a little more. First, it's a screensaver so the settings are configurable under System Preferences. It can play both quicktime movies as well as flash videos. You have the option of muting the videos if you feel the need. You can set background colours, add a border to your video, and if you have the luxury of multiple monitors, you can display your video on the main monitor only.

For information and download, be sure to visit the app's main page.

"Ping and Pong curled up on a blanket"

Voici une sympathique photographie d'un vendeur venu d'eBay dénommé Cwkrides qui a eu "l'idée un peu folle" de mettre en vente (au prix dérisoire de USD 0,75) ses clichés artistiques pour (peut-être la reconnaissance et la recherche de renommée et surtout) pour que ces derniers illustrent les fonds de nos écrans.

A sa place, j'irai plus loin, en proposant des résolutions suffisantes pour tirage photo, car j'imagine fort bien celle proposée présentement dans mon salon et dans un joli cadre...

Avec tout ça, si ça continue, moi aussi je vais mettre les miens ;)

I thought I'd share a few that I've done over the last 2-3 years. I particularly like to tweak the Microsoft images that come with your operating system. You'll know which ones. Enjoy.

Ici je vous propose de télécharger

·        La plaquette de présentation des Pense-Bêtes ©

·        Un écran de veille Pense-Bêtes © pour PC

-         Cliquez sur le lien, puis sur "download"

-         Enregistrez sur votre bureau par exemple

-         Double-cliquez sur l'icône obtenue

-         La procédure d'installation de l'écran de veille se lance automatiquement

Remarque : cet utilitaire est un programme (donc un fichier.exe).

Bien qu'il soit complètement sécurisé, votre firewall refusera peut-être de l'installer…

·        Des fonds d'écran Pense-Bêtes ©

·        Des icônes Pense-Bêtes ©

O Wikipedia Screensaver coloca páginas aleatórias da Wikipedia inglesa como proteção de tela, alternando o artigo de tempos em tempos (configurado pelo usuário).

Infelizmente tem essa limitação de não podermos escolher outra versão senão a de língua inglesa, mas mesmo assim vale como estudo! Segue o link:

Wikipedia ScreenSaver

get it here.

# pacman -S xscreensaver

Depois é só rodar dois comandos como usuário que está logado no X e configurar tudo com o configurador gráfico do xscreensaver:

$ xscreensaver & xscreensaver-demo

Depois de configurado de acordo com a necessidade de cada um (eu escolhi rodar o protetor de tela com 2 minutos em idle e ativar o trancamento por senha logo após subir o protedor de tela) é só adicionar o programa no .xinitrc para que o mesmo rode a cada inicialização do X:

vi ~/.xinitrc
#
# ion3 start
#
xrdb ~/.Xresources
(trayion&xscreensaver&)
exec ion3

Pronto, se você quiser, também pode escolher mais algumas opções lendo o arquivo ~/.xscreensaver que é auto-explicativo.

Até a próxima.

As it turned out, the Soviets MIG-25’s huge tail-planes and vertical stabilizers, imagery acquired via surveillance; were the USAF’s primary concern. They were intentionally designed larger than normal to overcome inertia coupling, a dangerous phenomenon; not to contribute to a superior maneuverable aircraft design as intelligence sources first indicated. Contrary to what everyone in the West thought, the all-weather F-15 tactical fighter would go on to reclaim air superiority for the United States and her allies. The MIG-25 was designed to be only a high speed Interceptor and not a highly maneuverable fighter after all.

The F-15’s new twin Pratt & Whitney F100 axial-flow turbo fan engines with twin afterburners were designed specifically to generate the needed power to meet or exceed the Air Forces required combat thrust to weight ratio of 1:1. Simply put, the engines thrust output exceeded the aircrafts weight allowing it to impressively accelerate even whilst in a vertical climb. There was not a critic to be found. The clear need for a new fighter to overcome the close-range limitations of the Phantom while still retaining long-range air superiority had arrived in one beautiful package…the F-15 Eagle. Ironically, the design which led to the Navy’s own impressive F-14 Tomcat was rejected by the Air Force in lieu of the F-15. The F-15 would end up being the preferred strike fighter by Israeli and Japanese customers with the development of the redesigned F-15E Strike Eagle which would go on to replace the FB-111.

