Learn about and make Windows XP work your way...

I run Windows XP on my computer, and I have to say that despite some drawbacks, there's a lot to like about the operating system.

If you're an XP user like me, I bet you'd like to tweak Windows XP to suit your needs. Now, you can. I've found three programs at ZDNet Downloads that let you bend the OS to your will. Whether you want to improve XP's performance, change its appearance, or customize the included Windows Media Player, here are the tools
to try.

miTweak-XP: lets you change the way Windows XP uses memory. It performs automatic shutdowns, allows applications and menus to use transparency effects, and randomizes logon themes. Plus, it's free! (Free/Windows)

Customizer XP: optimizes your XP system's cache and RAM, gives you full control over startup items, and cleans out your system automatically. It also lets you change XP's appearance in many different ways. (Shareware/Windows)

Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP: gives you all kinds of goodies for customizing the Windows Media Player. It includes skins for changing its look, sound effects, and a utility for converting MP3 files to WMA files. (Free/Windows)

Try these tools, and make it work the way you want.

Want to learn more about XP...Read on...

Windows XP: Hello to Net phone service
Telephone service through the Internet hasn't amounted to much more than a novelty. Quality is questionable, and conventional phone service is relatively cheap and comfortingly familiar. But so-called voice-over-IP service may be getting a big boost to legitimacy and mainstream use in the form of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows XP operating system, which promises to make Net-based calls as good as regular phone service.

MS PULLS BLUETOOTH FROM XP
The story: Microsoft has dropped plans for its forthcoming Windows XP to support Bluetooth, the wireless technology that allows portable devices and peripherals to connect to one another. Reason: Frustration at the speed at which the platform is developing, and the lack of stable Bluetooth hardware. While third-party software developers will be able to write software enabling Bluetooth hardware to run on Windows XP machines, Bluetooth devices will not be able to seamlessly connect to Microsoft-based PCs, as many had hoped.

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Track your E-Mail

Imagine that you sent an E-Mail to your friend.Whatever happened to that email you sent? How long did it sit in someone’s inbox before it was opened? Or maybe they never got it? Was it even opened at all?

www.didtheyreadit.com helps you know these details.
When you use didtheyreadit, every e-mail that you send is invisibly tracked without alerting the recipient.
But when they read your message, you will immediately receive the following information:
1.When, exactly, your email was opened.
2.How long your email remained opened.
3.Where, geographically, your email was viewed.

When the recipient gets the e-mail, it looks the same as any other e-mail that you send them. The instant they read the message, you will get an e-mail telling you that your message was read. It will contain the following information:

When the message was read.
Where (geographically---approximately) the message was read.
When they have finished reading the message, you will receive a more detailed report, which will also indicate how long they read the message for.

Each time the message is re-opened, even by a different person, you will be alerted. This means that if the recipient forwards your message, you will know. (You'll even know where the recipient is located, geographically).

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The Cutting Edge Animation of Polar Express

If there's any doubt that the future of movie technology is reaching new heights, that should be dispelled by the end of the year, when Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's prizewinning storybook The Polar Express takes a new approach to computer animation.
Two years ago, Hanks picked up the movie rights to Chris Van Allsburg's book, which he regularly read to his kids at Christmas time. He brought the project to his frequent collaborator Robert Zemeckis, who wrote a script based on the book. The question was how they could bring Allsburg's beautiful oil painting illustrations to life. Zemeckis had animation experience from his groundbreaking work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit while Hanks provided the voice in Pixar Films' first big hit Toy Story and its sequel, and they had used computers when making Forrest Gump to transplant Tom Hanks' character into some historical footage. Making The Polar Express as a computer-animated film seemed the most logical way to go, although they were aware of the limitations of going that route.
They decided to use a new technique dubbed Performance Capture, which would allow an actor of Hanks' caliber to perform the entire movie, rather than simply supplying the voices like in regular computer animated movies. A simpler form of this technology was used to create Andy Serkis' memorable performance as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but for Polar Express it would be taken to its most logical extreme, allowing Hanks to play multiple roles including the skeptical young boy whose disbelief in Santa Claus drives the story.

