B2EVO

Since I am in Windows 7 for 2 full weeks now and knowing how frustrating this OS can be in the first days of usage, I decided to post some “secrets” keyboard shortcuts, enhancements, settings etc…

Here we go, 30 Tips, Tricks and Secrets for Windows 7:

1. Windows Management. By now, you’ve probably seen that Windows 7 does a lot to make window management easier: you can “dock” a window to the left or right half of the screen by simply dragging it to the edge; similarly, you can drag the window to the top of the screen to maximize it, and double-click the window top / bottom border to maximize it vertically with the same horizontal width. What you might not know is that all these actions are also available with keyboard shortcuts:

• Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow dock;
• Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow maximizes and restores / minimizes;
• Win+Shift+Up Arrow and Win+Shift+Down Arrow maximizes and restores the vertical size.

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Pixel aspect ratio in Photoshop

The problem is that whenever I try to open some images (.jpg) within Photoshop, I get a warning message telling me that:
Pixel aspect ratio correction is for preview purposes only. Turn it off for maximum image quality.

For those who don’t know or have a vague idea about pixel ratio, here’s what this is all about.
Pixel aspect ratio specifies the ratio of width to height of one pixel in an image. Frame aspect ratio describes the ratio of width to height in the frame dimensions of an image. For example, D1 NTSC has a pixel aspect ratio of 0.9 (or 0.9 width by 1.0 height). It also has a frame aspect ratio of 4:3 (or 4.0 width by 3.0 height).
Some video formats output the same frame aspect ratio, but use a different pixel aspect ratio. For example, some NTSC digitizers produce a 4:3 frame aspect ratio, with square pixels (1.0 pixel aspect ratio), and a resolution of 640 x 480. D1 NTSC produces the same 4:3 frame aspect ratio, but uses rectangular pixels (0.9 pixel aspect ratio) and a resolution of 720 x 486. D1 pixels, which are always rectangular, are vertically oriented in systems producing NTSC video and horizontally oriented in systems producing PAL video.
If you display rectangular pixels on a square-pixel monitor without alteration, images and appear distorted; for example, circles distort into ovals. However, when displayed on a broadcast monitor, the images are correct.

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Last weekend I decided to install the beta version of Windows 7 to see, also test the praising which flooded the internet not too long ago. I thought this over and over and decided that the best solution will be to install it on a new hard drive, thus I will not endanger my data.

Next step was to mount the hard disk into computer case. Since I wasn’t satisfied with my HDD’s position - between the two existing ones, I was forced to come up with a solution. And this generated my ‘invention’.

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Firefox If you meet Firefox, it’s all you can think about. She just puts so much stuff in your memory! Even though she may drive you crazy, men find it hard to dump Firefox. It’s not because of herself, it’s more because of the stuff she gets from that huge bunch of her admirers. All those gadgets you can use anytime while dating her makes your life so much easier. Oh, if only other women were so open for gifts…

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What the hell is wrong with this guy? You might ask.
Well, apparently there’s nothing wrong with me. It seems that my favorite picture viewer has a problem.

It occurred to me when I was trying to watch a picture a friend of mine e-mailed the other day. So, I downloaded the picture from my e-mail account then double click it to see it. BIG disappointment! All colors were messed up, like somehow they were the opposite of what they originally were.
For example: the skin was displayed blue-ish. See the picture.

First I thought that the file became corrupted upon download (a possibility hard to came across, but since I’m a “lucky” person…). After that I notice that Windows Explorer was displaying correctly the picture (in Thumbnail View). Then I tried to open the picture with Windows Picture Viewer and I saw that the picture was displayed correct. Hmm…

Next I put my power toys in action. I opened the file with Adobe Bridge and saw that the color profile (mode) was CMYK.

The problem is that Picasa can’t display correctly pictures in CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) color mode. Therefore if you intend to watch / use pictures in CMYK mode you might reconsider your picture viewer. Or you can convert them to RGB (Red Green Blue) mode.
The conversion can be done in Adobe Photoshop via “Edit – Convert to profile” option. Then choose “Adobe RGB (1998)“.
Of course, this solution can be done with ease if you only have a few pictures to work with, but if you have hundreds…

That’s it.

Recently I come across something “nice” while ‘cruising’ on the internet. This trick reminds me of some cool ‘viruses’, also something that many teenagers will find it really cool. I’m talking about hiding a file in another file, usually a jpg file (a picture).
So, lets say that you a have a very important file and you want to hide it. Thus curious eyes will never figure out where you keep your private stuff.

Ok. How do I do that?

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I dedicate this post to my precious Power Supply Unit, which is (was) a Thermaltake W0089RE 470W (see specs below).

It has:
- 120 mm fan with “High thermal performance” they say, also “Optimum Air flow and Low Noise”. Low noise yeah, but optimal air flow not quite, it becomes hot-hot-hot after 5 hrs of usage, especially gaming;
- Dual +12V Rails… hmm, I’ll tell you later about it;
- 6 pin PCI-Express Connector – 1 piece;
- 5-pin SATA Connector – 4 pieces;
- 24 (20) pin Main Connector;
- 4-pin +12V Power Connector – 1 piece;
- 4-pin Peripheral Power Connector – 8 pieces;
- 4-pin Floppy Drive Connector – 2 pieces;
- “Intelligent Cable Management: Black cable sleeving Optimum air-flow”. That’s true. It’s very nice to see, also work with such cable management.

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It’s a simple question, yet a pain in the neck procedure.
A friend of mine called me yesterday to ask me where are the 3 buttons from his shutdown menu. First I didn’t understand the whole problem, but when he started to closely detail the ‘problem’ I sudden realize that I don’t have the slightest clue on how to change that to NORMAL (default) windows XP style (the 3 buttons: Stand By, Shut Down and Restart).

Now let me describe the matter more clearly. The shutdown menu was changed from the windows XP style - the 3 buttons: Stand By, Shut Down and Restart TO the classic one (when you’re in a domain) where you have to press and choose from a drop-down menu what do you want to do.

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Better said is: how to have more control over YouTube videos.
Before we proceed you should know that I use this tweak in Mozilla Firefox with Grease Monkey add-on installed.

Even though YouTube already introduce the HD feature, you might ask how can you enhance YouTube even more?
- Go to userscripts and download YousableTubeFix.
NOTE: Do this after you’ve installed Grease Monkey on your Firefox web browser.

This tweak will improve, also make available some features for YouTube videos.
First, it will give you multiple options to change the video resolution (1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2x, fill, full, max, fullscreen).
Second, possibility to change the video format (Low Quality, FLV Quality, HD).
Third, lots of other useful options.

Here’s a sample: [Click on the image to enlarge]