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June 29  Tonight, Spain will be playing against Germany in the European foot(as-in-soccer)ball championships final. For this special event – people in Europe are often found partying on the streets when their team wins – Google launched a logo doodle contest a while ago, and today presents the winner on the homepage of Google homepages of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The logo was selected from 3,800 competitors and received over 300,000 votes, Google says, and is drawn by 17-year old Mai Dao Ngoc from Germany. Additionally to having her logo showcased on the homepage, Mai Dao Ngoc was given a computer by Google employee and original logo artist Dennis Hwang during the ceremony. June 28  A reliability and performance update is available for download for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This specific release targets all Windows Vista editions, provided that they have the first service pack integrated. The update comes with the promise of improving the performance and reliability of the gold version of Vista SP1, and is not addressed at the RTM SKUs of the latest Windows client. Two updates are up for grabs for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista SP1. "This update resolves issues that may affect some Windows Vista SP1-based computers. These issues have been reported by customers who use the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services," Microsoft informed. The Redmond company softened all the rough corners of the RTM build of Vista, including problems related to stability and speed. However, while some issues survived, others were introduced specifically by SP1. The current update is designed to tackle performance, responsiveness, and reliability issues affecting Vista SP1 in a variety of scenarios. At the bottom of this article, you will find the complete list of improvements that the update will deliver to Windows Vista. The Vista SP1 reliability and performance update signals that a practice started with Vista RTM is turning into a tradition for Microsoft. When SP1 was in the early stages of development, the Redmond giant started serving bits and pieces of the service pack for Vista RTM as performance, reliability, and compatibility releases through Windows Update and the Download Center. The end purpose is, of course, to decrease the level of reliance on service packs, and put the Windows Update infrastructure into the limelight. The advantage of WU over service pack releases is that end users get much more rapidly resolves and enhancements for their operating system. As far as Microsoft is concerned, the evolution of Windows platforms in sips rather than in big gulps is preferred due to the flexibility it introduces, along with the obvious benefits for users. Still, the dependency on service packs in corporate environments is a factor which will continue to force Microsoft to focus on service pack releases, even though the company is slowly moving Windows Update to the centerstage.
According to Microsoft, "this update includes the following improvements on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer:
• This update improves the stability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by addressing some crashes that may occur when you try to check e-mail by using a POP3 e-mail client such as Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. The crashes may occur on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer in the following scenario incoming POP3 and outgoing SMTP traffic monitoring is enabled.
• Both a third-party antivirus application and an antispyware application are installed, such as the following applications: ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite by Check Point Software Technologies and SpySweeper by Webroot Software.
• This update improves the reliability of the Windows Vista SP1 based-computers by addressing some problems that occur when you delete user accounts by using the User Accounts item in Control Panel. When this problem occurs, the system may stop responding (hang).
• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers that experience issues in which large applications cannot run after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time. For example, when you try to start Excel 2007 after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time, a user may receive an error message that resembles the following:
EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32 application
• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing the number of crashes that may be caused by the Apple QuickTime thumbnail preview in Windows Live Photo Gallery.
• This update improves the performance of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing audio and video (AV) stuttering. Such AV stuttering may occur when the audio or video component is streaming high definition content from a Windows Vista SP1-based computer that has a NVIDIA network adapter nForce driver version 67.5.4.0 that is installed to a Windows Media Center Extender device."
Download : Performance and Reliability Update for Vista SP1 (32)
Download : Performance and Reliability Update for Vista SP1 (64) June 26  MIAMI — From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.
An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
Law enforcement officials said that the shift toward prescription-drug abuse, which began here about eight years ago, showed no sign of letting up and that the state must do more to control it.
“You have health care providers involved, you have doctor shoppers, and then there are crimes like robbing drug shipments,” said Jeff Beasley, a drug intelligence inspector for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which co-sponsored the study. “There is a multitude of ways to get these drugs, and that’s what makes things complicated.”
The report’s findings track with similar studies by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which has found that roughly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs. If accurate, that would be an increase of 80 percent in six years and more than the total abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants.
The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.
Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 — fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0).
The study also found that while the number of people who died with heroin in their bodies increased 14 percent in 2007, to 110, deaths related to the opioid oxycodone increased 36 percent, to 1,253.
Florida scrutinizes drug-related deaths more closely than do other states, and so there is little basis for comparison with them.
It has also witnessed several highly publicized cases in recent years that have highlighted the problem. Only last year, an accidental prescription drug overdose killed Anna Nicole Smith in Broward County.
Still, the state has lagged in enforcement. Thirty-eight other states have approved prescription drug monitoring programs that track sales. Florida lawmakers have repeatedly considered similar legislation, but privacy concerns have kept it from passing.
As a result, federal, state and local law enforcement officials say, Florida has become a source of prescription drugs that are illegally sold across the country.
