The Community-Combined Codec Pack, abbreviated CCCP, combines the tools required to play many audio and video formats. The software has nothing of a nag and it doesn’t harm anyone’s machine. With its components, such as FFMPEG and .SRT-reading software for subtitles, many media files that don’t work for Windows Media Player already may work (yes, FLV’s too!) Installations of CCCP come pre-packed with the optional Media Player Classic HomeCinema, which is a stripped down neutral version of Windows Media Player (perfect for those who would rather use a small, stable audio/video player!) It’s hassle-free to install and no other software can top what CCCP can do.

There are many things CCCP is good for! Let’s see, you want to watch a video podcast, but you do not want to open up iTunes or Quicktime Player. That’s understandable. When CCCP is installed, a user can use Windows Media Player to open up the .M4V, .MP4, or .MOV file. Even if Windows Media Player states that it doesn’t work, chances are, it will work if the data within the file is valid. Let’s say you downloaded a video, but it is in an alien format, like a .MKV or .MTS (.MTS is standard for HD Camcorders.) Yes, CCCP can do that and Windows Media Player will run it! Some software, such as Windows DVD Maker, will utilize CCCP’s services for the input-to-output processes (so now, .MKVs can become video DVD’s if the software will read it!)

There are certain downfalls to installing CCCP that users should understand and will notice for the lifetime that the user has the pack. For example, games that rely on MP3, WAV, and movie files that CCCP covers may have a short delay (depending on the machine) because the CCCP processes for FFMPEG may need to start up. Notable games include Grand Theft Auto (when using custom tracks on PC) and Audition Online (due to OGG format extraction). The good thing, however, is that some software (like Quicktime and iTunes) won’t have this issue. It’s too bad that you can’t play all the files CCCP can do for Windows Media Player on Quicktime or iTunes, but otherwise, CCCP is a great utility for your media player needs!

Copyright Information:
Image Content: 電車男 (Densha Otoko) © 2005 株式会社フジテレビジョン (Fuji Television)
Image Content: 生徒会の一存 (Seitokai no Ichizon) © 2009 株式会社スタジオディーン (Studio Deen Co., Ltd.)

Oh hey, check this out! Application & Facebook games lovers will dislike this change. Applications are shown on the left panel… of the home page only. See these comments to the left? Those are users who use a lot of apps, based on my view of their profile posts from apps.  As like the previous change, this change is no different. Many can see this update to add more confusion to the usage of Facebook. Plus, many are beginning to complain that “Facebook hasn’t really been listening to their suggestions.” (Especially about the dislike button.)

For the past year or so, Facebook has been concentrating on privacy control for its users. Noticeable changes included the little lock button under posts. From that, users can control who can view a particular post or content.

Of course, all Facebook users will have to decide for themselves whether or not this update is its best… or another failure. Either way, let’s hope Facebook listens to every little suggestion given to them.

If you’ve been keeping yourself up-to-date with Redbana Audition, you would know by now that many long-awaited additions, such as Windowed Mode and new songs, have been added yesterday (and today.) Yesterday was the main release of the patch for clients while today’s update was minor.

First off, after updates, users will notice that the patcher appearance will change. It used to look like this:

After the update, it becomes this:
 
The redesign doesn’t seem that bad. Don’t be fooled, the download/patching status bar might look smaller and the bar might move slower, but at least the Windowed mode Option is there!

Speaking of windowed mode, players were demanding that the ALT+TAB Combination key should be used to toggle between Full Screen and Windowed Mode. However, it seems as though Redbana only made it so that the mode must be chosen before launching Audition. At least there’s still an option for full screen view.

Next up, all of the Christmas and Holiday-related elements have been removed. (Snow, Christmas Tree, etc.)

Just because you’re watching doesn’t mean you can’t practice. Practice mode is now available for spectators of a game! (Not available with all modes.)

Here’s the listing of the new songs on Redbana Audition:
 

The two features I did not explain yet are Ballroom Tournament and Beat-Up Tournament, but those are self-explanatory.

