Gift Ideas for Christmas

With Christmas now only 1 month away, many will be desperately searching for potential gift ideas for family and friends. With so many ideas out there, we will be bringing to you our favorites with the option to buy the product and pass on as a present.

So without further ado here is our first list of possible gift ideas, all with the option to buy.

Gift Idea 1 Utili-Key 6-in-1 Tool

The lightest, most compact multiple tool ever developed! If you feel lost without your trusty knife at your side, this tiny multi-tool can give you some great company. Easily closes to attach to any key ring, making it very easy to carry. Several screwdrivers and two different cutting surfaces give this little tool a lot of usefulness. Very lightweight and blends in with your other keys on your keyring.

The Utili-Key has these features.

* Self-locking to any key ring
* Snaps at 90 degrees or fully extended for choice of functions
* Semi-serrated knife blade
* Micro Flat or Phillips screwdriver
* Eyeglass screwdriver
* Bottle opener
* Lifetime warranty
* Size: 2 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8"
* Weight: .5 oz.
* 420 stainless steel

Gift Idea 2 Annoy-A-Tron

The ThinkGeek Annoy-a-tron would be useless against an army of Snowbots, but it's very effective at disturbing that guy in the sales department or your "friend" down the hall. With its thin design and embedded magnet for easy hiding, the Annoy-a-tron can be placed in a variety of locations. Select one of the three sound choices (2 kHz, 12 kHz, or alternating) and push the switch to the on position. Place it in a proper hiding spot and let the "fun" begin.

The Annoy-a-tron generates a short (but very annoying, hence the name) beep every few minutes. Your unsuspecting target will have a hard time 'timing' the location of the sound because the beeps will vary in intervals ranging from 2 to 8 minutes. The 2kHz sound is generically annoying enough, but if you really really want to aggravate somebody, select the 12 kHz sound. Trust us. The higher frequency and slight 'electronic noise' built into that soundbyte will make a full-grown Admin wonder where his packets are.

* 3 simple steps. Turn on.*
* Hide it.
* Muahahaha...

Assuming you have done your part in selecting a suitable hiding location for the Annoy-a-tron, it will do its part to drive your co-workers slowly mad with its short and seemingly random beeps. And when someone does locate the Annoy-a-tron, they're really not going to know what it is - which is almost as much fun as watching them search for it. Muahaha.

The Annoy-a-tron takes one CR2032 battery (included) and measures approximately: 2.5" x 1.25" x .3". It will run for 3 to 4 weeks on a single battery.

Gift Idea 3 Powerball Neon Blue

Okay, for you people out there who are fans of the Powerball Gyroscope (and we know you are out there) here is a new toy for you - the Powerball in glowing Blue. All the fun and joy of the original, but with an oh-so-super-cool blue glowing LED built inside. The blue LED light starts to glow once the Powerball begins rotating and will glow ever brighter as the rpms are increased. Looks like something from a Tron movie and is especially fascinating in a darkened room. Trust us, you will be mesmerized by this little gem.

The Powerball is started out at about 2,500 rpm and is slowly worked up to speeds over 13,000 rpm. It's a lot of fun to see just how fast the Powerball can rotate. There is a digital display built into the Powerball that can display the realtime rotor rpm as well as store the highest achieved rpm - a high score which will remain in the memory until you achieve a higher score or clear the memory. Use it around the office to see who can achieve and maintain the highest rpm speed. You will never get tired with your repeated attempts to continuously get higher and higher rpm speeds. It's a lot of fun and dangerously addictive.

In addition to being a fun and intriguing gadget, the Powerball also is a great way to directly experience the Gyroscopic Effect (you know - angular momentum, linear momentum, centripetal force, precession and all those neat physics properties). It's a compact little display of Newtonian physics at it's best.

The Powerball Gyroscope has these features:

* Perfectly balanced and capable of rotations up to an incredible 15,000 rpm
* Built-in blue LED light - glows brighter as gyro rotates faster
* A fun and practical demonstration of physics properties (centripetal force, etc.)
* High-quality materials and construction
* Great strengthening tool
* Can provide gentle rehab for carpal tunnel, RSI, arthritis, tendonitis
* Unique digital counter that displays rpm and/or highest speed
* Does not require batteries

Gift Idea 4 Sun and Moon Jars

Captured inside the Sun and Moon Jars are a highly efficient solar cell, a rechargeable battery and low energy LED lamps. When the jar is placed in direct sunlight the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. This energy is then used at night to power the three LED lamps inside the jar.

The light is diffused by the frosted jar and give the appearance of sunlight emitting from the sun or a cool moon glow (warm colored LED lights are used to give a more natural and warm light). You may have noticed that there is no switch on the Sun Jar - in fact there are no visible controls at all - but there is a clever light sensor inside that automatically activates the LEDs when it gets dark or the lights are turned out! (There is an override switch inside the lid to turn off the light at night and conserve battery life.)

Mason jars are not only beautiful but by their very nature they are water tight - so the Sun Jar can happily be left outside in any weather conditions. A perfect garden light or night light for a child's bedroom. The Sun Jar needs DIRECT sunshine to work! Leave the Sun Jar outside or in a sunny window in direct sunlight for several hours to charge, (electric light indoors is not bright enough!). The Sun and Moon Jars use a standard AA rechargeable battery, which is replaceable.

Gift Idea 5 Color Bubble

From Mathmos (the company that created the original Lava lamp back in 1967) comes the Color Bubble. This is a very intriguing light that illuminates in a wonderful shade of blue. The Bubble is made with high-quality materials. The outer housing is made of semi-soft kind of rubber. It also features a built-in rechargeable battery with AC plug adaptor (120V) and can be used indoor or outdoors. The battery will last 3-6 hours on a full charge.

Other features of the Bubble:

* Built-in rechargeable battery with A/C power adapter (120V)
* Uses long-life LEDs to produce light
* Made with high-quality materials - very durable
* Splash-proof seal means that it can be used indoors or outdoors
* 3-6 hour battery life for a full charge

Dimensions: 3.25" dia. (8 cm dia.), weighs 1 lbs (466 g)

Gift Idea 6 Laser Pod

The Laserpod is one of the most innovative lighting products to hit the scene since peace, love, and understanding were the only things to strive for. These days there are more interesting things to strive for. For example every self-respecting geek realizes life would be empty without interacting with the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos and doodads. Enter the Laserpod, it's a veritable cornucopia of techno-appeal. This desktop sized device splits three electronic lasers and three high-intensity blue and ultraviolet LEDs, then throws them into a hand-cut faceted crystal to create some of the most unique and memorable mood lighting you'll ever witness.