“The monitoring plan is our priority effort, but that is not enough,” William H. Janes, the Florida director of drug control, said in a statement accompanying the study. He said Florida was also looking at ways to curb illegal Internet sales and to encourage doctors and pharmacists to identify potential abusers.
Some local police departments have taken a more novel approach.
In Broward County on May 31, deputies completed a “drug takeback” in which $5 Wal-Mart, CVS or Walgreens gift cards were distributed to 150 people who cleaned out their medicine cabinets and turned in unused drugs in an effort to keep them out of young people’s hands.
“The abuse has reached epidemic proportions,” said Lisa McElhaney, a sergeant in the pharmaceutical drug diversion unit of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s just explosive.”
Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says - NYTimes.com June 24  After years of prescription antidepressants that offered no relief from anxiety disorder, Patsy K. Eagan experiments with her drug of choice— marijuana, which for some may be the medicine to send SSRIs up in smoke
A thimbleful is all it takes. After a day’s work, I pinch off a small amount of marijuana and put it in a steel-tooth grinder. The flowers, covered in tiny white diamonds of THC, release a piney scent when crushed. I turn on the TV, and instead of taking a glass of wine with my evening news, I take out my vaporizer and set it on the coffee table.
Outside the walls of my bungalow in Oakland, California, I can hear the rush-hour traffic, but I’ve already changed into my Big Lebowski–style robe and slippers. I tap the ground flakes into a canister that I attach to another piece, this one with a bag on the end, and set both on the vaporizer. I flip the switch, and the bag slowly inflates with plumes of white smoke. Once it’s fully clouded, I attach a mouthpiece to the canister, put this to my lips, and press. On the inhale, the cannabinoids taste like sunned grass. My prescription for anxiety disorder didn’t always begin and end with an herb. But I’ve run through enough pharmaceutical drugs to know that pot dulls my panic better than any pill.
Marijuana Anxiety Disorders - ELLE June 23
Zangeres Amy Winehouse draagt 'sporen' van een longziekte, zo zegt haar vader. Het zou gaan om een long-emfyseem. Winehouse heeft een weekje ziekenhuis achter de rug, maar zou het vrij goed stellen.
Winehouse werd in het ziekenhuis opgenomen nadat ze was flauwgevallen. Onderzoek wees uit dat ze sporen van een long-emfyseem heeft. Dat is een beschadiging van de wand van de longblaasjes, waardoor de uitwisseling van zuurstof en koolzuurgas in de longen minder goed verloopt. Hierdoor wordt de patiënt kortademig.
Van Winehouse is geweten dat ze rookt als een schoorsteen en het bovendien niet op enkel sigaretten houdt. Zo duiken er regelmatig beelden op waarin te zien is hoe de zangeres crack rookt.
Mitch Winehouse deed het verhaal over de medische toestand van zijn dochter tegen BBC Radio 1. Volgens hem reageert Amy goed op de medicatie die ze moet nemen en zal ze volledig herstellen indien ze stopt met roken. De dokters hebben de 24-jarige zangeres toestemming gegeven om komend weekend op te treden op het Glastonbury Festival.
Media en Cultuur – Het Belang van Limburg – online krant June 22 Giveaway of the Day is a very interesting and useful concept. The site allows you to use licensed or paid software for free. The deal is like this:
Each day Giveawayoftheday gives away a licensed software free of cost, provided you download and install it that very day. A special file containing the activation procedure which is generally automated. A readme text file is also included in the download in case on any changes to the procedure. The catch is that if you are looking for a particular paid software then…. you should not wait for it to appear on Giveaway of the Day(unless of course you are very lucky!), may be you should buy it yourself.
There is also a giveaway for games on similar lines which is available at games.giveawayoftheday.com
Also worth mentioning here is the fact that you get No free technical support, No free upgrades and the software is for personal use only. All in all it should be seen as a way to try the full version of a software without having to pay for it. You can subscribe to the RSS feed of giveawayoftheday so that you can know what the latest Giveaway is, if you like it well go ahead download, install and use it. June 17
 Twee jaar geleden scoorde de Duitse groep Wir Sind Helden een onverwachte hit in Nederland met de single "Wenn Es Passiert." Het succes was vooral te danken aan het NOS-programma Studio Sportzomer dat elke dag terug- en vooruitblikte op het WK voetbal in Duitsland. Het nummer was steeds te horen in de eindleader van het programma (of outtro hoe je het ook wil noemen). De hoge kijkcijfers zorgden voor een flinke toename in verkopen en airplay van de single. Op 9 juli van dit jaar traden ze live op in de studio met een acoustische versie van "Wenn Es Passiert".
