March 2006 Archives

Preface.
I wrote Diskeeper 10.0 on February 19, 2006 to recommand this product.
Later on March, Richard Moskowitz, contacted me from Raxco Software, Inc. whose main product is PerfectDisk. He suggested me to review their PerfectDisk 7 to get more broader choices in defrag tools.
It is a good idea. I accepted it.

Test bed.
I get a PerfectDisk NFR(not for resale) and install it in a windows 2000 box.
Windows 2000 pro sp4
1 GB ram
P4 2.4GHz
Intel 845 Chipset
Western Digital WD400BB

PerfectDisk 7

Word before Test Result
My test is not completed and the environment is not representative. I donot expect other person will get similar result even with the similar hardware, because I installed over 80 different software on this Windows, you may not.

In Tax Tips for Canadians "for Dummies" 2006 edition, one chapter is focused on Tax Changes for 2005 Tax year.

I trust over 50% Canadian donot know about it.
The followingis highlight these ten changes.

1) Tax credit for adoption expenses
For 2005 the total amounts claimed by the parents cannot exceed the lesser of the actual adoption expenses and $10,000. Eligible adoption expenses include fees paid to an adoption agency, travel and accommodation costs for the parents and child, court, legal and administration fees, and document translation fees.

2) Increased retirement savings limits
The maximum amount you may contribute to your RRSP will increase in future years (although you are still limited to 18% of your earned income). The limit for 2005 is $16,500. The limits are scheduled to rise to: $18,000 for 2006, $19,000 for 2007, $20,000 for 2008, $21,000 for 2009, $22,000 for 2010, from 2011 the limit based on the indexed to inflation.

3) Increased investment choices for retirement savings
The 30% foreign property investment limit is eliminated from 2005. That means 100% foreign property in the RRSP/RRIF is allowed.

4) Improved tax assistance for disabled persons
Since June 2005, the maximum Child Disability Benefit supplement to the Child Tax Benefit has been $2,000.

This is Tax season.Everyone need to file his or her tax return.
I wrote "Canadian Tax Software" last year.

There are so many tax software. The following are some Tax Software for Canadian.

QuickTax Desktop on online via QuickTaxWeb from Intuit Canada.
www.quicktax.ca

TaxTron
www.taxtron.ca

This morning I saw this news of the launch of Google Finance.

It looks like a stock chart on top of the Google news. I don't think it is enough to attract reader to this site or service.
Every finance service provider has stock chart, even can make transaction online. Why they need the Google Finance.

I just have a image in my mind about Google's empire.

Yahoo has the new service, Yahoo! 360, which is similar to the MSN Spaces. Like all Web 2.0 products, it is beta version.

1. Blog
Create your own blog or online journal. Share thoughts, experiences, pictures with your friends.

2. Blast
Share a quick communication your friends can reply to -- an idea, attitude, question, or web link.

3. Photos
Let your friends view your Yahoo! Photos albums.

4. Local Reviews
Coming Soon - Rate and review local restaurants and businesses, and share with your friends.

5. Friends
Show your linked friends.

6. LAUNCHcast Station
Let your friends listen to your LAUNCHcast music station.

7. Lists
Create and share lists of your favourite books, movies, music, TV programmes and more.

8. Groups
Let your friends see the Yahoo! Groups to which you belong.

There are some conflict between Shaw Communications Inc. (I called it Shaw Cable) and VOIP service provider, like Vonage.

Today, I am noticed this article Vonage says Shaw breaching net neutrality at ITWorldCanada

As I mentioned before, the $10 services fee, which Shaw Cable charged for the voip phone QoS to make it faster, will let the VOIP SP anger. They said this is a VoIP tax.

I write my blog over one year and five months.
The quantity is my concern when I start my blog, but now, the quality is the most concern.
Until today, there are four hundred and thirty posts here.

To post many more high quality articles is very important for Blog and Bloger.
High quality post will attract more readers here. If they are attracted here by some search phrase, they will find more interesting items here.

I need time to thinking and reading.

So, the speed of update of this blog will be lower than before. Maybe higher, it depends on how much time I have to do this job.
As a full-time underwriter assistant, part-time web developer, and a webmaster of the site G2soft.Net, and most import position in my mind is a father of two cute girls. I still have to find the time to blogging.

After reading the ConsumerReport March issue, i know some difference between the following HDTV.

LCD FLAT-PANEL HDTV
If you want a thin, light set with a small or midsized screen.

Common screen size: 23 to 45 inches.