By default the Laserpod will cast it's mesmerizing and organic lighting display up to your ceiling and around your room. This is our favorite Laserpod mode. The changing patterns , colors and textures that are projected are simultaneously alien and soothing. Not alien in the Space-Marine eating variety, alien in the otherwordly moonscape variety. You can also use the included diffusers to subdue the projected effects and create a more intimate setting contained within the Laserpod itself.

You can even interact with Laserpod by placing on top anything optical. Glass, crystal or clear plastics will produce the most profoundly beautiful effects that will continually evolve in time. For the best Laserpod experience, the device should be activated in complete darkness when the subtler, more meditative and organic beams will be seen - these are quite extraordinary and are unique to Laserpod.

The Laserpod is a patented invention of the innovative UK light artist Chris Levine, whose varied and ground breaking work in light has ranged from light sculptures for the band Massive Attack and some of the leading edge fashion designers, to an historic hologram portrait of the Queen of England. His work is about the experience of seeing and the living power of light, an ethos that is distilled into Laserpod. Sound too wish washy for you? Believe us, the Laserpod belongs in Science Fiction decor.

* Each Laserpod comes complete with: 1 x Aluminium Laserpod Projector Lamp Unit
* 1 x Electroplated Tall Domed Diffuser
* 1 x Electroplated Small Domed Diffuser
* 1 x Crystal (set into base unit)
* 1 x Ridged Glass Refractor Lens
* 1 x DC Adaptor
* 1 X Battery Compartment (3AA Batteries not included)
* 1 x Laserpod Book of Light
* 1 x Warnings + Instructions Leaflet

Laserpod is portable and can function for upto 8 hours on three Alkaline AA batteries or will run directly from the included AC Adaptor. The base unit (without diffusers) is about 5 inches tall and 4 inches in diameter.

Gift Idea 7 Thinking Putty

The Ultimate Stress Reduction office toy is here. Of course you remember playing with putty as a kid. Welp, this aint your kids putty. Adult sized, and as feature-rich as your favorite Operating System, the Smart Mass putty from ThinkGeek makes living life fun all over again. Like to fidget while sitting in front of the monitor? Enjoy being the envy of all those who surround you? Trying to make an impression on that new coder down the hall? Smart Mass putty will help...

But ThinkGeek, What Will My Smart Mass Really Do ??

* It Bounces!
* It Stretches, Contorts & Squishes !
* It lifts comics! (as any self-respecting putty would)
* It Shears & Tears ! (learn how!)
* It Even Shatters !!! (learn why!)
* It Drips From Ceilings (learn how!)

But ThinkGeek, Can I Achieve World Domination With My Smart Mass?

* Yes. Of course. All ThinkGeek products may be used to help you achieve World Domination.

Our Smart Mass putty is just too much fun. Find out for yourselves how magically enticing and addictive playing with putty really is. As you find more and more ways to get creative with your putty, you'll, well, find more ways to get creative with everything! It's simply that stimulating!

Your choice of either:

* Sunburst (new!) - A Hypercolor! Heat sensitive putty. Jumpstart your day with some sunshine! Vibrant orange shifts into an awakening yellow with the touch of your hands or warmth from your coffee mug. Starts out Orange.
* Twilight (new!) - A Hypercolor! Heat sensitive putty. Just as an evening sky melts into the dark of night, this putty's deep purple color disappears with a touch to reveal a fluorescent blue complexion.
* Martian Sea - A color shifter that swirls deep clay reds and orange with a yellow to green sheen depending on the light.
* Dark Matter - A swirling mass of matte black. Your very own personal, warpable, black hole. Has magnetic properties: pull out a thin strand of dark matter and hold it near a magnet!
* Solar Blue - A very soothing and energetic, vibrant blue. Intoxicating. Cosmically rapturous...
* Oil Slick - A color shifter, Oil slick will look different in different lighting. From golds and yellow to pinks and emerald greens all swirling intelligently...
* Atomic Bronze - Lustrous comes to mind. Atomic bronze sparkles and commands attention. Your very own precious metal. Looks similar to Martian Sea, but has a much more metallic sheen to it.
* Atmosphere - Another color shifter. Atmosphere will morph into Cerulean highlights and features rich deep purples. A veritable alien, breathing, living atmosphere...
* Alien Ooze (glows!) - Military grade phosphors power this extremely powerful glowing mass. Charges in light or through UV sources. Amazingly bright when glowing. Ghost like when not performing...

Each tin arrives with an adult sized one fifth of a pound of Smart Mass putty. Wow. The putty is non-toxic and doesn't leave any gooey residue! Get tins for everybody in the office and at home lest you may find yours missing...
Note: - Your Smart Mass may seem like it has a mind of its own occasionally. That's because it does. And when not being used, your Smart Mass putty prefers to live in its comfortable tin where it can best plot World Domination Schemes.

Gift Idea 8 20 Questions Game

Play the classic game of 20 questions with this sophisticated pocket guru. How does it work? It's rather simple. Just think of an object (either an Animal, Vegetable, Mineral or Other) and then 20q will ask you a series of questions through it's LED display. You simply answer yes, no, sometimes, or 'unknown' using the appropriate buttons on 20q for each question. Then your 20q will attempt to guess your object after the 20th question. If it guesses correctly, 20q wins! If it misses it will attempt 5 more questions and will then make another guess. If it misses again then you've officially stumped the pocket 20q and it will courageously admit defeat. But 20q is much smarter than you realize...

But, ThinkGeek, how does 20q really work?
Robin Burgener, the inventor of 20q started working on 20Q in 1988, with the game running on a 5/14 inch floppy disk. Now 20q is online and over 10,000 games are played each day - increasing the sophistication of the 20q network on a daily basis. The artificial intelligence behind the game is a neural-network, similar to a human brain. A brain, or neural-network, is built from neurons connected by synaptic connections. A human brain has about one hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000) synaptic connections. The 20q.net online version currently has about ten million (10,000,000), and the pocket version has about two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000). The game uses the neural-network to choose the next question as well as deciding what to guess.

20q is extremely portable and great at parties. Folks will gather around it and be perplexed at just how well 20q can figure out what's on your mind. Battery and instructions for use included.

Here's an example of 20q guessing our object within 20 questions. We were thinking of a Tank.

