Help Protect Your Children with the CEOP Enhanced Internet Explorer 8
Mar/100
Do you want to make Internet Explorer safer and more helpful for you and family? Then join us as we look at the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) enhanced version of Internet Explorer 8.
Setting CEOP Up
We chose to install the whole CEOP pack in order to have access to complete set of CEOP Tools. The install process will be comprised of two parts…it will begin with CEOP branded windows showing the components being installed…
Note: The components can be downloaded separately for those who only want certain CEOP components added to their browser.
Then it will move to the traditional Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 install windows. One thing that we did notice is that here you will be told that you will need to restart your computer but in other windows a log off/log on process is mentioned. Just to make certain that everything goes smoothly we recommend restarting your computer when the installation process is complete.
In the EULA section you can see the versions of Windows that the CEOP Pack works with.
Once you get past the traditional Microsoft install windows you will be dropped back into the CEOP branded windows.
CEOP in Action
After you have restarted your computer and opened Internet Explorer you will notice that your homepage has been changed. When it comes to your children that is not a bad thing in this instance. It will also give you an opportunity to look through the CEOP online resources.
For the moment you may be wondering where everything is but do not worry. First you can find the two new search providers in the drop-down menu for your “Search Bar” and select a new default if desired.
The second thing to look for are the new links that have been added to your “Favorites Menu”. These links can definitely be helpful for you and your family.
The third part will require your “Favorites Bar” to be visible in order to see the “Click CEOP Button”. If you have not previously done so you will need to turn on subscribing for “Web Slices”.
Click on “Yes” to finish the subscription process.
Clicking on the “CEOP Button” again will show all kinds of new links to help provide information for you and your children. Notice that the top part is broken down into “topic categories” while the bottom part is set up for “age brackets”…very nice for helping you focus on the information that you want and/or need.
Looking for information and help on a particular topic? Clicking on the “Cyberbullying Link” for example will open the following webpage with information about cyberbullying and a link to get help with the problem.
Need something that is focused on your child’s age group? Clicking on the “8-10? Link” as an example opened this page.
Want information that is focused on you? The “Parent? Link” leads to this page. The “topic categories & age brackets” make the CEOP Button a very helpful and “family friendly” addition to Internet Explorer.
Perhaps you (or your child) want to conduct a search for something that is affecting your child. As you type in a “search term” both of the search providers will provide helpful suggestions for dealing with the problem. We felt that these were very nice suggestions in both instances here…
Conclusion
We have been able to give you a good peek at what the CEOP Tools can do but the best way to see how helpful it can be for you and your family is try it for yourself. Your children’s safety and happiness is worth it.
Links
Download the Internet Explorer CEOP Pack (link at bottom of webpage)
Note: If you are interested in a singular component or only some use these links.
Download the Click CEOP Button
Download Internet Safety and Security Search
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Help Protect Your Children with the CEOP Enhanced Internet Explorer 8
Restore Your PC from Windows Home Server
Mar/100
If your computer crashes or you get a virus infection that makes it unrecoverable, doing a clean install can be a hassle, let alone getting your data back. If you’re backing up your computers to Windows Home Server, you can completely restore them to the last successful backup.
Note: For this process to work you need to verify the PC you want to restore is connected to your network via Ethernet. If you have it connected wirelessly it won’t work.
Restore a PC from Windows Home Server
On the computer you want to restore, pop in the Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore disc and boot from it. If you don’t have one already made, you can easily make one following these instructions. We have also included the link to the restore disc below.
Boot from the CD then select if your machine has 512MB or RAM or more.
The disc will initialize…
Then choose your language and keyboard settings.
Hopefully if everything goes correctly, your network card will be detected and you can continue. However, if it doesn’t like in our example, click on the Show Details button.
In the Detect Hardware screen click on the Install Drivers button.
Now you will need to have a USB flash drive with the correct drivers on it. It has to be a flash drive or a floppy (if you happen to still have one of those) because you can’t take out the Restore CD.