The standard M61 Vulcan gun was retained due to development problems with the new replacement cannon they had in mind. The F-4’s four Sparrow missiles were retained as well. The fuselage was flat providing additional lifting surface. The cockpit canopy provided clear forward vision. The F-15’s flight control and weapons systems are controlled by computers that will effectively allow the pilot to easily concentrate on maneuvering the jet during combat engagements with the enemy while the weapons computer system automatically interprets enemy threats and deployment of the necessary counter-measures

Other improvements have made it possible to carry an additional 2000 lbs of internal fuel, as well as two external fuel tanks each capable of carrying an additional 750 lbs of fuel. The additional 3500 lbs of fuel increases the take-off weight to 68,000 lbs. 

An ‘Identification, friend or foe’ multi-mission avionics system includes a heads-up display (HUD), inertial guidance system (INS), UHF communications, tactical air navigation (TACAN),  an upgraded central computer; Programmable Armament Control allowing for advanced versions of the AIM-7, AIM-9, and AIM-120A missiles; and an expanded Tactical Electronic Warfare System that provides improvements to the ALR-56C radar warning receiver and ALQ-135 countermeasure set. The price-less headset clearly displays weapon systems, enemy targets, and a highly sophisticated APG-63 \70 Pulse-Doppler Radar system can distinguish high speed, high-flying, low-flying targets up to 120 miles away from any ground clutter down to tree-top levels. The pilot maintains clear visual through a large canopy while easily surveying enemy targets and weapons systems with a quick glance on his head-set without needing to look down at the instrument panel.

SPECIFICATIONS

Cost: $29, 000,000 each

Crew: 1
Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.05 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.63 m)
Wing area: 608 ft² (56.5 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 64A006.6 root, NACA 64A203 tip
Empty weight: 28,000 lb (12,700 kg)
Loaded weight: 44,500 lb (20,200 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 68,000 lb (30,845 kg)
Powerplant: 2-Pratt & Whitney F100 afterburning turbofans
Dry thrust: 17,450 lbf (77.62 kN) each
Thrust with afterburner: 25,000 lbf for -220; 29,000 lbf for -229 (111.2 kN for -220; 129.0 kN for -229) each

Maximum speed:
High altitude: Mach 2.5+ (1,650 mph, 2,660 km/h)
Low altitude: Mach 1.2 (900 mph, 1,450 km/h)
Combat radius: 1,061 nmi (1,222 mi, 1,967 km) for interdiction mission
Ferry range: 3,450 mi (3,000 nmi, 5,550 km) with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (20,000 m)
Rate of climb: >50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Wing loading: 73.1 lb/ft² (358 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 1.12 (-220), 1.30 (-229)

Guns:
1× internally mounted 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 gatling gun, 940 rounds
Hardpoints: four wing, four fuselage, two wing stations, centerline station, optional fuselage pylons with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,300 kg),

Missiles:
AIM-7F Sparrow
AIM-120 AMRAAM
AIM-9 Sidewinders
Avionics

Radar:
Raytheon AN/APG-63 or AN/APG-70 or
Although several F-15C aircraft were produced with APG-70 radar

Raytheon AN/APG-63(V)2 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Both active AF and ANG F-15Cs will receive another (up to) 48 V3 units between 2009-2015, over the existing 19 aircraft.[68]

Countermeasures:
AN/APX-76 or AN/APX-119 Identify Friend/Foe (IFF) interrogator
Magnavox AN/ALQ-128 Electronic Warfare Warning Set (EWWS) -part of Tactical Electronic Warfare Systems (TEWS)
Loral AN/ALR-56 Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)-part of Tactical Electronic Warfare Systems (TEWS)
Northrop ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures System (ICS) - part of Tactical Electronic Warfare Systems (TEWS)
AN/ALE-45 chaff/flare dispensers

Engines:
Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engines

Others:
Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System[68]
MXU-648 Cargo/Travel Pod - to carry personal belongings, and small pieces of maintenance equipment

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install xwinwrap

simples, o pc vai baixar pouco mais de 500kb e instalar o programa no seu pc.