Some users may see a complete redesign on the layout of the player and search page. The redesign has more of a “theatre” and “home media center” feel. The full screen and player size icons have changed in designs slightly. The 5-star rating system is no more. You can either like a video (and automatically favorite it) or dislike a video and have it known.

Now, High-Quality and High-Definition are no longer HQ and HD. YouTube now describes its video quality in more technical, but still understandable terms: 360p (SD), 480p (HQ), 720p (HD), and 1080p (HD).

Focusing on the redesign, the search page gives the user of a look and feel of a home media center. The video that you may have been watching will be on the left of the screen while the results are on the center. Of course, the problem is that if the video is paused and a search is performed, the player may be misplaced. It is a common issue and by the time many testers realize this, YouTube will catch on and will fix it.

Otherwise, it seems YouTube is continuing to improve the design and function of the site. Some people have positive thoughts about the new redesign. Some people aren’t ready for changes. Therefore, the new layout is completely optional and can be reverted.

To enable the redesign, head here.
To disable the redesign, head here.

Testers, including myself, have found many reasons to actually thank Microsoft for bringing up Microsoft Security Essentials. My own test results found that Microsoft Security Essentials was able to catch a Trojan that Avast wasn’t able to catch. This wasn’t caught through memory, where viruses can activate at a variable interval, but this was through a quick scan (read it again, a quick scan.) No, I could not believe it either. Avast took in a full scan with searching through archives enabled. Avast caught on to nothing. The higher detection rate left me speechless.

During the scan, which took no longer than 10 minutes, I did my tasks as I would. I noticed that my use of other applications were not affected or slowed down most of the time. While using the Google Chrome browser, I didn’t experience the expected slowdown from the virus scanning process. At first, I thought MSE was hanging and performing no tasks or was paused. It continued to scan with minimal CPU and memory usage. I opened up a few more applications, such as Word, Windows Media Player, and my other browser (Opera.) Of course, Windows Media Player slowed it down a bit, but in no way that was troubling. No virus scanner should interrupt anyone’s work.

So how protected can a user be using Microsoft Security Essentials? You’d call me a liar to say "rest assured, there will be no issues.”

Source: cnet news

The service updates its anti-malware database constantly and publishes new antivirus signatures to Microsoft Update three times a day, Alan Packer, general manager of Microsoft’s Anti-Malware team, said in an interview on Thursday.

Did you understand that? MSE is updated three times a day. As more information comes in, users can stay confident that protection is on their side. I didn’t believe it until I pushed the update button every day with expectations of an update.

Another option, which I am very proud to see, is this:

Gamers, like me, need this option. This option, used in combination with the low memory usage of MSE in general, is every gamers’ dream!

Of course, some free things have some cost, but at least this one is not about finance:
 
Understand that virus protection software need some memory to run in background to keep people protected, which is why fulfilling the system requirements is a necessity. However, most people won’t find this a problem. Compared to the memory usage of Avast (around 65,000 K,) MSE uses less.

I’ll continue using Microsoft Security Essentials since it has given me the peace-of-mind that my machines are protected. Believe it or not, Microsoft deserves a lot of props for this. Why should people have to pay for Virus Protection?

See, this promotional poster was TOO hard to believe at first sight. Obviously, when something that large, like AT&T Wi-Fi, is announcing free services, it would mostly be free as “20 minutes of FREE WI-FI!”, as like Hong Kong’s McDonalds and their offer of 20 minutes of free Wi-Fi daily (provided by Y5Zone.) However, McDonalds nationwide in America aims to provide Free, UNLIMITED Wi-Fi starting on January 15th!

According to Danny Minick (Via Skype):

“McDonalds had free Wi-Fi already back in the day.”

So this means that they’re simply bringing it back because AT&T probably had zero benefits from regular customers since they started charging for non-iPhone customers when users use AT&T Wi-Fi.