If you want to make sure you have the correct drivers on the USB flash drive, open the Windows Home Server Console on another computer on your network. In the Computers and Backup section right-click on the computer you want to restore and select View Backups.
Select the backup you want to restore from and click the Open button in the Restore or view Files section.
Now drag the entire contents of the folder named Windows Home Server Drivers for Restore to the USB flash drive.
Back to the machine you’re trying to restore, insert the USB flash drive with the correct drivers and click the Scan button.
Wait a few moments while the drivers are found then click Ok then Continue.
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The Restore Computer Wizard starts up…
Enter in your home server password and click Next.
Select the computer you want to restore. If it isn’t selected by default you can pull it up from the dropdown list under Another Computer. Make certain you’re selecting the correct machine.
Now select the backup you want to restore. In this example we only have one but chances are you’ll have several.
If you have several backups to choose from, you might want to check out the details for them.
Now you can select the disk from backup and and restore it to the destination volume. You might need to initialize a disk, change a drive letter, or other disk management tasks, if so, then click on Run Disk Manger.
For example we want to change the destination drive letter to (C:).
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After you’ve made all the changes to the destination disk you can continue with the restore process.
If everything looks correct, confirm the restore configuration. If you need to make any changes at this point, you can still go back and make them.
Now Windows Home Server will restore your drive. The amount of time it takes will vary depend on the amount of data you have to restore, network connection speed, and hardware.
You are notified when the restore successfully completes. Click Finish and the PC will reboot and be restored and should be working correctly. All the updates, programs, and files will be back that were saved to the last successful backup. Anything you might have installed after that backup will be gone. If you have your computers set to backup every night, then hopefully it won’t be a big issue.
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Conclusion
Backing up the computers on your network to Windows Home Server is a valuable tool in your backup strategy. Sometimes you may only need to restore a couple files and we’ve covered how to restore them from backups on WHS and that works really well. If the unthinkable happens and you need to restore the entire computer, WHS makes that easy too.?
Download Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore CD
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Test and Report Add-on Compatibility in Firefox
Mar/100
Now that the new version of Firefox is out you probably have a favorite extension or two that has not updated yet. You can get that extension working again, test it, and report back to Mozilla on how well it does with the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension.
Before
For our example we chose a great extension that unfortunately has not been updated yet. As you can see here Firefox is refusing to let the extension install.
After
As soon as you install Add-on Compatibility Reporter you will be presented with an information page on how the extension works and what you can do with it. You should definitely take a moment to read this as it is very helpful.
After trying our non-compatible extension again we were able to proceed with the install process. Notice at the bottom that “compatibility checking” has been overridden.
Success!
As soon as we restarted our browser it was easy to see the “non-compatible icon” in the “Add-ons Manager Window”…but the extension did install though (terrific!).
Clicking on the extension’s entry will reveal a new button in the lower right corner. Using the “Compatibility Drop-Down Menu” you can report if the extension is working as well as before or if it is actually having problems. The extension that we used for our example had no problems whatsoever so good news there.
Whichever option you choose you will be presented with a small “Report Window” with information about the extension, your browser’s version number, and your operating system. Click “Submit Report” to send it on its’ way.
You will see a confirmation message letting you know that your report was successfully submitted.
While the extension itself has not been altered in any form at least you have it working again and have helped verify whether it still works well or not. Notice the “notation” present now in place of the “Compatibility Button” that lets you know that you have already taken care of that particular extension.
Looking great…
Conclusion
If you have a favorite extension that you miss using in the newest release of Firefox then this is definitely an extension to add to your browser. Not only will your extension start working again but you can let Mozilla know how well it is working and (hopefully) help get the extension updated.
Links
Download the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension (Mozilla Add-ons)
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RUSE date a trick after all, release moved to June 8
Mar/100
R.U.S.E. is quite a crafty game. It turns out that the recently revealed June 3 release date was nothing but a smoke screen for the real date. The fully legitimate, actual release date is June 8. The game’s PC beta began today and, according to Big Download, Ubisoft also announced the change in launch schedule. Normally, this kind of thing would be upsetting but, given the title, it just seems appropriate.