20q: I know what you're thinking. Ready?
TG: New Game
Q1: Is it an Animal? Vegetable? Mineral? or Other?
TG: Other
Q2: Is it flat?
TG: No
Q3: Would you use it daily?
TG: No
Q4: Does it have a hard outer shell?
TG: Yes
Q5: Do you use it in your home?
TG: No
Q6: Would you give it as a gift?
TG: No
Q7: Does it move?
TG: Yes
Q8: Is it commonly used?
TG: No
20q: I Know Everything!
Q9: Can it be stolen?
TG: Yes
Q10: Is it used in travel?
TG: Yes
Q11: Can it be used for recreation?
TG: No
Q12: Can you walk on it?
TG: Yes
Q13: Does it bring joy to people?
TG: No
Q14: Does it get wet?
TG: Yes
Q15: Is it straight?
TG: No
20Q: I Can Read Your Mind!
Q16: Can you open it?
TG: Yes
Q17: Does it roll?
TG: Yes
Q18: Does it use electricity?
TG: Yes
Q19: Is it usually colorful?
TG: No
Q20: Is it something you can purchase?
TG: Yes
20Q: I'm Thinking....I guess you are thinking of a...TANK?
TG: Yes
Q20: Haha. I Win!
TG: *pouts*


Credits:http://www.inventionreaction.com

Flying Humans

...Hoping to Land With No Chute

Axel Koester for The New York Times, left; Perry Trowbridge/AFP

Jeb Corliss, left, wearing his wing suit. Right, skydivers with wing suits flying over the Florida Keys before releasing their parachute.

Jeb Corliss wants to fly — not the way the Wright brothers wanted to fly, but the way we do in our dreams. He wants to jump from a helicopter and land without using a parachute

And his dream, strange as it sounds, is not unique. Around the globe, Mr. Corliss said, at least a half-dozen groups — in France, South Africa, New Zealand, Russia and the United States — have the same goal in mind. Although nobody is waving a flag, the quest has evoked the spirit of nations’ pursuits of Everest and the North and South Poles.

“All of this is technically possible,” said Jean Potvin, a physics professor at Saint Louis University and a skydiver who does parachute research for the Army. But he acknowledged a problem: “The thing I’m not sure of is your margins in terms of safety, or likelihood to crash.”

Loïc Jean-Albert of France, better known as Flying Dude in a popular YouTube video, put it more bluntly: “You might do it well one time and try another time and crash and die.”

The landing, as one might expect, poses the biggest challenge, and each group has a different approach. Most will speak in only the vaguest terms out of fear that someone will steal their plans.

Mr. Corliss will wear nothing more than a wing suit, an invention that, aeronautically speaking, is more flying squirrel than bird or plane.

He plans to land on a specially designed runway of his own design. It will borrow from the principles of Nordic ski jumping and will cost about $2 million, which explains why he is so much more vocal than the others about his quest.

Mr. Jean-Albert figures he could glide to a stop on a snowy mountainside. “The basic idea is getting parallel to the snow so we don’t have a vertical speed at all, there is no shock, and then slide,” he said.

Then there is Maria von Egidy, a wing suit maker from South Africa, who said she had begun creating a suit that would allow pilots to land on their feet on a horizontal surface.

“I think people will recognize this makes sense,” said Ms. von Egidy, who has been pursuing financing for her suit. “Why didn’t someone think of this long ago? I’m hoping that will be the reaction.”

That depends on whom you talk to — the endeavor is either quixotic or brave. Even Evel Knievel had the sense to pack a parachute when he climbed into his Skycycle X-2 to jump Snake River Canyon in 1974.

This spring, Mr. Corliss will attempt the first of three tests to prepare for his goal. Wearing his wing suit, he will jump from a plane, which will then execute a 270-degree turn and descend at a steep angle. He will fly down to the plane and re-enter it. This will be his second attempt at the benchmark. His first failed when he missed the plane; he deployed his parachute and glided to earth.

“The plane was flying too fast,” said Mr. Corliss, who gained a degree of notoriety in April 2006 when the police arrested him after he was stopped from jumping off the Empire State Building’s observation deck. A judge dismissed the charges.

Wing suits are not new; they have captured the imagination of storytellers since man dreamed of flying. From Icarus to Wile E. Coyote, who crashed into a mesa on his attempt, the results have usually been disastrous.

But the suits’ practical use began to take hold in the early 1990s, when a modern version created by Patrick de Gayardon improved safety.

Modern suit design features tightly woven nylon sewn between the legs and between the arms and torso, creating wings that fill with air and create lift, allowing for forward motion and aerial maneuvers while slowing descent. As the suits, which cost about $1,000, have become more sophisticated, so have the pilots. The best fliers, and there are not many, can trace the horizontal contours of cliffs, ridges and mountainsides.

“Wing-suit flying totally changes the way you fly and you jump,” said Mr. Jean-Albert, who is seen in his YouTube video skimming six feet above skiers in the Swiss Alps. “It creates a third dimension because in normal skydiving your trajectories are pretty vertical.”

Some wing suit pilots have briefly slowed the vertical descent to about 30 miles an hour. But they are moving forward horizontally at 75 m.p.h. Even if a pilot could achieve such speeds, Mr. Potvin said, any slight wrong movement could cause a crash and certain death.

Mr. Corliss said he could land safely at about 120 m.p.h. To protect his neck, he said, he will attach his helmet to a rigid-framed exoskeleton with the wing suit.

“Is there some crazy person out there who might beat me because he’s willing to do something more dangerous than me?” Mr. Corliss, 31, said by telephone from his home in Malibu, Calif. “Yes, but I’m not that guy.”

Mr. Corliss has plenty of experience jumping from high places. A BASE jumper — someone who leaps from buildings and cliffs and lands with a parachute — he has made more than 1,000 jumps, including from the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge.

He was encouraged by the response to his plans from Vertigo, an aerospace company in Lake Elsinore, Calif., that has worked on projects for NASA and the United States military.

“Is it possible?” said Roy Haggard, a founder of Vertigo and a skydiver himself. “Yeah.”

Mr. Haggard had a plan similar to Mr. Corliss’s, but he said he had neither the time nor the money to pursue it. If Mr. Corliss can raise enough money, Mr. Haggard’s company will help him design and build the runway.

“Everybody wants to be the first one to do it,” Mr. Haggard said.

Which leads to an obvious and inevitable question: Why?

“Because everybody thinks that it’s not possible,” Mr. Corliss said. “The point is to show people anything can be done. If you want to do amazing things, then you have to take amazing risks.”

Source: New York Times

Condom: Recycled Hairbands

'unsafe' say reports

We had an example of organics going a bit too far yesterday, and here's an even more graphic example of recycling getting completely carried away: these hairbands - sold in market stalls and cheap stores worldwide - are made from old used condoms. Eew!

It sounds dodgy enough, and according to new claims, it is: It's reported that there's a certain risk of bacteria being transmitted to the girls, as a lot of us ladies put our hair bands in our mouths while we gather hair to put it in a ponytail.

