ThickButtons a Texting Convenience in Touchscreens

Touchscreen phones are really not for the speed texters. Admit it, frequently, your finger overlaps on the given area for a particular letter, that instead of typing A you also get Q on the sides. This annoying issue is given solution by ThickButtons. It adjusts the sizes of the keys on screen, as you type. It has predictive capability that knows what are the next possible letters you will type, and adjusts them to get a bigger screen area - as really what it's name ThickButtons. Now that is clever!

See below video:




You can get ThickButtons for free for Android phones.

JBLCF_scandal.exe and MSUPDTE.exe Malware

Recently, the computers of the staff I support were plagued by JBLCF_scandal.exe and msupdte.exe. These kind of malwares are in a form of bat files that runs as start-up processes in Windows. Anti-virus scanners and spybot destroyers were not able to detect them.

It was quite tricky especially with the JBLCF_scandal.exe because I have startup bat scripts on these computers. What happens is that the moment you run cmd.exe, JBLCF_scandal.exe along with pc_off.bat forces the computers to restart after log-on. It was a real headache because I cannot get past the log-on process.

I know with JBLCF_scandal.exe that there is a script running it but it took me a while to locate where it was located. It has conveniently modified the registry so that you cannot view the hidden files or edit the properties.

As with msupdte.exe, by the name itself, it sure is a deceitful malware because of its clever name. One would find it as a legitimate Windows process at first. With this malware, what you get is a warning message after logging in. A window appears with the following message:

"C:\WINDOWS\system32\msupdte.exe
The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction."

To resolve these issues, I did the following:

On JBLCF_scandal.exe
1. Logged on to a User Profile which do not have startup bat files running.
2. Run Task Manager, look for JBLCF_scandal.exe and kill the process.
3. Run regedit, back up the registry first.
4. Ctrl+F and find JBLCF_scandal.exe.
5. Delete the registry key.
6. Ctrl+F again, this time find pc-off.bat.
7. Delete the registry key.
8. Run WinRaR or WinZip, browse to C:\Windows and look for the 2 files mentioned and delete them.

On msupdte.exe
1. Click Close on the window showing the error.
2. Run Task Manager, look for msupdte.exe. Make sure you get the correct name because as I have said, it is almost identical to the legitimate process.
4. Run regedit and find msupdte.exe. Make sure the name is correct!
5. Delete the registry key.
6. Run WinRaR or WinZip, browse to C:\Windows\system23 and look for msupdte.exe.
7. Delete it.

USB 3.0 Flash Drives and Devices

SuperSpeed flash drives and USB 3.0 devices have started to roll out. We are now seeing USB 3.0 devices sold on retail. Last November 2009 the world's first USB 3.0 flash drive was introduced with 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities.

USB 2.0 used to be good enough in the last couple of years. However, the increase in the capacity of our hard drives and the growing number of our photo, music, video, and other multimedia collections made us feel the need for greater speed. Watching the progress bar of file transfers can sometimes be unbearable that minutes and seconds countdown seem forever! So here goes the answer, USB 3.0 flash drives and devices.

As mentioned in everythingusb.com:

In a nutshell, USB 3.0 promises the following:

• Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps)
• Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
• New power management features
• Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
• New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer...although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers
  

Few of the early devices has starting rolling. They are:

Super Talent SuperCrypt USB 3.0 Flash Drive

PQi Cool Drive USB 3.0 Flash Drives

Astro Drive A101 (the smallest USB 3.0 flash drive, yet)

A Data Flash Drive

Sharkoon Drive Station

More devices will soon be available from HP, Asus, Fujitsu, Gigabyte, Western Digital, ASMedia, and many more.

Nikon CoolPix P100 - A Megazoom Camera

The Nikon CoolPix is the newest camera with from Nikon. It is a P Series camera equipped with 26x optical zoom. This high-power optical zoom is possible through the Nikkor lens. Nikon CoolPix P100 is categorized as compact camera.

As Nikon puts it:

The COOLPIX P100 is a high-performance model that offers an effective pixel count of 10.3-million pixels and a 26x optical zoom NIKKOR lens that covers a broad focal range of wide-angle 26mm through super-telephoto 678mm (35mm format equivalent).


The primary features of this superzoom Nikon digital cam are:

• Equipped with an incredible 26x optical zoom NIKKOR lens
• Enables capture of images exhibiting less noise even under low light conditions
• Allows for the capture of beautiful night landscapes that exhibit less blur and noise
• High-speed continuous shooting of images
• Full HD movie recording with 1080p and playback functions
• Offers an image-sensor shift vibration reduction function

With all the features this camera boasts, plus the superb Nikkor lens, this as a compact camera makes it less intimidating.

Suggested retail price for the CoolPix P100 is $399.95.

Facebook App for Zune HD

The app for Zune HD is now available. You can use your Zune HD to connect with friends in Facebook with the usual status updates, profile viewing, and more.

image from zune.net

According to zune.net:

Set up and use the Facebook app on your Zune HD

1. Download the Facebook app to your Zune HD. You can get it here.
2. On the Zune HD home screen, tap Apps, then tap Facebook.
3. In Facebook, you can do the following:

Tap Home icon to open your home page, update your status, and see the latest posts.
Tip: Tap the Zune icon to set your status to the song you are currently listening to.

Tap Profile icon to view your profile page, including your wall, info, photos, videos, and more.

Tap Friends icon to see your friends and find out what they are doing.

Tap Inbox icon to go to your inbox to read and send messages.