Rant portion of this post begins below:

There are a few things there needs to be added to AT&T Wi-Fi, where these features are available. Technology has advanced, and so should AT&T Wi-Fi’s (and other Wi-Fi Provider’s’.) Of course, most of the time, I will be comparing over to Hong Kong / 香港 Wi-Fi Providers, since I know their system and networks better than others’ outside the United States.

Hong Kong has (at least) two of each Wi-Fi network in each location for most providers, including Y5Zone, PCCW Wi-Fi (and PCCW Free Airport Wi-Fi), GovHK, and other providers, while AT&T Wi-Fi & most major Wi-Fi Providers do not. The sole purpose of the 2-router minimum is the need for secure and secondary-purpose internet/network/intranet usage. Take example from PCCW Wi-Fi available all across Hong Kong. PCCW has 4 SSID’s on the majority of the routers that provide PCCW Wi-Fi Internet: PCCW (for regular, unsecured access), PCCWx1 (for the most secure access to the net), PCCW + SR (Probably for service access), & Universities via PCCW (for secure access for University students in Hong Kong with authentication.) AT&T Wi-Fi has the following: attwifi. What’s that mean? More hackers are what I see on the list. Hey America, hasn’t security been a priority nowadays? I see where it’s gone and it’s total failure at this point.

Lastly, in Hong Kong, PCCW Wi-Fi provides Fiber-optic speeds for Wi-Fi. Speeds go up to 100mbps, which is, by far, the best! On the other hand, AT&T Wi-Fi remains to be simple and not offer Fiber-optic speeds. Even Verizon Wi-Fi won’t offer blazing fast speeds as PCCW Wi-Fi does. Paid or free, what kind of cheap-o services do we take them for? Companies, technology has evolved! What are they afraid about, if Verizon can do Verizon FiOS, then the next thing is Fiber-optic speeds on Wi-Fi!

I’m not telling AT&T and other various Wi-Fi providers to be like Hong Kong, but a huge upgrade can bring more customers, free or paid. Security and speed are of high importance right now and hopefully, the corporations are listening.

Second, here’s a question: Why pay for some online backup service per month when you can just get an external hard disk drive and backup all you need with it, using it in combination with Windows Easy Transfer? Actually, there’s a truth to it too. Remember, the Internet is NOT completely secure (the government may be another case, but look on the consumer and business side of this.)

So one day, I thought to myself…

Hey, either way, I’m going to have to re-install my programs and updates, right? Well, why don’t I just go to plan B and use that other method Windows Vista/Windows 7 has here…

Plan B might have been slightly costly, but actually, it’s foolproof! I ended up NOT using Windows Backup and Restore Center and used Windows Easy Transfer. You do not have to be a user who is transferring data to a different machine to use this tool. However, you will need some sort of network storage or external hard drive to fit the data in, depending on the size of your documents and other files you wish to preserve.

I’ve worked with machines using Windows Easy Transfer that didn’t require any more than 6GB of space on a removable media device (their 8GB flash drive was able to handle it, believe it or not.) A flash drive can handle the light computer user (one who just uses the computer to browse the web, works on word/excel documents, view and store pictures, etc.) On the other hand, the normal and intermediate computer users in the family may need an external hard drive. No, nobody will be asking you to go as far as a 500GB external USB hard disk drive (unless you really need that much capacity.) If it’s 50GB or 100GB, that should be the ideal size (and shouldn’t be as costly as one may think before dealing with which retailer to purchase it from.)

Windows Easy Transfer will transfer program settings, windows settings, individual user settings, documents, and much more. However, Windows Easy Transfer will NOT transfer your contacts, downloads, and certain files that are in the AppData folder. There may be some pop-up notifications along the way. If a certain file that you don’t know cannot be copied for any reason, try again. If it doesn’t work, click continue. Those files might not be 100% necessary, but do pay close attention. As for downloads and contacts, just copy it somewhere in the removable storage media and copy it back into the folder.