Girls, if you're thinking of using these hair bands, please don't. They're USED condoms for god's sake! Used! They were in and on some stranger's genitals! However much you're into recycling DON'T DO IT!


Credits:http://www.hippyshopper.com

Today from News of the Weird...

Wednesday’s 5-Star Special
Ms. Veneta Popow is obviously a very sensible woman, since (according to what she told a reporter in 2006) she warned her adventurous husband not to go kite-surfing in the rough Long Island Sound in the dead of winter. (He wouldn’t listen, though, and consequently, he’s no longer with us.) But all of Mrs. Popow’s sense disappeared when she met up with lawyer Mario Biaggi, who has somehow convinced her that the whole thing was the fault of the city of Stratford, Conn., [LINK CORRECTED] because it didn’t put up do-not-kitesurf signs on the beach and didn’t have lifeguards on duty in January.


Civilization in Decline
What boys in London learn from Islamic terrorists: In a burqa, nobody knows that you’re up to no good . . . . . According to the late Det. Lennie Briscoe, the Rikers Island lockup is so awful that it humbles even NYC’s thuggiest, but not diva singer Foxy Brown, who’s serving a year for violating probation on an assault charge: She ain't takin’ nothin’ from nobody . . . . . Apparently there’s a sports club in Aberdeen, Scotland, that’s not much into restroom hygiene: This guy says he was accidentally locked in for four days . . . . . In your next trip to Ahmadabad, India, don’t miss lunch at the New Lucky Restaurant, which was built on top of a Muslim graveyard, with some of the tombstones preserved up through the floor (and decorated nicely each day with a flower).


The Human Condition Today
The lawyers’ rule of thumb for whether an accused criminal is insane or not is to wonder whether he’d have committed the same crime with a cop standing right beside him, and behold Anthony Williams, who doesn’t otherwise appear nuts except that when a motorist stopped and got out to ask a cop a question, Williams jumped in and zoomed past both of 'em . . . . . Yr Editor heard that things like this might work in Newfoundland, but this was Ontario: Cops infiltrated the clique of a suspected murderer and his friends, by posing as a black-magic priest and doing some stunts for them, and they bought it (and opened up for him) . . . . . The NY Times reported on the fraternity of men trying to fly without benefit of parachutes ("All of this is technically possible," said one probably-difficult-to-insure guy). As you would predict, the body wings they wear work pretty well in the air, but the problem is landing.

Your Daily Loser
A former county councilman from Daytona Beach was picked up on a DUI charge, but cops couldn’t cuff him until he’d finished drinking that bottle of suntan lotion.

NOTW Lite
Sounds Like a Groucho Joke: Researchers found that gay fruit flies are actually of whatever orientation they need to be in order to get 'em some . . . . . An admission from Yr (geography-challenged) Editor: total ignorance that there is a public park in Tennessee where you can dig for diamonds, and one guy just found the park’s number 1,000 . . . . . Former major-league pitcher Mark Littell is proud of his space-age "cup" (i.e., jewels protection), and his video, of a guy perched on a bench with legs spread taking a fast fall from a pitching machine, is making the Internet rounds.

Good Enough for Gov’t Work
This is from a Hillary Clinton stump speech (but it’s just been vetted as "true" by the St. Petersburg Times-Congressional Quarterly’s "PolitiFact" department): "A ham and cheese sandwich on one slice of bread is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which inspects manufacturers daily, but a ham and cheese sandwich on two slices of bread is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects manufacturers about once every five years."

Updates
That disgusting math genius Alexis Lemaire, who calculated the 13th root of a 200-digit random number, in his head, in 72.4 seconds [NOTW Daily, 11-19-2007] was showing off again: He did another one, in 70.2.

Professor Music’s Weird Links
Not today. Maybe tomorrow.™


Newsrangers: Rob Hough, Bob Pert, Peter Timmins, John Brewer, Stefan Creaser, Mark Neunder
This posting to News of the Weird Daily is © 2007 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.

How Bluetooth Technology works? Part 2

An interesting aspect of the technology is the instant formation of networks once the bluetooth devices come in range to each other. A piconet is a collection of devices connected via Bluetooth technology in an ad hoc fashion. A Piconet can be a simple connection between two devices or more than two devices. Multiple independent and non-synchronized piconets can form a scatternet. Any of the devices in a piconet can also be a member of another by means of time multiplexing i.e a device can be a part of more than one piconet by suitably sharing the time.

The Bluetooth system supports both point-to-point and point-to-multi-point connections. When a device is connected to another device it is a point to point connection. If it is connected to more that one (upto 7) it is a point to multipoint connection. Several piconets can be established and linked together ad hoc, where each piconet is identified by a different frequency hopping sequence. All users participating on the same piconet are synchronized to this hopping sequence. If a device is connected to more than one piconet it communicates in each piconet using a different hopping sequence. A piconet starts with two connected devices, such as a portable PC and cellular phone, and may grow to eight connected devices.

All Bluetooth devices are peer units and have identical implementations. However, when establishing a piconet, one unit will act as a master and the other(s) as slave(s) for the duration of the piconet connection. In a piconet there is a master unit whose clock and hopping sequence are used to synchronize all other devices in the piconet. All the other devices in a piconet that are not the master are slave units. A 3-bit MAC address is used to distinguish between units participating in the piconet. Devices synchronized to a piconet can enter power-saving modes called Sniff and hold mode, in which device activity is lowered. Also there can be parked units which are synchronized but do not have a MAC addresses. These parked units have an 8 bit address; therefore there can be a maximum of 256 parked devices.

Voice channels use either a 64 kbps log PCM or the Continuous Variable Slope Delta Modulation (CVSD) voice coding scheme, and never retransmit voice packets. The voice quality on the line interface should be better than or equal to the 64 kbps log PCM. The CVSD method was chosen for its robustness in handling dropped and damaged voice samples. Rising interference levels are experienced as increased background noise: even at bit error rates up 4%, the CVSD coded voice is quite audible.

How Bluetooth Technology works? Part 1

This is the first article on the Bluetooth Technology by Nupur Mittal. Bluetooth is a high-speed, low-power microwave wireless link technology, designed to connect phones, laptops, PDAs and other portable equipment together with little or no work by the user.

Unlike infra-red, Bluetooth does not require line-of-sight positioning of connected units. The technology uses modifications of existing wireless LAN techniques but is most notable for its small size and low cost. The current prototype circuits are contained on a circuit board 0.9cm square, with a much smaller single chip version in development. The cost of the device is expected to fall very fast, from $20 initially to $5 in a year or two. . They can establish a 1 megabit/s link (up to 2 Mbps in the second generation of the technology) with security and error correction, to use as required. The protocols will handle both voice and data, with very flexible network topography.