Para fazê-lo funcionar é um pouco mais complicado, mas nem tanto, basta ficar ded olho na sintaxe, vamos a alguns exemplos.
No mesmo terminal, para screensaver:
$ xwinwrap -ni -fs -s -st -sp -b -nf -- localdoscreensavermaisnomedomesmo -root -window-id WID &

para vídeo:
$ xwinwrap -ni -o 0.6 -fs -s -st -sp -b -nf -- mplayer -wid WID -quiet localenomedovídeo.extensão

Aqui resumo da sintaxe:

xwinwrap [-g] [-ni] [-argb] [-fs] [-s] [-st] [-sp] [-a] [-b] [-nf] [-fl] [-o OPACITY] -- COMMAND ARG1...
-g geometria
-ni sem entrada
-argb argb, Alpha, Red, Green, Blue. Camadas de cores.
-fs tela cheia
-s Fixar
-st pular o taskbar
-sp Pular o pager
-a Acima
-b Abaixo
-nf noFocus
-o opacity=# entre 0 e 1

Follow the link... you know you want to.

Well, if you want to try it you can download it here:
http://www.humyo.com/F/2000999-207057615

Or if you prefer a version mcalmer try this one:
http://www.humyo.com/F/2000999-207244047

If you like it you can promote it. But don't forget who's the real creator. Don't clame that it's your creation.

SAMPDORIA-JUVENTUS sabato ore 18
Sampdoria (3-5-2): Mirante; Lucchini, Bottinelli, Gastaldello; Stankevicius, Dessena, Palombo, Franceschini, Pieri; Delvecchio, Cassano. In panchina: Castellazzi, Ziegler, Padalino, Bonanni, Bonazzoli, Bellucci, Fornaroli.
Indisponibili: Campagnaro
Juventus (4-4-2): Manninger; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Poulsen, Sissoko, Nedved; Amauri, Del Piero. In panchina: Chimenti, Mellberg, De Ceglie, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Giovinco, Iaquinta. All.: Ranieri.
Indisponibili: Zanetti, Zebina, Trezeguet, Buffon

Ecco le formazioni che si affronteranno domani alle 18.00. Della samp non mi interessa, ma la juve, no dico, la juve... Ranieri una cosa... Molinaro, basta, non sembra all'altezza di questo inizio di stagioni. Io provere un De Ceglie dal primo minuto. Che ti costa? e non ho ben capito la situazione di Momo, dite che è stanco per le partita pomeridiane per colpa del ramadam e invece di metterlo contro il catania al serale me lo mettete contro la samp al pomeriggio. Speriamo bene.

Intervista al Presidente.

Cobolli Gigli, le piacerebbe Mourinho alla Juve? "NO!"

Il presidente della Juve ha parlato anche di Giovinco: "Ranieri lo utilizzerà quando lo riterrà opportuno".

• 
• 
• 

Il derby in programma domenica tra Inter e Milan potrebbe agevolare le possibilità di rimonta della Juventus, impegnata però sul difficile campo della Sampdoria.

"Adesso mi tocca fare il tifo per il Milan", aveva detto ieri Cobolli Gigli in occasione dell'assemblea di Lega tenutasi a Milano. Il presidente bianconero ha poi risposto a chi gli chiedeva un opinione sul tecnico dell'Inter, Josè Mourinho: "E' una persona molto stimolante - riporta oggi il Corriere dello Sport - Mi piacerebbe portarlo a Torino? No".

Cobolli Gigli ha poi parlato anche di Giovinco, migliore in campo nel match pareggiato contro il Catania, ma candidato a tornare in panchina per lasciare spazio a Pavel Nedved: "Giovinco ha giocato molto bene, ma deciderà Ranieri quando sarà il caso di schierarlo. Ciò che è certo è che, facendo parte dell'organico, potremo utilizzarlo quando vorremo".

Also the wallpaper cannot be changed because the wallpaper tab is missing.

Also your screensaver may be changed to  Windous "Blue screen"

Another sign are many pop-ups - with ads of fake antivirus programs.

Do not click on this ads! They all are scam!

Here is a good program made especially to fight Vundo virus: http://vundofix.atribune.org/ 

Vundofix is free.  You can read about Vundofix program here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VundoFix

Algunos de ellos son realmente espectaculares y por ello he querido compartirlos con todos vosotros por si alguno se anima a instalarlos.

La web oficial del proyecto es ReallySlick y, como se encuentran en los repositorios de las distribuciones más conocidas (incluida Ubuntu), podéis obtenerlos directamente desde Synaptic buscando rss-glx o ejecutando desde una terminal

sudo apt-get install rss-glx

Espero que os resulte interesante alguno de ellos y que os animéis a cambiar el actual.

Si alguien quiere compartir algún salvapantallas con el personal que no dude en comentar... todos lo agradeceremos :)