Windows 8 released for downloading

When Win7 was out I downloaded it immediately even though I had 0 interest in it. This time again, you'd better get it ASAP when you still can before it's too late, whether you need it or not - think about it later.

Google for these two ISO files and you should find download links:

en_windows_8_x86_dvd_915417.iso
(2511 MB SHA1: 22D680EC53336BEE8A5B276A972CEBA104787F62)

en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso
(3416 MB SHA1: 1CE53AD5F60419CF04A715CF3233F247E48BEEC4)

Chinese versions are also available. These are not beta, they are final, released to manufacturers and developers, so they'll have some time to deploy the new OS ahead of market.

I've downloaded both and made each a DVD disc. Look like real and want to buy one from me? No, they are not for sale. All my personal discs are printed like commercial ones, pleasant to my eyes and easy to look up. My Canon MP600 printer can print directly to printable discs, but these are ordinary discs, I put CD labels on them first and then printed them the same way like printable discs.

HDTV Recording

Over the air HDTV broadcast is free and 1080p HD. Windows Media Center is still the most ideal way to watch and record HDTV shows with original quality and closed caption. WMC buffers about 30 minutes; so you can rewind while watching. However, when you press the recording button, this buffer is ignored, i.e., the past 5 minutes or so will not be included to the recording.

"Gosh, I should have pressed the record button sooner!"

Don't worry, it's not too late and you have not missed a thing yet.

1. When you are watching TV and want to record, press the record button, anytime.
2. Go to "C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV\TempRec\TempSBE", you'll see several "*.sbf" files. These are the buffers. Select them all and copy them to somewhere else (such as your desktop). Rename them to "*.dvr-ms".
3. Play them in Windows Media Player to find the one that you are looking for, say, "{03CF0F78-41A2-4507-BC64-560F6D79C4D7}.tmp.dvr-ms".
4. Download the free "todvrms" tool and use "todvrmsgui.exe" to convert the dvr-ms to dvr-ms, say, "Past5Minutes.dvr-ms". 

The last step sounds stupid - convert a dvr-ms to dvr-ms? This is actually the key here: remember, the renamed sbf is not a true dvr-ms file! Now the "Past5Minutes.dvr-ms" is, although still some errors in it, that's why we need just one more step:

Open "Past5Minutes.drv-ms" in "VideoReDo TVSuite V4" and then click the "Save As..." button to re-mux the file. This is necessary to fix some stream errors and get closed caption recovered. In the mean time, you may cut off any unwanted segments.

Now, we have successfully recovered the video buffer into a perfect, normal dvr-ms file. This final file has only the part that we want and it is no different than normally recorded TV - original digital quality and HD resolution with built-in closed caption.

After the recording is finished, right click on the WTV file and convert it to DVR-MS. Then you can use VedioReDo to join it with the Past5Minutes.dvr-ms, and we finally have a full TV show saved on our computer. BTW, you can also use VedioReDo to get rid of commercials or any unwanted segments.

Never order checks from your bank

They rip you off about $20 while you can get it elsewhere for only $5. This is the cheapest I can find:

http://www.supervaluechecks.com



60 checks for $1.95, plus $2.99 for shipping, total $4.94 (or $6.94 for 125).

The next to that is:

http://www.carouselchecks.com



60 checks for $3.99, plus $2.99 for shipping, total $6.98 (or $7.98 for 125).

Can you print checks by yourself? No, from what I read. The routing # printed at the bottom line usually uses magnetic ink for machine processing. If you print with normal ink, then the machine will reject it and thus will be subjected to human handling which may cause all kinds of hassles. Magnetic ink is too expensive, blank check papers may cost you even more than above and printing software are not free.

CNTV全屏版

以前那个CNTV在高清平板上不是全屏，这个是。我是在这里下载的：

http://www.diypda.com/thread-774153-1-1.html

文件名是：cntv1_9_1_115416.apk。图标和界面和原来有所不同。不论是用手机，平板还是电视观看，这是目前最为理想的电视直播，包括凤凰，CCTV5，CNN和几乎所有地方台。详见前面的文章。