Also, regardless of whether you use Windows Easy Transfer or some other backup service online or offline, you won’t get your software back installed the way it is. Even if the service lessens your worry by promising that your software will be re-installed and given back to you the way you left it before the backup, I personally guarantee that a file or files, as well as the installation, may be corrupted or damaged (it’s like stopping time: if you stop time, made a building disappear, and started time again, everything would be completely haywire.) Windows Easy Transfer does not transfer files from the Program Files folder. From my discoveries, there’s a way to truly bring your installations back in order. After using Windows Easy Transfer to restore files and settings, your programs will not be re-installed using Windows Easy Transfer (and your desktop/quick launch/start menu shortcuts will be deleted if the system doesn’t have the actual software installed.) However, if you install the software first (remember: you do NOT have to re-install EVERY single software you had before re-installing the operating system) and run the Windows Easy Transfer software, your settings will be as if they were untouched*!

Once again, I can’t guarantee that every single file transferred will make it, but most of the files that don’t make it might not be important. Keep in mind that no backup service will work 100% (at least for a mass of files.) Neither I (nor Microsoft) will be in any way responsible if something is done incorrectly or if a file cannot be backed up or restored for any reason at all. Perform all backups at your own risk over any software or service.

What did that mean? That called for a good upgrade for innovative features, which updated the way people took excellent screenshots.

The Snipping Tool went well… for a while. Eventually, the transparency in Windows Vista (and Windows 7) gave image viewers an exploit of the creator’s privacy (think about it… behind the transparency, what if your PayPal Account Information was in the open thanks to the transparency?)  Well, ntwind software released the perfect solution: WinSnap. With WinSnap, users can produce vivid and high-quality screenshots without hassle. In seconds, users can produce screenshots that are as high-quality as the one below.

If a user were to continue using the Snipping Tool OR were to use the classic MSPaint (Microsoft Paint) PrintScreen & Paste method, that user shouldn’t expect much more than this:

Also, WinSnap may look familiar to the Grab utility preloaded on Mac OS X operating systems. It’s quite similar when thought about in terms of features. However, WinSnap does not have a timed snap, as the Grab utility does, where a user can perform an action quickly to produce the screenshot with the action completed. To make up for it, pressing Print Screen while WinSnap is running, whether on the taskbar or shown on the window, will take the screenshots with the options set (It helps for object shots.)

Continuing with the comparison between Grab and WinSnap, WinSnap lets users capture an object within an application. On first glance, it may be no different than capturing a normal window. However, some applications (on Windows), such as Opera, have windows within a window. For example, there is a certain web page that a user may want to capture, but the user does not want to reveal all of the other tabs. The user can activate object shot and grab the tab window. Without revealing other open tabs, a user can show that tab like this:

Other ideas utilizing object screenshot include individual Adobe PhotoShop project, creating tutorials showing a window within an application, showing a button only (an OK button in Chinese on a dialog box), etc.

Of course, there are other things users can do to a screenshot, such as adding a shadow (pictured above), adding a reflection, adding a contour, rotating it, adding a watermark, and resizing it. All of it is easy to use.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t all come free, like the pre-loaded Snipping Tool and Paint. For $24.90, a single license is included for a single user only. $49.90 will serve 5 users with one license each in the family with a family license. Finally, $285.00 gives business users 20 licenses. All licenses come with free upgrades to all future versions. WinSnap can be purchased on the ntwind software website. If you use it unregistered, there will be a forced watermark, asking one to buy WinSnap.

In my honest opinion, why would anyone not want WinSnap for producing such excellent images? I bought this yesterday evening and I am beyond satisfied with it! It went beyond my expectations and I could never be any more happier than to have WinSnap! It’s fully worth the money, no questions asked. Honestly, all geeks should have this to teach, show, and present using screenshots! People, Microsoft Paint (mspaint.exe) is so old-school.

Click on the images to enlarge them.
Roll over the images with your mouse to see descriptions.