21 October, 2011

Employing Windows XP Logon Screen in Windows 7

The welcome screen in Windows 7 beta, which is...Image via Wikipedia
21-October-2011

Yesterday, I spent some 2 hours at our End User Support area, and one of the things that our main guy, the one doing all the OS installation and setup of individual and production PCs and laptops, was the user acceptability of Windows 7 for the general user group.

Mainly, the big difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP is right from the start: the Logon screen.

In Windows XP, users are so used to seeing 3 boxes:
In Windows 7, you don't see the boxes, but you either see the name of the last logged user, and a box for the password, or you get 2 choices: the last logged user, and 'switch user'. Now, laying aside all questions of intelligence and common sense, an average user (and sometimes even a geek) would never try to guess and attempt clicking on the 'switch user' icon. Especially if that is their orientation, don't play-play.

So now you get the picture - will Windows 7 be accepted easily? It is like saying, go into that new house, there are better things there - and the average tenant can't even figure out how to open the gate...


Keystroke Logger and Computer Monitoring Software


Is there a workaround?

I told him I didn't knew about this problem, since in out team, we are on 99.9% single-user PC/laptop usage ratio. But things are different in the production line. And I said I would look it up in the web.
I did find some very simple solutions, applicable to both Windows Vista and Windows 7, and while the approach may be different between the flavors of Windows 7, the effect is the same.

Here goes:
  1. Click on Windows 7 pearl (hey, it isn't a button anymore).
  2. Type secpol.msc and hit [Enter] (that's for Security Policy).
  3. At the left side, click on Local Policies, then on Security Options.
  4. Then at the right side, click any item, then press "i". That brings you to the list of items beginning with "I".
  5. The main item to Enable is: "Interactive logon: Do not display last user name".
  6. Enabling this is optional: "Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL + ALT + DEL". Enabling this means users will immediately see 2 boxes at the logon screen: username and password.
  7. Close window, and we are done.


Applicability:

I managed to apply these to 2 desktop PCs, and my laptop. I'm just happy that with this simple solution, the objective can be met.

As for the laptop, it isn't exactly the same screen, because there is an additional option for logging in: biometrics sensor.

Hopefully, we are helping to get Windows 7 less resisted but more accepted in the line.
Till then!

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18 October, 2011

FCC Test to Measure Cellphone Radiation Flawed, Group Says

Pictogram: use of cellphones is prohibitedImage via Wikipedia(WASHINGTON) -- A government test used to measure the radiation people absorb from their cellphones might underestimate the levels to which most adults and children are exposed, according to a group of doctors and researchers whose stated mission is to promote awareness of environmental health risks they believe may be linked to cancer.

Researchers from the Environmental Health Trust released a report Monday morning noting that the Federal Communications Commission test to determine radiation exposure is flawed.

The reason for the discrepancy, the group says, is that the process to determine radiation exposure from cellphones involves the use of a mannequin model that they say approximates a 6-foot-2, 220-pound person. Because the model represents only about three percent of the population, the authors report, the test will not accurately predict the radiation exposure of the other 97 percent of the population, including children. The group is pushing for a new testing system to measure radiation exposure in a wider range of consumers.

"The standard for cellphones has been developed based on old science and old models and old assumptions about how we use cellphones, and that's why they need to change," said Dr. Devra Davis, former senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services under the Clinton administration and one of the report's authors.

A different study cited in the report says a child's bone marrow absorbs 10 times the radiation as an adult. The authors also raise questions about long-term side effects, such as infertility in males who carry phones in their pockets, an exposure unaccounted for in the traditional certification process.

The authors suggest an alternative certification process, one that uses MRI scans to test real humans, including children and pregnant women. Such an approach would provide exposure data on a "Virtual Family," representing all ages, the authors say.

The U.S. government has had no specific comment on the report. The cellphone industry group CTIA-The Wireless Association said that because members "are not scientists or researchers on this topic," the news media should contact experts instead.

But whether the low level of radiation from cellphones actually causes cancer is a question that has yet to be answered. "No scientific evidence currently establishes a definite link between [cellphones] and cancer or other illnesses," the FCC says on its website.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio


Taken from WTMA.com; source article is below:
FCC Test to Measure Cellphone Radiation Flawed, Group Says

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Domino 6.5 ain't runnin' in Windows 7 (Laptop)

Latitude "Notebook"Image by Annie Mole via FlickrHP ProBook 4430s - Right SilverImage by HP PSG APJ via Flickr
I basically stopped posting articles on my blogs for a variety of reasons.

Sometime in early September, I was issued a laptop, an HP ProBook 4430s, so that they can take away my old desktop - hey, that what I was told!

And I was in the heat of installing and tweaking and customizing things, when after so many tries, I have given up: Domino 6.5 breaks in Windows 7 (laptop).

I know, a couple of weeks earlier to my getting a laptop, I was bragging about making Domino 6.5 work in Windows 7 (Windows 7 and Lotus Domino 6.5) - which is althemore, on an old Dell desktop PC. I didn't knew that it would all be completely different with a laptop. Took me almost a week of doing with the laptop what I did with the desktop to make Domino 6.5 work, but success eluded me everytime.

When I reached the end of my rope, after about 2 weeks, even trying out Domino 8.xx, I told my boss - the laptop I have no use for it, since the major programs I am maintaining is running with Domino 6.5 - which doesn't run.

Basically, Domino 6.5 is "seen" by Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2010. It can be called in. It can be referenced. But when I run the code, I get "null" errors, indicating that the object has not been instantiated.

Now in our company, we are issued either an HP machine, or a Dell counterpart. Another member of our team also got a laptop, and it was getting ready for deployment (meaning, to be used by the user, whose old desktop will also be taken away...), so my boss made a proposal.

Can I try it out on the other laptop? Maybe it was brand-sensitive, or maybe.... what?

Anyway, I yielded - that is what I was already thinking of doing a week after the unsuccessful tests - and the would-be owner agreed.

I tried, and guess what? The same error I got! So whether it is an HP ProBook 4430s, or a Dell Latitude E5420, if it is running in Windows 7, Domino 6.5 can't run. That's for my case.

As for the old Dell desktop PC, a dying GX280, which I got to reformat and reinstall Windows 7 Enterprise edition, 32-bit OS, I was able to apply the whole fix that I documented weeks back, and Domino 6.5 is able to run. So it's all on the laptops, I suppose... eh?

These are the specs, to be more precise:
Windows 7 Enterprise edition, 32-bit (64-bit ain't the right fit yet, dude!)
> desktops, laptops, they all get the same OS

And the very reason why we can't use 64-bit OS, is that we are still running Oracle 8i systems! And the upgrade isn't a time within reach, my man.

Finally, 64-bit ain't no use, since we only have 4GB RAM in our machines. I just made a good alternative to Windows 7, speeding up my processes by employing Readyboost - 2 pieces of 8GB thumbdrives plugged into my new laptop - now that's something!

The grapes are not so sour after all...

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