The beta, incidentally, is available now to all Steam users. It allows both single-player and multiplayer action with six different factions on seven multiplayer maps.
RUSE date a trick after all, release moved to June 8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only
Mar/100
You know, we always thought GLaDOS ran the Portal simulation just so she could discover the true value of friendship, but it may really have been in the name of public service. In the video after the break — created by Freddie Wong, who you probably recognize from his ridiculous (and hilarious) Guitar Hero video — we get a glimpse at the likely ramifications of improper Portal gun training and how a few apathetic “friends” can ruin one of the most exciting experiences ever. And here, all this time, we thought GLaDOS was the bad guy!
Note: For those of you who spot that weird frame at the end of the video — yep, with all that gibberish — don’t bother to decipher it. It’s apparently just another gag from Freddie and “friends.” Yuk-yuk-yuk.
Continue reading PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only
PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Convert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard 2.9
Mar/100
Are you looking for a way to backup your DVD movie collection to AVI?? Today we’ll show you how to rip a DVD movie directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard.
About FairUse Wizard
FairUse Wizard 2.9 uses the DivX, Xvid, or h.264 codec to convert DVD to an AVI file. It comes in both a free version and commercial version. The free, or “Light” version, can create files up 700MB while the commercial version can output a 1400MB file. This will allow you to back up your movies to CD, or even multiple movies on a single DVD.
FairUse Wizard states that it does not work on copy protected discs, but we’ve seen it work on all but some of the most recent copy protection. For this tutorial we’re using the free Light Edition to convert a DVD to AVI. They also offer a commercial version that you can get for $29.99 and it offers even more encoding possibilities for converting video to you portable digital devices.
Installation and Configuration
Download and install FairUse Wizard. (Download link below). Once the install is complete, open FairUse Wizard by going to Start > All Programs >? FairUse Wizard 2 >? FairUse Wizard 2.
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FairUse Wizard will open on the new project screen.
Select “Create a new project” and type a project name into the text box. This will be used as the file output name.? Ex: A project name of Simpsons Movie will give you an output file of Simpsons Movie.avi.
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Next, browse for a destination folder for the output file and temp files. Note that you will need a minimum of 6 GB of free disk space for the conversion process. Note: Much of that 6 GB will be used for temporary files that we will delete after the conversion process.
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Click on the Options button at the bottom.
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Under Preferences, choose your preferred video codec and file output size. XviD and x264 are installed by default. If you prefer to use DivX, you will have to install it separately. Also note the “Two pass” option. Checking the “Two pass” box will encode your video twice for higher quality, but will take more time. Un-checking the box will speed up the conversion process.
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Under Audio track, note that English subtitles are enabled by default, so to remove the subtitles, you will need to change the dropdown list so it shows only a dash (-). You can also select “Use TV Mode” if your primary playback will be on a 4:3 TV screen.
Click “Next.”
Full Auto Mode vs. Manual Mode
You should now be back to the initial screen. Next, we’ll need to determine whether or not we can use “Full Auto Mode” to convert the movie. The difference is that “Full Auto Mode” will automatically perform a few steps that you will otherwise have to do manually. If you choose the “Full Auto Mode” option, FairUse Wizard will look for the video on the DVD with the longest duration and assume it is the chain that it should convert to AVI. It’s possible, however, your disc may contain a few chains of similar size, such as a theatrical cut and director’s cut, and the longest chain may not be the one you wish to convert.
Make sure that “Full auto mode” is not checked yet, and click “Next.”
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FairUse Wizard will parse the IFO files and display all video chains longer than 60? seconds. In most cases, you will only find that the largest chain is the one closely matching the duration of the movie. In these instances, you can use “Full Auto Mode.”
If you find more than one chain that are close in duration to the length of the movie, consult the literature on the DVD case, or search online, to find the actual running time of the movie. If the proper file chain is not the longest chain, you won’t be able to use “Full Auto Mode.”
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Full Auto Mode
To use “Full Auto Mode,” simply click the “Back” button to return to the initial screen
Now, place a check in the “Full auto mode” check box. Click “Next.”
