The Importance of a Home Server

Do you…

  • Test new operating systems or beta test system tools?
  • Format more than once a month?
  • Have more than more computers than users in your home?
  • Download movies, music, or programs?
  • Love having all your files in one place without sifting through piles of recovery medium?
  • Write web-based scripts or design websites?
  • Have one printer and need 24/7 access to it?
  • Want to share an internet connection securely and professionally, complete with port forwarding and more?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need a home server. The good news is, its not hard to set up, expensive to get, or difficult to configure, but before we get there, let's see just how a server in your home can make you a more productive person, save you time and money, and leave you wondering why you didn't do this before.

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April CTP: “Within a Week”

The Microsoft Windows Vista April CTP will be shipped "within a week."
This comes from a reliable source, and we have yet to be wrong.

What this build will be:

  1. Most features are those of the interim non-CTP build 5342 (announced here, complete with list of upcoming features in future builds!);
  2. This build is reported to be "easier on the eyes…" is this a reference to the new Glass? We don't know, but either way, it sounds great!
  3. Most changes are the bug fixes. Now that Vista has reached (more or less) code-complete status, each build is expected to be progressively more stable, faster & more responsive to the touch, and more of a "real" OS.
  4. It will contain an almost final version of Internet Explorer 7. Slight GUI changes may follow, but the code is all there, and mostly bug-free!

What the April CTP won't be:

  1. If you can't tell by the name, the April CTP will not be "Beta 2"
  2. This build won't be 5355 either, that one is, and I quote, "ancient."
  3. It most certainly isn't a public release, sorry!

The Ultimate Guide to RSS & TV Torrents

One of the newest and most exciting features of BitTorrent is RSS Torrent Feeds. Once properly configured, it lets you fully automate the procedure of finding, downloading the torrent files, and initiating the downloads to your movie folder, then finishing the download, and seeding it to a specific ratio.

In this walk-through we will be using freeware clients (uTorrent), services, and public trackers, to keep things simple and viable for everyone.

We will be configuring µTorrent (the smallest, no-install-required client on the web!) to download the latest episodes of 24, Desperate Houswives, and of course, LOST.

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NeoSmart Vista Support

Every time we release news of a new Vista build from our sources, the result is invariably the same:
The first couple of replies are requests for info, flames, or praise.
The next couple are download links/requests.
And then come the support requests.

We love to help you, and can, but not here. A blog is not a support forum, and it makes it very hard to keep track of support requests. We have opened a new subforum specifically for Vista support, where the best of the official beta testers, MSFT volunteers, and all-around geeks can help out. Please use it to give help, get help, and to help us keep this blog clean.
Thank you!

Seraphim Proudleduck Revisited

It has been a year and four months since the conclusion of the famed “seraphim proudleduck” SEO competition for Google…. And you would be surprised to see the outcome.

Either the Google engine has become better and found new back-links to sites that didn’t win, or this competition never ended but no one knew.

Either way, an examination of the results brings quite an interesting (to put it mildly) look at the Google search algorithms. Much of what we discovered is quite shocking.

First, here is the link to the Google search results for “seraphim proudleduck.”

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NeoSmart Forums up and Running!

For those of you that pelted my email address telling me that the links to the forums in our last post here were broken, well, they're working now.

We left IPB (an excellent piece of software with unfortunately snobbish developers) and are now using MyTopix…. Which we hope to customize, skin, and hack; as soon as the new version comes out that is.

Without further ado, here you go: NeoSmart Forums

10 Easy Steps to Make Your Linux Useable

Linux is an OS for nerds and it only runs on geek machines. No way my suave (circle one: XPS | G5 | Alienware) is gonna run Linux!

Sound familiar? Don’t believe a word they say, the days of CLI-only workstations and green-and-black screens are long over. Now anyone can download and install most distros via easy to use setup screens… But when it comes to actually using Linux is where most people freak out, for no real reason at all. Read our article on how easy Linux is to use then you’ll see what we mean.

We’re not here to cover the details all geeks should know such as disabling services and installing games or setting up web-servers, Google exists for one reason, use it. This list/mini-guide covers simple and extremely effective ways to make your Linux a more enjoyable OS from top to bottom, and take the geek-factor out. Don’t worry, it has enough secrets to keep you intrigued, but it’s nowhere near as hard to use as it’s made out to be.

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April Fools has no Place in Technology

Depending on how much of a "Geek" you are, you probably woke up today feeling like any other day. Most likely as you lay there in bed, it never crossed your mind that today was the beginning of a new month, or anything of that sort (unless you had exams today like I did…).

But do not be fooled, there are people that spend all year looking forward to this day, and planning for it. One is my brother, whose birthday is today (Happy Birthday!), but the greater majority spend forever planning on what false information can they successfully spread… Most are evil, but quite a few aren’t. 

The biggest problem is knowing who to believe. Last year the homepage of Gmail.com showed a doodle pad with plans for an unlimited space email system (infinity plus 1) and though everyone believed it to be a joke, 24 hours later Gmail was at 2GB and still, 365 days later, counting. Today we hear rumors of a "Google Rooms" at the moment poking fun at the (lack of) life in Larry Page’s day.. Could this be a new social community coming up on the Google front?

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PIRT is Wonderful!

Following our post about listing our fears and concerns about the global phishing watchdog PIRT, this may seem a bit of a big change in opinion. However, we never "had it in" for PIRT or were "jealous" as posts around the web are claiming, and is absolute nonsense; we are only doing our duty and warning our readers where we find it necessary. It’s not often that we get the wonderful opportunity to make a post like this, so listen up.

After our first post, CastleCops rep Ike was kind enough to give us the blow-by-blow of how PIRT works, you can see the first bit of our conversation here, which we then continued via email.

We are very proud to let our readers know that PIRT has now convinced us 100%, and we give them the NeoSmart Seal of Approval, for what it’s worth. We wish them the best of luck… and don’t be surprised if you hear we are working together on something… but that’s all I’m authorized to say for now! For now though, rest assured, and fill out & submit as many fraud reports as you can over on their site!

Michael Crichton Solved it First!!

Ricky smiled again, and shrugged. “Hey,” he said. “It gets the job done.” Those kettles in the next room were indeed tanks for controlled microbial growth. But Ricky wasn’t making beer—he was making microbes, and I had no doubt about the reason why. Unable to construct genuine nanoassemblers, Xymos was using bacteria to crank out their molecules. This was genetic engineering, not nanotechnology!

That was an excerpt from Michael Crichton’s Prey, a sci-fi novel, and an excellent read, published in 2002.

That particular quote was in reference to the protagonist discovering that a R&D company was using bacteria (in his case "Theta-d 5972 […] A strain of E. coli.") to grow nanoparticles, which in turn built nanobots. I am a lover of sci-fi novels, the more plausible, the better. Michael Crichton is a physicist, and his novels tend to be incredibly beleivable… Just read on!

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