Producer Steve Starkey, who worked with Hanks and Zemeckis on Forrest Gump and Cast Away, was kind enough to explain the technology using the film's opening sequence where the film's young star first encounters the Polar Express on Christmas Eve. This impressive sequence was followed by a video shot on set of Tom Hanks performing the part of the boy in a stunning performance that will once again have people questioning whether CG actors should be getting Oscar recognition.
First, the animators created the movie's environments and backgrounds in the computer, much of them based on Van Allsburg's illustrations. Production designer Rick Carter even visited the childhood homes of Van Allsburg and Zemeckis for inspiration. These virtual sets were then recreated on a soundstage using wire frame recreations of objects with a grid of infrared receivers suspended high overhead. The actors perform their scenes wearing Lycra suits covered with sensors, and 150 sensors are placed on their faces. Using these sensors, the receivers are able to accurately capture their movements and facial expressions, which are then digitized into the computers.
With the help of a costume designer and hairstylist to visualize the characters, something unheard of for an animated feature, the animators create "skins" to place over the computerized skeletons captured on set. This great attention to detail has allowed Zemeckis to create some of the most lifelike computer animated humans ever seen on screen. Once the chosen performances have been picked, the 3-dimensional computer environment provides an opportunity for the film's cinematographers to put the camera wherever they want, allowing for shots that would be impossible in the "real world". Many scenes can be done all in one shot even if they are edited together from multiple on-set performances.
The obvious appeal of the process to actors is that they now can play parts without worrying about the character's appearance, and the time commitment is shorter because there's not as much time spent on set with things like lighting and camera set-ups. Because of this, the same technology will be used to make Monster House, another holiday related movie based on a book, this one featuring performances from Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara.
Starkey showed a few more clips from the film including an impressive musical number with tap dancing waiters serving hot chocolate to the children, brought to life by a troupe of actual Broadway dancers. Another exciting sequence had Hanks playing both the boy and a "hobo" character skiing across the top of the train. Starkey also showed a bit more footage beyond what has been seen in the trailer, showing the great job done by the animators, who have been working on the film for two years and should be finished with everything in the next month.
Expect a couple surprise appearances in The Polar Express, like the reuniting of Hanks with his "Bosom Buddies" co-star Peter Scolari, as well as a performance from Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler as a partying elf. Overall, The Polar Express looks like a magical film that will appeal to kids of all ages thanks to the quality of acting and the animation that may turn a few heads at Pixar and DreamWorks, who have competing films coming out in the next few months. The Polar Express opens on November 10th.

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MAYA(Graphics Package)

Maya is a high-end 3D computer graphics software package used in the film and TV industry, as well as for computer and video games.
Maya comes in two main versions, Maya Complete (confusingly, this is a cut-down version) and Maya Unlimited. Maya Unlimited used to be considered too expensive for home users but is now priced similar to other 3D programs. There is also Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) for non-commercial use, which is completely free, but each rendered picture or frame contains a large notice saying that it cannot be used for commercial things.
Maya is written by Alias wavefront, and is released for the Microsoft Windows, Linux, IRIX and Mac_OS_X operating systems. The latest version of Maya, version 5.0, was released in early 2003.

The most important feature of Maya is its openness to third-party software, which can strip Maya completely of its standard appearance and, using only the Maya kernel, can transform it into a highly customized, proprietary version of the software. Apart from its intrinsic power and flexibility, this feature in itself made Maya extremely appealing to large studios which tend to write quite a lot of proprietary code for their productions.
Apart from the openness to machine code, Maya also features a powerful, interpreted, cross-platform scripting language (Maya Embedded Language, a.k.a. MEL, very similar to PHP, conceptually resembling C). This allows users to tweak almost everything, starting from simple interface changes/helpers up to complex animation effects. This feature is intended for small-medium studios which don't have huge budgets but still need some level of customization.
Some of the features of Maya include:
Simulation of particle effects (good for smoke, water droplets etc)
A realistic fluid simulator (good for water, explosions, added in Maya 4.5)
Inverse kinematics (to realistically simulate human limb movement, for example)
Cloth simulation (simulate clothing and fabrics moving realistically)
Fur (good for simulating fur and hair).
Physical effects (simulate colliding objects, object deforming under pressure etc).

Maya is used extensively by Hollywood studios to create CG effects.

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