Typical prices: $1,000 to $1,500 for a 26-inch widescreen HD-ready set; $1,200 to $2,000 for a similar 32-inch model; $2,000 to $2,500 for a 37-inch model.

LCD flat panels are the thinnest, lightest TVs available. Even the biggest weigh less than 50 pounds, half as much as a plasma TV, so they're good for wall-mounting.

PLASMA HDTV
If you want a big, thin set.

Common screen sizes: 42 to 60 inches.

Typical prices: $2,500 to $3,000 for a 42-inch integrated HDTV, $3,500 to $4,500 for a 50-inch model.

These flat panels are thin and can be wall-mounted, but they're not light-4-inchers weigh 100 pounds.

REAR-PROJECTION HDTV
If you want a big-screen TV that costs less than a plasma set.

Common screen sizes: 50 to 65 inches.

Typical prices: About $1,000 for a 51-inch CRT-based HD-ready set; $2,200 to $3,000 for a 50-inch LCD- or DLP-based HDTV; $5,000 to $6,000 for a 65-inch DLP-based HDTV.

Microdisplay projection sets using LCD, DLP, or LCoS technologh have stolen the spotlight from the older, CRT-based sets. Typically about 15 to 19 inches deep, microdisplays are slimmer than CRT-based models but much bulkier than plasma TVs.

I read the Twelve Ways to protect yourself from Identity Theft on "Digital Home".

It shows about 25% Canadian have either themselves personally (4%), or know someone who has (20%), been subject to identity theft.

What is Identity Theft?
The federal office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada defines identity theft as the unauthorized collection and use of your personal information, usually for criminal purposes. The government says that every year, thousands of people are victims of identity theft.

Why do criminals want this information? Your name, date of birth, address, credit card, Social Insurance Number (SIN) and other personal identification numbers can all be used to open credit card and bank accounts, redirect mail, establish cellular phone service, rent vehicles, equipment, or accommodation, and even secure employment.

If a thief gets a hold of your personal information, then they can rack up huge bills, charges, bad cheques, and taxes that would become your responsibility.

In 2004, PhoneBusters National Call Centre, the national call centre dedicated to the prevention of deceptive telemarketing, received 11,001 identity theft complaints by Canadians, amounting to more than $18.3 million in fraud losses.

This is a new type of pc. Microsoft named it Ultra-Mobile PC.

Samsung shows first Origami device By: Dan Nystedt, Martyn Williams and Elizabeth Montalbano IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau) (09 Mar 2006) Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is showing the first device designed around Microsoft Corp.'s Origami project at the Cebit electronics show in Germany. It is a handheld computer that falls somewhere between a tablet PC and a PDA and runs a special edition of Windows XP.

The device measures about 15cm by 20 cm, or half the size of a sheet of copier paper, and is known officially as an ultramobile device. Samsung's product, called the Q1, runs on a 900MHz Intel Corp. Celeron microprocessor and has 500M bytes of RAM.

The Q1 which was on show at Samsung's Cebit booth a day ahead of the show here in Hanover. It boasts both WLAN (wireless local area network), 802.11 A/G and Bluetooth connections, and uses touch-screen controls. It runs an instant-on multimedia player so users don't have to launch the full XP operating system to watch a video.

The device is in the final stages of development and it's not known exactly when it will be available or at what price. It will be discussed further at Cebit press conferences on Thursday by Intel and Microsoft.

Microsoft has been cagey about Origami's details since news of it first leaked out two weeks ago, when the company posted a Web site with minimal details at this Web site. Early reports speculated that Origami might be a new hardware product from Microsoft, but it turned out Microsoft is providing the software for a device that will be build by partners like Samsung using Intel processors.

The ultramobile system is hardly a new concept. At Microsoft's WinHEC conference last April, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates revealed plans for a lightweight machine in a form factor that falls between a PDA and a tablet PC. At the time, he said Microsoft and its partners would launch the product in 2006.

Yesterday, I restart my computer. The closing tasks always ask me to force close the programs. I did not want to wait any more and decided to use the power button. The result is the following blue screen when I start it again.

Today, I have to fix it first to post this entry.

First of all, I try the Last Known Good Configuration by starting. It also gave me the blue face.

Ok, I have the Windows 2000 CD-ROM.
I used the Windows Recovery Console to fix it and it works.
Let me show you the details about it.

I touched Sudoku game first in the Newspaper. It is easy to approach and the high lever is very difficult.
For example, the level 1 can be solved in 5 minutes, but the level 8 can be solved in 30 minutes and more.
The Gamehouse sudoku! is a good pc game.

There are a lot of similar games on the internet. You can google it.