This technology achieves its goal by embedding tiny, inexpensive, short-range transceivers into the electronic devices that are available today. The radio operates on the globally-available unlicensed radio band, 2.45 GHz (meaning there will be no hindrance for international travelers using Bluetooth-enabled equipment.), and supports data speeds of up to 721 Kbps, as well as three voice channels. The Bluetooth modules can be either built into electronic devices or used as an adaptor. For instance in a PC they can be built in as a PC card or externally attached via the USB port.

Each device has a unique 48-bit address from the IEEE 802 standard. Connections can be point-to-point or multipoint. Bluetooth devices are protected from radio interference by changing their frequencies arbitrarily upto a maximum of 1600 times a second, a technique known as frequency hopping. They also use three different but complimentary error correction schemes. Built-in encryption and verification is provided.

Moreover, Bluetooth devices won't drain precious battery life. The Bluetooth specification targets power consumption of the device from a "hold" mode consuming 30 micro amps to the active transmitting range of 8-30 milliamps (or less than 1/10th of a watt). The radio chip consumers only 0.3mA in standby mode, which is less than 3 % of the power used by a standard mobile phone. The chips also have excellent power-saving features, as they will automatically shift to a low-power mode as soon as traffic volume lessens or stops.

Credits: http://www.exforsys.co

Bluetooth Vs 802.11b Wireless LANs

This article discusses about the differences between Bluetooth and 802.11b Wireless LANs, Co-existence of Bluetooth & Wi-Fi and Advantages & Disadvantages.

1) Bluetooth has lower distance range (less than 30 feet) than 802.11b (up to 200 feet). Therefore, you would need many more access points to cover the same area of an office. Simple mathematics will show that you may need as many as 20-50 times the number of access points

2) Bluetooth has generally lower speed than that of 802.11b wireless LANs.

3) Bluetooth components (chips and radios) and device adapters are cheaper than wireless LAN components and adapters.

4) Bluetooth chips have lower power consumption - less drain on battery.

5) Bluetooth is more appropriate and affordable technology for communication between smart phones and other accessories or between PDAs and information kiosks.

6) Bluetooth is younger technology, and therefore is less mature. However, it has a huge following. Purely because of the potential and future expectation built by the Bluetooth vendors, there were over 2000 vendors signed up as members of Bluetooth forum. There is a good developers following as well. Wireless LAN industry is smaller but more mature.

7) It is not fair to run comparisons between Bluetooth and WLAN regarding the number of chips being shipped or expected to be shipped for either technology. Because of its price and the type of products where it is going into, Bluetooth will soon surpass 802.11 chip shipments but dollar volume might still be smaller for some time. Ultimately, Bluetooth dollar volume is expected to catch up.

8) Bluetooth will go beyond cable replacement in short distances between handheld devices and handheld devices and a kiosk or local server. It will meet the needs of connecting devices at the edge node of a network.

9) Bluetooth and wireless LANs address different wireless connectivity requirements. Therefore, the two technologies need not and should not compete with each other. If Bluetooth community would not get offended, 802.11b is the big brother and Bluetooth is the younger brother.

	IEEE 802.11b & 802.11a	Bluetooth
Time Table	Standard in 1998, Products in 2000	Standard in 2000, products in 2001 and 2002
Frequency Band and bandwidth	IEEE 802.11b - 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.11a - 5GHHz IEEE 802.11g - 2.4	2.4 GHz
Speed	11 Mbps- 54 Mbps (Effective speed - half of rated speed)	1-2 Mbps (Effective speed - less than 50% rated speed)
Modulation Technique	Spread Spectrum OFDM
Distance Coverage	Up to 300 feet - 802.11b Up to 60 ft - 802.11a	Up to 30 feet now - efforts to increase coverage and speed
Number of access points required	every 200 feet - 802.11b Every 50 feet - 802.11a	Every 30 feet - 25 to 30 times number of Bluetooth access points;
Maturity	More matured products	Less matured but progressing fast
Market Penetration	Quite widespread	Just starting in 2002
Interference with other devices	2.4 GHz band is polluted - significant interference here	2.4 GHz band is polluted - significant interference here
Interoperability	Current problems expected to be resolved in future	Problems now but expect resolution soon
Cost	Much more expensive than Bluetooth	Cost incremental in PDAs and phones - $50; However Bluetooth chips @ <$5 now
Vendors	Proxim, 3COM, Symbol, Cisco	Mostly chip vendors supplying to device manufacturers.

An 802.11b wireless network adapter can operate on two modes, Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure. In infrastructure mode all your traffic passes through a wireless access point and can be thought of as a wired network without cables. This is commonly setup to allow resources such as printers and files to be shared. The image below demonstrates such a setup.

An 802.11b wireless network adapter can operate on two modes, Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure. In infrastructure mode all your traffic passes through a wireless access point and can be thought of as a wired network without cables. This is commonly setup to allow resources such as printers and files to be shared. The image below demonstrates such a setup.

In Ad-Hoc mode, the computers or mobile devices talk to each other directly and do not needs an access point. This type of structure can support up to 8 devices connected to each other and is useful when we want to setup a wireless connection quickly or when we have a few computers in our network. The image below demonstrates a typical ad-hoc network.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is really for when cabling is not a feasible option and Bluetooth is for intercommunication between devices without the need for a PC. Several vendors (Intersil, Silicon Wave and Mobilian) are building chips that will support both technologies in the same card. This will enable each of the two technologies to be used for what they are best suited to do. Chip set provider Intersil and Bluetooth radio maker Silicon Wave announced reference design that allows simultaneous operation of two protocols. Both operate in the same band. The vendors seem to be addressing interference issues between the two technologies. Blue802 technology uses a time-slicing technique in which two protocols switch back and forth fast enough to give the appearance of simultaneous operation.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Merits :

Interoperability
Scalability
Inexpensive
Voice/data compatible
Allows for the formation of an Ad-hoc network
Low power consumption
Universal link
Secure data and safe transmission

Demerits :

Short Range
Low data rate
RF Band is shared

Bluetooth’s advantage over Infrared (IrDA – Infrared Data Association) is its ability to connect 1-to-many devices rather than 1-to-1. Infrared requires a direct line of sight in order to operate and has a range of approximately one meter. Bluetooth developers have said they did not intend to create an alternative to IrDA but so many companies are now replacing the devices IrDA slot with Bluetooth.


credits:http://www.exforsys.com

Breaking News Culled for Your Eyebrow-lifting....