Hetzelfde staat te gebeuren met het nieuwe Engelse bandje One Night Only. Studio Sportzomer maakt veelvuldig gebruik van een song van deze groep in de uitzendingen over het EK voetbal in Oostenrijk en Zwitserland. Hun 1e single in Nederland "Just For Tonight" is gekozen om het programma af te sluiten. Het nummer staat onder de montage van de mooiste EK-wedstrijdmomenten van die dag en wordt inmiddels ook geregeld op de radio gedraaid. In januari verkoos de website FMC "Just For Tonight" al tot de 1e Disrox! van het jaar. Eindelijk een doorbraak voor One Night Only!
Mijn persoonlijke favoriet is "Do It Again" van de Chemical Brothers. Dit nummer doet het erg goed als achtergrondmuziek bij Oranje doelpunten. Gedurende het EK zal ik hieronder nog nieuwe nummers toevoegen als de actualiteit daarom vraagt (verzoeknummers mag ook). Voor de komende wedstrijd Nederland-Roemenië alvast wat muziek:
Netherlands - France Euro 2008
A beautiful clip from the Dutch television channel NOS Studio Sportzomer
'One mission, one feeling, together we are orange'
June 14
 Ook zo moe van het zouteloze commentaar van aartspessimist Evert ten Napel (op de brandstapel)?
Helaas loopt het beeld van Nederland 1 en het geluid van Radio 1 niet synchroon met elkaar, maar anders had ik de EK-wedstrijd Nederland-Italië zeker bekeken met het commentaar van Jack van Gelder op Radio 1. Wat kan die man enthousiast verslag doen van een wedstrijd! Zijn commentaar is ook erg geliefd bij de radio-dj's. Giel Beelen maakte al een mix van het verslag en ook bij Ruud de Wild was het commentaar te horen.
Zelfs wanneer zijn co-presentator commentaar aan het geven is, schreeuwt Jack van Gelder er dwars door heen. Geweldig!
Giel Beelen mixte het commentaar van Jack van Gelder met het nummer 'Something Good '08' van Utah Saints. Bij Ruud de Wild op Q-music was hetzelfde commentaar te horen, maar dan gemixt met het liedje 'Die Bal Moet In Het Net' van Bob Fosko. De mix van Giel Beelen van de wedstrijd Nederland-Italië is hier te downloaden. Van de show van Ruuddewild.nl is de mix niet beschikbaar. Het nummer van Bob Fosko is wel hier te bekijken.
Voor de liefhebbers zijn via de NOS alle drie momenten te horen waarop Oranje de doelpunten scoorde, uiteraard met het overdreven enthousiaste commentaar van Jack van Gelder: 1 - 0, 2 - 0 en 3 - 0.
En natuurlijk alle goals van Nederland - Frankrijk:
Dirk Kuyt 1-0, Robin van Persie 2-0, Thierry Henry 2-1 + Arjen Robben 3-1, Wesley Sneijder 4-1.
Zie hieronder ook het commentaar met de beelden van de wedstrijd Nederland-Italië erbij:
 Robbert Meeder presenteert vanaf maandag (9 juni) in Bern vanaf 12 uur zijn eerste uitzending op EK FM. De speciale supporterszender is in en rond het Wankdorff-stadion te ontvangen via de frequentie 90,5 MHz. De tijdelijke zender is bovendien te ontvangen via internet, via speciale zenders in de Nederlandse kampen in Uruzgan en via de korte golf in Zwitserland, Oostenrijk, Italië, Frankrijk en Zuid-Duitsland via de frequentie 5955 kHz.
Radio 1-presentator Robbert Meeder spreekt in de uren voorafgaand aan de eerste groepswedstrijd van het Nederlands elftal met Youri Mulder, Hans Kraaij sr. en Jeroen van der Boom over hun Oranjegevoel. De Oranjefans in Bern worden bovendien tijdens deze uitzending door de Supportersclub Oranje en het voetbalinformatiecentrum geïnformeerd over de activiteiten in en rond het stadion.
Vanaf 19.00 uur schakelt EK FM over naar de uitzending van Radio 1. Tijdens de wedstrijd is in en rond het stadion het wedstrijdverslag van NOS Langs de Lijn te horen en direct na afloop de reacties van de spelers en de bondscoach. EK FM is onder andere met mp3-spelers en mobiele telefoons met FM radio-ontvangst te ontvangen in de speelsteden van het Nederlands elftal: in Bern op 90,5 MHz en als Oranje doorgaat naar de volgende ronden in Basel op 90,1 MHz en in Wenen op 105,1 MHz. [Radio.NL]
Luister hier WK FM
www.radio.nl: Eerste uitzending supportersradio EK FM vanuit Bern
June 12 Recently, the need for space has become immense. Files have become increasingly larger, there are more things to download and so on. Personally, I run out of space on multiple drives all the time. Maybe you are trying to get a file sent to someone, but it’s too large for an attachment on your email. Possibly you want to backup some files to download later or multiple times. That is why there are file hosts. I have found numerous different file hosting companies, many of them that supply users with an extremely small amount of space or limited features. Here they are, in no particular order:
 1. Filedropper - Filedropper is amazing. All you need to do to upload a file is click “Upload” and select a file.
Many free file hosting sites give users the option to upload file of up to 100-150MB, yet Filedropper allows users to upload an amazing 5GB!