You will then be prompted to chose your DVD drive, then click “OK.”
FairUse Wizard will parse the IFO files…
… and then prompt you to Select your drive that contains the DVD one more time before beginning the conversion process. Click “OK.”
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Manual Mode
If you cannot (or don’t wish to) use Full Auto Mode, choose the appropriate video chain and click “Next.”
FairUse Wizard will first go through the process of indexing the video.
Note: If you get a runtime error during this portion of the process, it likely means that FairUse Wizard cannot handle the copy protection, and thus cannot convert the DVD.
FairUse Wizard will automatically detect a cropping region. If necessary, you can edit the cropping region by adjusting the cropping region settings to the left. Click “Next.”
Next, click “Auto Detect” to choose the proper field combination.
Click “OK” on the pop up window that displays your Field Mode.
Then click “Next.”
This next screen is mainly comprised of settings from the Options screen. You can make changes at this point such as codec or output size. Click “Next” when ready.
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Video Conversion
Now the video conversion process will begin. This may take a few hours depending on your system’s hardware. Note: There is a check box to “Shutdown computer when done” if you choose to run the conversion overnight or before leaving for work.
The first phase will be video encoding…
Then the audio…
If you chose the “Two Pass” option, your video video will be encoded again on 2nd pass.
Then you’re finished.
Unfortunately, FairUse Wizard doesn’t clean up after itself very well. After the process is complete, you’ll want to browse to your output directory and delete all the temporary files as they take up a considerable amount of hard drive space.
Now you’re ready to enjoy your movie.
Conclusion
FairUse Wizard is a nice way to backup your DVD movies to good quality .avi files. You can store them on your hard drive, watch them on a media PC, or burn them to disc. Many DVD players even allow for playback of DivX or XviD encoded video from a CD or DVD. For those of you with children, you can burn that AVI file to CD for your kids, and keep your original DVDs stored safely out of harms way.
Download
Download FairUse Wizard 2.9 LE
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Convert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard 2.9
[MINI HOW-TO] Update Your Zune Player Software
Mar/100
Keeping your computer and software up to date is very important in keeping everything running smooth and secure. It’s also important to keep your geeky gadgets updated as well. Here we take a look at updating a Zune HD.
Note: In this example we’re updating a Zune HD out of the box which hasn’t been updated yet.
The first thing you’ll need to do if you haven’t already is download and install the latest Zune software (link below).
Now plug your Zune into your computer with the included USB connection cable and give it a moment to be recognized.
Next launch the Zune Desktop software and you should get the following screen. Just accept the EULA…
Then the update kicks off. Make sure not to disconnect the Zune while the update takes place.
The update will take a few minutes, and after it’s complete you should be good to go and can start using your Zune.
To update your player in the future, go to General Settings then Player Update.
![sshot-2010-03-05-[22-17-39]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/7702390cb4221739.png.png "sshot-2010-03-05-[22-17-39]")
Just like your computer’s hardware and software, you want to keep your other geeky gadgets updated as well. This will help the device run more smoothly, and sometimes add additional functionality.
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[MINI HOW-TO] Update Your Zune Player Software
Codemasters’ new FPS, Bodycount, announced briefly
Mar/100
We’ll find out more this week as the magazine arrives in UK homes, and presumably when an announcement is put online for good. Given the venue of announcement, we at least know it is an Xbox 360 game.
[Via Destructoid]
Codemasters’ new FPS, Bodycount, announced briefly originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hands-on: Splinter Cell: Conviction
Mar/100
Forced to surrender, Sam’s put on a plane and “brought home” for questioning about a plot to bring down Washington, DC with an EMP attack. Handling the transport is Black Arrow, a private military contractor, and it’s this outfit’s private airbase that serves as the setting for the game’s second level. It presented me with new challenges, specifically staying out of site in some really wide-open spaces. I was reminded of Metal Gear Solid more than once, what with patrolling guards, stacked crates and roaming flood lights to negotiate.
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