Monday’s 5-Star Special
Nobelist James Watson, the DNA pioneer who recently resigned after publicly concluding that it’s just not in Africans’ genes ever to be as smart as Westerners, had previously published his own genome for research purposes, and a new work-up reveals that he has, er, 16x the number of African genes as the typical European, which is thought to be predictive of having at least a black great-grandparent. [Of course, that fact itself doesn’t really call his statement into question, but an awful lot of people are slapping their knees right now.]

Civilization in Decline
Relax, Americans! Oslo’s airport screeners are worse than ours.

The Human Condition Today
On the cutting edge of politically correct kudos: Tony Deifell’s classes teaching photography to the blind . . . . . Michigan nun/principal Kathy Avery sternly admonished her 5th- to 8th-graders not to cuss by going way beyond George Carlin with her own list of exactly which words she means (plus "stupid" and "boring") . . . . . But she couldn’t be as vile as the purported major league baseball artifact from 1898 instructing players not to cuss on the field (offered last week by a New Jersey auction house), which includes "you c—sucking son of a bitch," "you c—lapping dog," and "a dog must have f----d your mother when she made you" . . . . . City councilwoman Sandra Tucker of Dacono, Colo., has resigned rather than give in and remove a racially-insensitive joke of hers from a community weblog (Bonus: It almost couldn’t be lamer) . . . . . Parents in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., went nuts when they found out that a fun-fun-fun Christian youth group did a skit (that kids seemed to all enjoy) in which boys put on adult diapers/bibs/bonnets, hopped into girls’ laps, and got spoon-fed apple sauce and baby bottles of soda, with the first boy to finish declared the winner (Bonus: In a previous version, the boys had to eat chocolate pudding out of diapers).

Your Daily Loser
Unclear on the Concept: Jason Brooks, 24, applied to the Oakland, Calif., police dept., even though in the previous six months, he had been arrested for, er, 18 armed robberies.

People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
A Chicago man was invited by a former lover to Sheboygan, Wis., finally, to be introduced to the daughter he fathered 18 yrs ago, whereupon police say he tried to rape the girl (although his story is she pounced on him while he was asleep).

NOTW Lite
After a five-month investigation, prosecutors in Warsaw decided maybe it’s not against the law to call the president a potato.

Things That Seem Wrong
The U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad kicked project manager James Golden out of the country this yr when it became apparent that Golden's under-construction U.S. embassy was looking shoddy and that questionable contracting might be involved, but now the State Dept. admits that Golden is still running the project, from Kuwait . . . . . The waiting time on appeals from denials of Social Security disability benefits is now, on average, 500 days (and these are people who, by definition, can’t do anything to help themselves during the wait, and in some cases are forced into bankruptcy before the appeal is decided) (Bonus: When those appeals are finally decided, claimants win 2/3 of the time).

Good Enough for Gov’t Work
Bad, that Minnesota’s Carver County (pop. 70,000) made a data-entry error (valuing a small vacant lot at $189m); worse, that artificially bumped up projected tax collections by $2.5m, which is huge for such a small county; worse, still, nobody noticed, and they actually planned out how they were going to spend it.

Update
Now Mike Huckabee is in trouble for his decision, while Arkansas governor in 1996, to trust vicious-rapist Wayne DuMond for parole, probably because DuMond said all the born-again-Christian things (and then of course DuMond, when released, murdered a woman and went back to prison, where he died in 2005). But DuMond put some spring in News of the Weird’s step in the early years because DuMond had wound up neutered after the rape, and an Arkansas sheriff had actually commandeered the testicles, kept them in a jar on his desk, and taken them around to civic groups for show-and-tell’s on how tough the sheriff’s office is. Things got weirder when DuMond sued the sheriff and won $150k for emotional distress for the sheriff’s punking him like that. (Either vigilantes had tracked DuMond down and fixed him, which is DuMond’s story, or he did it to himself and blamed vigilantes, which he thought might help in his then-pending trial.) The NOTW stories are probably not available anywhere on line, but Yr Editor was on the job! [NOTW 35, 11-4-1988] [NOTW 455, 10-25-1996]

Professor Music’s Weird Links
You thought it was bizarre to see a lady pushing her little doggy in his own stroller, but it turns out she had a tough time shopping for it because you can pay up to $400 for them, in several styles and colors, including all-terrain and SUV models, and a double-decker.

Newsrangers: Mark Neunder, Emory Kimbrough, Karl Olson, Perry Levin, Paul Music
This posting to News of the Weird Daily is © 2007 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.


scraped from: newsoftheweird....

WHERE MUST ENGINEERS GO TO SEEK TREATMENT

Doctor I have come on vacation for a month so that I can get myself
treated fully within this period.

Doctor: I think you should go to the Doctor opposite to my clinic,
see that board.

Man: No, Doctor, I have come to you only

Doctor: But, gentleman I am a Veterinary Doctor. I am an animal
specialist. I do not treat human beings.

Man: I know, Doctor very well and that is why I have come to you only...

Doctor: I can not, because you speak like me, think like me, talk
like me which means you are a human being and not an animal.

Man: I know I am a human but litsen to my complaints first:

Doctor: OK. Tell me.

Man:

I sleep like a dog thinking about my work load whole night.

I get up in the morning like a horse

I go to work running like a deer

I work all the day like a donkey

I run around for 11 months like a bull without any holiday.

I wag my tail in front of all my bosses

I play with my children like a monkey if I get time.

I am like a rabbit before my wife

Doctor: are you an engineer?

Man: Yes

Doctor: Instead of telling this long history you should have told me
in the begining itself that you are are an engineer. Come man, no one
can treat you better than me.

got this from my email..... lol!

Is There a Trinity?

Directly associated with the understanding on water baptism is the truth about the Godhead. The churches "traditionally" believe in three separate or distinct persons in one God. This was arrived at due to the scriptural mentioning and deity of the Father, Son and Holy, Spirit. The result of the fourth century meeting of the Nicene Council was to place them under the Trinitarian definition.

Like the false so-called "baptismal formula, this "new" concept swept the expanse of the Christian Church and through the centuries has become so embedded in Christian thought that to question its validity is immediate heresy.

The church lost the revelation that the one God, Jehovah, expressed Himself in the Old Testament as the Father, manifested Himself in the Gospels in the Son, Jesus, and revealed Himself in the Book of Acts as the Holy Spirit. In reality, it is three dispensations of the same God. God above us, God with us, God in us. NOT three persons, but one glorious personage, finally and wonderfully unveiled.

