Sunday, December 28, 2008

Windows 7 Beta 1 Leaked

The Windows 7 Beta 1 that was public-bound in mid-January has been leaked now, and you can get a copy on BitTorrent.

The beta expires July 1, 2009. It's a bit more stable than the versions people have been playing with for a few months. Hit the links below to get a copy, if you're OK with the fact that you're technically not supposed to have this just yet.
[via My Digital Life via BlogsDNA via Technovedad via Download Squad]

ZDNet also has a look at the beta, and they concur that it's pretty good:

This beta is of excellent quality. This is the kind of code that you could roll out and live with. Even the pre-betas were solid, but finally this beta feels like it's "done." This beta exceeds the quality of any other Microsoft OS beta that I've handled.

Interesting Facts

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.


6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

11. Dalmatians are born without spots.

12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).

14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.

15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.

16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.

17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.

18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.

23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.

24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.

25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.

26. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.

27. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.

28. It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.

29. The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.

30. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

31. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.

32. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.

33. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.

34. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

35. Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.

36. The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.

37. Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.

38. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it
is smiling).

39. Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”

40. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.

41. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

42. The average person laughs 13 times a day.

43. Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)

44. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

45. German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

46. Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump.

47. Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.

48. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.

49. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.

50. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!

Disclaimer: I am not sure about the truth of these facts. I just found them on a site and thought about sharing it.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

software unlock of iPhone 3G with yellowsn0w

The hard working guys over at the iPhone Dev team have finally did it - the software unlock for the iPhone 3G is ready and will be made public on New Year's Eve. And best of all, it will be free as usual. To prove they have the real Mccoy, a member of the Dev-Team has published a video of the actual unlocking.
The iPhone Dev-Team have been working on a software unlocking method for iPhone 3G since Day One and they are finally ready.
For the time being, the method, codenamed yellowsn0w, requires command line operation, but the Dev-Team promises a nice looking graphical interface for inexperienced users. The tool will be available for download on New Year's Eve. 3G or not 3G is no longer the question.

The Dev-Team are obviously planning on distributing the software via the unofficial third-party software repository Cydia, so you'll need to jailbreak the iPhone first to gain access to it in the first place.
Unfortunately the only iPhones to benefit from the unlock, are those with baseband ver. 2.11.07 or earlier.
Here's the proof that demonstrates the unlocking process with yellowsn0w. Enjoy!


Sunday, December 21, 2008

GRE/SAT Vocabulary Revision - Free Java Application

Preparing for GRE vocabulary is a pain when you cant give it due time. GRE vocabs need constant revision. If you have studied a word list and you stop revising it for a week or so, you would forget many words. I have experienced that too. Now a days we all guys spend more time on our computer: checking emails, socializing, etc. Seizing an opportunity, to make use of this time, I came up with a very intuitive and simple word list revision application. This simple but really effective application can help you revise or even learn words when you are at office, or just surfing the Internet. Here are some of the positives about this little app


  • Its very small app made in java. You need JRE 1.6 for this to work.
  • It has a configurable file called config.properties to setup different parameters such as which word list/dictionary to use.
  • You can provide the range of words you want to study. This makes sense as you get a subset of words again and again for better revision and learning.
  • You can also configure the feed method. This could be either random or sequential. In random mode you get words from the range in random order. In sequential feed is in dictionary order, or more accurately in wordlist order.
  • You can also set a time delay in seconds for words to popup on your screen.
  • Double clicking on the tray icon will instantaneously feed you the next word. If the popup is visible, single clicking on the popup or try icon will popup another word. This is really good if you want to quickly go through the list.
  • I have provided 3 different word set. A complete listing with over 4800+ words, a combined barrons and kaplan high frequency list, and another high frequency 1000+ word list. Of course you can add more word list if you have any.
  • The best part is that its totally FREE.
I highly recommend this app as it has helped me a lot during office hours. This one is tested on windows, but if try icon is supported on Linux, it should work on it also. Please add a comment if it works on Linux too. You can find it from the following file hosting server

GRE/SAT Vocabulary Revision (Free java application)

Installation Instruction
The file is in zip folder. To install this app just unzip it and run the gre.jar file. Don't forget to get the Java runtime environment version first. Wishing you best of luck for your GRE/GMAT/SAT exams.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Word List with Synonyms, Antonyms and Usage sentence

There is another word list in my collection that I want to share with all test takers. This is a really good one for the following reasons

  • I have randomize these words
  • Its compact and thus contains high frequency words only
  • Most of the words have synonyms, antonyms and a usage sentence.
The last point, which is the focus of this word list is very important. Antonyms are actually part of GRE verbal test, so you may come across these antonyms in an actual test. Sentences are must to understand how the word is going to be used. Many words are similar but they can not be substituted with another appropriate word, thus a sentence tells you a context where it can be used. I usually remember and recall the meaning of unknown words from the sentence that I have gone through, and have some how stick to my mind. Thus, I hope this word list will help you on your SAT, GRE and GMAT tests.



Randomize Wordlist for SAT/GRE/GMAT

In my last post, I added a High Frequency word list to help you prepare for your GRE, GMAT, or SAT exams. Sometimes its more usefull to have a randomize word list. Many experts says that when you study word list arranged in dictionary order you tend to rem member them with its context and when its time to recall familiar and studied words in actual exam, which appear in random order, you are dumbfounded.

So, its good to have an alphabetical listing, its more appropriate to study randomize words. Therefore, I thought it would be nice to randomize words for you. You can get these randomize words, which are essentially from the sequential list I posted earlier, from here


In my opinion, you should study from randomize word list, so if you are short of time for preparation you have done words not only from initial alphabets but random words from the whole.

Friday, December 19, 2008

High Frequency GRE/GMAT Wordlist

Its obviously difficult to cram over 5000 words, especially if you are not from an English speaking country. Usually, words play an important part in your verbal section as it will definitely help you in antonyms and analogy and some times these words do appear in sentence completion and reading comprehension. But the trick is that you don't need to learn all those words. Test makers, like ETS, generally favors some words more than others and these words are what we call high frequency word list.


I had a lot of vocabulary stuff with me when I was preparing for my GRE test, which I would like to share with all test takers. You would love to have high frequency word list. You can download this list from here


These are just over 1000 words and about 20 pages in all; an average of 50-60 words per page. I hope this will definitely help you. Take prints of this word document and try to practice them as much as possible. You will definitely find some of them on you actual test. Also, don't forget to download the GRE dictionary I have posted in my previous post.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

GRE/GMAT Vocab builder on your mobile

Hello all test takers! I have created a Java mobile application that contains Barron's word lists. I created it when I had to give GRE my self. If you are preparing for gre or gmat or just want to improve your vocabulary, this application is a must. You are free to use this application. Here are some of the goodies about this app:


1. Over 3500 Barron's Words with meaning and usage.
2. Option to Mark words, so you can review it later.
3. History is maintained for recently searched words.
4. You get suggestions as you type.