When you finish uploading a file, Filedropper gives you the link and the source code to add to a website, if you like.
 2. Fileqube - Fileqube is another free file hosting site. It has an awesome site design that definitely shows it’s intentions. It is also extremely fast. When you upload a file, a link is provided to download the file, a link to remove the file, and HTML code to add to a website, etc. Unfortunately, Fileqube only allows for uploads of up to only 150MB, yet most certainly one of the best.
 3. MyFreeFileHosting- MyFreeFileHosting has an interface similar to MediaFire’s. It includes the option to send an notification email to someone to tell them of the upload, tags to categorize the file, etc. Of course, after one uploads the file, links are given to allow for download and distribution. The maximum file size allowed is 100MB.
 4. Fileden - Fileden is one of the most useful file hosting services. Users are allowed to upload files, without an account, of files up to 100MB, yet you are allowed to register an account for free as well and receive unlimited diskspace, unlimited bandwith, the option to create projects, the ability to replace files, file statistics, project statistics, etc.
 5. Easyshare - Easyshare adds even more features to file hosting. Registering and uploading files occur quickly, with accounts allowing for downloading files multiple times. Unlike other free file hosts though, Easyshare pays users for their uploads. If your upload gets downloaded 10,000 times, you’ll apparently receive $20. If you have a personalized toolbar on your website, you can receive money from their uploads through that toolbar and if you refer another person to Easyshare you’ll receive 10% of their earnings.
Another neat thing about this site is the upload options. You can upload on the site from your computer, upload using an FTP server, upload using their free software, or use a remote upload from another server. The maximum file size for a free account is 100MB.
 6. FileFactory - Filefactory is similar to all of the previous file hosts, except it supports the option to send a notification email to a person of an uploaded file. Unfortunately, Filefactory contains a large amount of ads if you do not receive the premium service. Yet, unlike the other file hosts, the maximum file size is 300MB which is a large amount per file in comparison. Similar to Easyshare, users are paid for each download they receive from a certain file.
 7. Badongo - Badongo is an exceptionally neat file host, and I would most certainly rate it as one of the best. As a unregistered user, you are allowed to upload up to 4.8GB a day and as a free, registered user, 12GB a day. To make it similar to Filedropper, Badongo allows users to upload files of a maximum size of 1GB. When you register with Badongo you even receive an account that stores all of your files of course, but also allows users to create picture albums out of the pictures they store. This brings even more wonderful features to this awesome site.
More features include the option to create an MP3 player on your website by pasting code from your account, the ability to create slideshows from pictures with multiple effects, a file widget tool to place on websites, a desktop application for uploading files quickly, etc. June 09
 Albert Heijn deelt sinds 2 juni in de winkels EK-knuffelmascottes uit aan Oranjefans: de Welpies. Voor Windows Live Messenger is er sinds kort ook een gratis Welpie Emoticonpakket verkrijgbaar. Dit pakket ‘winks’ en emoticons is een groot succes: in een week tijd hebben al 300.000 gebruikers van Windows Live Messenger het gedownload en geïnstalleerd.
Else van Aken, Media Manager Albert Heijn: "In onze themacampagnes maken we altijd al gebruik van online-middelen. Dankzij de samenwerking met het sociaal entertainment netwerk van Windows Live Messenger en MSN.nl brengen we Welpie ook digitaal tot leven. We zijn erg blij te zien dat we hiermee een groot online publiek aanspreken."
UPDATE (24/6):
Patch voor de nieuwe generatie Messenger: Windows Live Messenger! Met deze patch kan je voortaan alle aangepaste en aankomende versies van Windows Live Messenger patchen. Pluk Messenger helemaal kaal met deze patch. Sluit voor het patchen Windows Live Messenger af!
MastaLine.com - Downloads › Patches › WLM Universal Patcher++ 1.0.1
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Tonight, Spain will be playing against Germany in the European foot(as-in-soccer)ball championships final. For this special event – people in Europe are often found partying on the streets when their team wins – Google launched a logo doodle contest a while ago, and today presents the winner on the homepage of Google homepages of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The logo was selected from 3,800 competitors and received over 300,000 votes, Google says, and is drawn by 17-year old Mai Dao Ngoc from Germany. Additionally to having her logo showcased on the homepage, Mai Dao Ngoc was given a computer by Google employee and original logo artist Dennis Hwang during the ceremony. 