(Hebrews 1 :3)

The heathen intellectual minds of the theologians could not reconcile the appearance of the Son on earth to the Father remaining in heaven. They, forgetting that God can be in heaven and on earth at the same time, (John 14: 10), decided there had to be at least two in the Godhead and the entrance of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 made it three. They made the Son the second person of the Godhead, failing to realize that the scriptures do not convey that Jesus is in the Godhead, but rather that the Godhead is in Jesus. Col. 2;9,

For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. They could only see that the Father was a God and the Son was a God and missed the true concept that the Father was God and the Son was the flesh or man in whom that God dwelt. (Luke 1 :35 and I Timothy 3: 16)

The ensuing three personnel deity is every bit as much a form of idolatry as were the various pagan gods the children of Israel would consistently begin to worship. Through the ages, God "winked" at this encroachment, but the ministry of the last angel was to fully restore a true understanding of this to the elect.

I have excerpted some poignant comments made by Brother Branham from his series on the Seven Church Ages:
"Now all these expressions, 'Him Which Is,' and 'Him Which Was,' and 'Is To Come,' and 'Faithful Witness,' and 'Firstborn From Among the Dead,' and 'Prince of the Kings of the Earth,' and 'The Alpha .and Omega,' and 'The Almighty,' are titles and descriptions of the ONE AND THE, SAME PERSON, Who is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who washed us from our sins in His own blood.

The Spirit of God in John expresses thusly in order to set forth the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ and to reveal the Godhead as ONE God. Today there is a gross error. It is that there are three Gods instead of one. This revelation as given to John by Jesus, Himself, corrects that error. It is not that there are three Gods, but one God with three offices. There is ONE God with three titles, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This mighty revelation IS what the early church had, and it must be restored in this last day along with the correct formula of water baptism.

Now modern theologians won't agree with me for here is what was written in a great Christian magazine. That teaching (on the Trinity) is at the very heart and core of the Old Testament. It is every whit as much at the heart and core of the New Testament. The New Testament is just as much opposed as the Old Testament is to the thought that there are more Gods, than one. Yet the New Testament with equal clearness teaches that the Father is God, and the Son is God; and the Holy Spirit is God, and that these three are NOT three aspects of the same Person, but three persons standing in a truly personal relationship to one another. There we have the great doctrine oh the Three Persons but one God.

They also state, God, according to the Bible,. is not just one person, but He is three persons in one God. That is the great mystery of the Trinity. "It sure is. How can three persons be one God? Not only is there no Bible for it, but it shows even a lack of intelligent reasoning. Three distinct persons, though identical substance; make three gods; or language has lost its meaning entirely. Just listen to these words again, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, Which Is, and Which Was, and Which Is to Come, the Almighty. This is Deity. This is not simply a prophet, a man. This is God. And it is not a revelation of three Gods, but of ONE God, the Almighty.

They didn't believe in three Gods in the beginning of the church. You can't find that sort of belief amongst the apostles. It was after the apostolic age that this theory came in and really be­came an issue and a cardinal doctrine at the Nicene Council. The doctrine of Godhead caused a two-way split at Nicea. And from that split it there came two extremes. One actually, went into poly­theism, believing in three Gods, and the others went into Unitarianism. Of course that was a little while in coming about, but it did, and we have it right today. But the Revelation through John by the Spirit to the churches was, I am the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am ALL of it. There isn't any other God, And He put His seal on this Revelation:

Consider this: Who was the Father of Jesus? Matt. 1:18 says, She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. But Jesus, Himself, claimed that God was His Father. God the Father and God the Holy Ghost, as we often express these terms, make the Father and the Spirit ONE. Indeed they are, or else Jesus had two Fathers. But notice that Jesus said that He and His Father were One, not two. That makes ONE God.

Since this is historically and Scripturally true, people wonder where the three came from. It became a foundational doctrine at the Nicene Council in 325 A.D. This trinity (an absolutely unscriptural word) was based upon the many gods of Rome. The Romans had many gods to whom they prayed. They also prayed to ancestors as mediators. It was just a step to give new names to old gods, so we have saints to make it more Biblical. Thus, instead of Jupiter, Venice, Mars, etc. we have Paul, Peter, Fatima, Christopher, etc., etc. They could not make their pagan religion work out with just one God, so they split Him up into three, and they made intercessors of the saints as they had made intercessors of their ancestors.

Ever since then people have failed to realize that there is just one God with three offices or manifestations. They know there is one God according to Scripture, but they try to make it the fantastic theory that God is like a bunch of grapes; three persons with the same Divinity shared equally by all. But it plainly says here in Revelation that Jesus is That Which Is, That Which. Was, and 'That Which Is to Come.. He is the Alpha and Omega, which means that He is the' A: to "Z' 'Or The All Of It, He is Everything, The Almighty." He is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Righteous Branch, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is God, Almighty God. ONE GOD.

1 Tim. 3: 16 says, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles; believed on in the world, received up into Glory. This is what the Bible says. It doesn't say a thing about a first or second or third person here. It says God was manifest in flesh. One God. The ONE GOD was manifested in flesh. That ought to settle it. God came in a human form. That didn't make Him ANOTHER GOD. HE WAS GOD, THE SAME GOD. It was a revelation then, and it is a revelation now, One God.

Source: www.williambranham.com

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.5.7

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files.
Download K-Lite Mega Codec
	With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular movie formats and even some rare formats. This package is mainly for power users and people who do their own encodings. Features of K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.5.7 : • Player: - Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.0+ | Mod by Casimir666 v1.0.9.0] • ffdshow: - ffdshow [rev. 1627] - extra plugins - ffdshow VFW interface • DirectShow video filters: - XviD [version 1.1.3] - DivX [version 6.7.0] - CoreAVC [version 1.3.0.0] - On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0] - On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (Cyberlink) [version 6.0.0.3402] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3+] • VFW video codecs: - XviD [version 1.1.2] - DivX Pro [version 6.7.0] - x264 [revision 606] - On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0] - On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0] - Intel Indeo [version 4.51.16.2] - Intel Indeo [version 5.2562.15.54] - Intel I.263 [version 2.55.1.16] - Huffyuv [version 2.1.1 CCE Patch 0.2.5] - I420 (Helix) [version 1.2] - YV12 (Helix) [version 1.2] • Real Alternative: - RealMedia codecs [version 6.0.12.1741] - RealMedia plugin for Internet Explorer - RealMedia plugin for Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera - RealMedia DirectShow splitter [version 1.0.1.2] • DirectShow audio filters: - MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 1.9.0.311] - AC3/DTS/LPCM (AC3Filter) [version 1.45b] - MP1/MP2 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.78] - Vorbis (CoreVorbis) [version 1.1.0.79] - AAC (CoreAAC) [version 1.2.0.575] - MusePack (RadLight) [version 1.0.0.4] - WavPack (CoreWavPack) [version 1.1.0] - OptimFROG (RadLight) [version 1.0.0.1] - DC-Bass Source [version 1.0.0.0] • ACM audio codecs: - MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 3.4.0.0] - MP3 (LAME) [version 3.97] - AC3Filter.ACM [version 0.4b] - Vorbis [version 0.0.3.6] - DivX ;) Audio [version 4.2.0.0] • DirectShow source filters: - AVI splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.7+] - AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MP4 splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3+] - Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Matroska splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.2.9+] - Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Ogg splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.0+] - FLV splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.2] - MPEG PS/TS splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3+] - MPEG PS/TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - CDDA Reader (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1] - CDXA Reader (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1] - AC3/DTS Source (AC3File) [version 0.5b] • DirectShow subtitle filter: - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.37 + fixes] • Tools: - GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a] - VobSubStrip [version 0.11] - GraphEdit [build 041201] - AVI Fixed [version 2.0b1] - FourCC Changer - Bitrate Calculator Changes from K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.5.3 to K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.5.7 : - Updated ffdshow to revision 1627 - Updated Haali Media Splitter to version 1.7.359.22 - Added Monkey's Audio source filter (DCoder) - Added Haali Muxer tool - Removed Monkey's Audio plugin for DC-Bass Source - This fixes playback of .ape files - Minor changes Important Note : - The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack works only on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista.

K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 Full, Standard and Basic

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. Codecs are required to encode and/or decode (play) audio and video. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play 99% of all the movies that you download from the internet.
Download K-Lite Codec Pack
	The K-Lite Codec Pack has a couple of major advantages compared to other codec packs: - It it always up-to-date with the latest versions of the codecs. - It is very user-friendly and the installation is fully customizable, meaning that you can install only those components that you really want. - It has been very well tested, so that the package doesn't contain any conflicting codecs. - It is a very complete package, containing everything you need to play your movies. There are three versions of the K-Lite Codec Pack: Basic, Standard and Full. • K-Lite Codec Pack Basic contains only the most essential things. It contains everything you need to be able to play the most popular and widespread formats. It is small enough to fit on a single floppy. Also great for including on your movie CDs. • K-Lite Codec Pack Standard contains everything you need to play all the commonly used formats. This package should be enough for the average user. • K-Lite Codec Pack Full contains even more codecs. It also has encoding support for the various formats. This package is for power users and people who do their own encodings. Features of K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 FULL version : • Player : - Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.1] • FFDShow : - FFDShow [rev. 1627] - extra plugins - FFDShow VFW interface • DirectShow video filters : - XviD [version 1.1.3] - DivX [version 6.6.1.1] - On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0] - On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (Cyberlink) [version 6.0.0.3402] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (DScaler5) [version 0.0.8.0] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.78] - MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 (Ligos) [version 4.0.0.77] • VFW video codecs : - XviD [version 1.2.0-dev build 2006-11-08] - DivX Pro [version 6.6.1.1] - x264 [rev. 655] - Windows Media 9 VCM [version 9.0.1.1184] - On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0] [Encoding] - On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0] [Encoding] - Intel Indeo [version 5.2562.15.54] - Intel Indeo [version 4.51.16.2] - Intel Indeo [version 3.24.15.03] - Intel I.263 [version 2.55.1.16] - huffyuv [version 2.1.1 CCE Patch 0.2.5] - I420 (Helix) [version 1.2] - YV12 (Helix) [version 1.2] • DirectShow audio filters : - MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 1.9.0.311] - AC3/DTS/LPCM/MP1/MP2 (AC3Filter) [version 1.30b] - MP1/MP2 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.78] - Vorbis (CoreVorbis) [version 1.1.0.79] - AAC (CoreAAC) [version 1.2.0.575] - MusePack [version 1.0.0.3] - Monkey's Audio [version 1.00] - WavPack (CoreWavPack) [version 1.1.0] - FLAC (illiminable) [version 0.73.1936] • ACM audio codecs : - MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 3.4.0.0] - MP3 (LAME) [version 3.97] - AC3 (ffcHandler) [version 1.3.1] - Vorbis [version 0.0.3.6] - DivX ;) Audio [version 4.2.0.0] • DirectShow source filters : - AVI splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.7] - AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MP4 splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3] - Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Matroska splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.2.9] - Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Ogg splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.0] - FLV splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1] - MPEG TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MPEG PS splitter (Cyberlink) [version 1.0.0.4528] - MPEG PS splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3] - MPEG PS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MPEG PS splitter (MainConcept) [version 1.0.1.20] - MPEG PS splitter (Elecard) [version 1.0.31.51211] - MPEG PS splitter (Ligos) [version 4.0.0.77] - MP3 Source (DCoder) [version 1.3] - AC3/DTS Source (AC3File) [version 0.4b] - SHOUTcast Source [version 1.0.0.1] - AAC parser (Orban) [version 1.0.27] • DirectShow subtitle filter : - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.37 + fixes] • Encoding tools : - LAME CLI and DLL [version 3.97] - LameDropXPd [version 3.97] - OggDropXPd [version 1.8.9 aoTuVb5] • Tools : - GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a] - VobSubStrip [version 0.11] - GraphEdit [build 041201] - MMCompView [version 1.10] - AVI Fixed [version 2.0b1] - FourCC Changer - Bitrate Calculator Changes from K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.3 FULL to K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 FULL : - Updated ffdshow to revision 1627 - Updated Haali Media Splitter to version 1.7.359.22 - Added Monkey's Audio source filter (DCoder) - Added Haali Muxer tool - Removed Monkey's Audio plugin for DC-Bass Source - This fixes playback of .ape files - Minor changes Features of K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.3 STANDARD version : • Player : - Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.1] • FFDShow : - FFDShow [rev. 1627] • DirectShow source filters : - AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MP4 splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.3] - MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - FLV splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1] - MPEG-TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] - MPEG PS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.7.359.22] • DirectShow subtitle filter : - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.37 + fixes] • Tools : - GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a] - VobSubStrip [version 0.11] Changes from K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.3 STANDARD to K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 : - Updated ffdshow to revision 1627 - Updated Haali Media Splitter to version 1.7.359.22 - Minor changes Features of K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 BASIC version : • DirectShow video filters: - XviD [version 1.1.3] - DivX [version 6.5.1.0] • DirectShow audio filters: - MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 1.9.0.311] - AC3 (AC3Filter) [version 1.30b] • DirectShow subtitle filter: - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.37 + fixes] • Tools: - GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a] - VobSubStrip [version 0.11] Changes from K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.3 BASIC to K-Lite Codec Pack 3.5.7 : - Minor changes Important Note : - The K-Lite Codec Pack works only on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista.