Why Greece Should Not Switch To Bitcoin

(GNN) - Editor’s note: Wences Casares is the founder and CEO of Xapo.

In some discussions about Greece exiting the euro, it has been suggested that Greece should swap the euro for bitcoin. At first glance, bitcoin may appear to be the cure. But if the euro is the problem, switching to Bitcoin would be like trying to cure a headache with a bullet to the brain.

The main problem with the euro is that Greece cannot print more of it; only the European Central Bank can. But at least someone can. In theory, Greece could persuade the European Central Bank to print more euros for them. On the other hand, if Greece were to switch to bitcoin, it would have no ability to control how much of their currency they could issue, and no one could be persuaded to issue more bitcoins (not the European Central Bank, not the U.S. Federal Reserve, not the U.S. Marines, no one).

A defining characteristic of bitcoin is that its supply is fixed and capped. There are 13,882,100 bitcoins today, there will be 20,343,750 bitcoins on January 1, 2025, and there will never be more than 21,000,000 bitcoins.

There are about 10 million people who own bitcoins. If bitcoin is successful, we can expect 1 or 2 billion people to own bitcoins sometime in the next 20 years. The only way 1 or 2 billion people can have 21 million coins is by the price of bitcoin increasing (significantly). An economist would call bitcoin a “deflationary currency.”

Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s new Finance Minister, agrees that because it is deflationary, bitcoin would be bad for Greece. But he goes on to say that bitcoin is a flawed currency because it is deflationary. This misses the point. Bitcoin is not a currency for a government; it is a global currency for the people. People will generally prefer a currency that goes up in value over time (which is called a deflationary currency, like bitcoin) over one that loses value over time (like all country currencies, which are called inflationary).

It is a bad idea for Greece (or any other country) to renounce their currency and adopt bitcoin. It is akin to adopting gold as a national currency and giving up monetary policy. Monetary policy, used responsibly, has been a step forward for public finances and prosperity. Monetary policy, however, has also been abused by governments that choose to print too much currency.

This has created inflation and devastated the finances of the poorest people in these countries. These people have had no choice but to hold on to their national currency as it loses value, in many cases losing everything.

Bitcoin gives people everywhere an alternative. Anyone with a smartphone can hold bitcoins as a refuge from a currency that is losing value. This sends a message to their governments: “Let’s have our own currency, but manage it responsibly, because now we have a choice.”

If bitcoin is successful, it will not replace any country’s local currency, not even Greece. Bitcoin is poised to become not the currency of any particular country but the global, digital currency of the Internet, by the people and for the people.

Beware The Pretty People

(GNN) - The tech industry used to be home to a disproportionate number of misfits and weirdos. Geeks. Nerds. People who needed to know how machines worked; needed to take them apart, make them better, and put them back together again. People who existed a little apart from society’s established hierarchy … and often saw that hierarchy as another machine to be deconstructed and improved.

That is no longer the case. Now that technology is the dominant cultural and economic force of our time, and startup execs have become rock stars, the establishment is flocking to the tech industry. Rap stars and movie stars want to be tech investors. “Tech firms and consultants both appeal to the growing number of students who want to gain the right experience to start their own business,” observes The Economist. “Elite Grads in Business Flock to Tech,” concurs the Wall Street Journal.

Tech is becoming the finishing school and springboard for the upper-middle-class, the way law and finance were a decade ago. Now that the tech industry is cool, the pretty people are taking over, flooding out of top-tier universities with MBAs and social graces and carefully coiffed hair, shouldering the misfits and weirdos out of the way. And often, paradoxically, despite their privileged backgrounds, they have much less appetite for risk.

Oh, many pay lip service to being weird and different. Our whole culture does these days —

The Super Bowl ads are hammering home that safe, carefully filtered, nonthreatening weird is the new cool. It's the cooption of freakdom.
— Jon Evans (@rezendi) February 2, 2015

— as long as you’re not dangerously weird; as long as you’re not a genuine rebel; as long as you don’t actually try to challenge anything important. The establishment scions pouring into tech take on the trappings of subversion, while remaining fundamentally conformist. Meanwhile, rampant success inevitably causes the former tech counterculture to morph into posturing “Prada revolutionaries,” as Klint Finley puts it.

There was a tech counterculture, and it mattered. The Internet didn’t have to be so free and open.

Governments have been trying to impose their demands on it for many years. Consider the long-ago attempts to impose bizarre, unworkable standards such as X.400 instead of the simple email addresses we still use. Consider the crypto wars of the 1990s, the attempted crippling of SSL, and the prosecution of Phil Zimmermann. But the tech industry ignored, supplanted, and/or fought back — and won — against these attempts.

To be fair, it’s still doing that today. The post-Snowden growth in end-to-end encryption is heartening. Everyone fought hard for net neutrality, and won. But these aren’t examples of an underdog fighting back; these are examples of a new giant protecting its turf. Meanwhile, as Dan Gillmor says in Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Apple, Google and Microsoft, “We are losing control over the tools that once promised equal opportunity in speech and innovation—and this has to stop.”

It seems to me that as the establishment slowly infects and merges with the tech industry, and vice versa, the people who actually do think differently–“the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers”–will be, and are being, pushed out. (In some cases simply priced out.) It’s all too easy to imagine the American tech industry in ten years as a new Wall Street, a giant machine built largely to siphon yet more power and privilege up to people who already have too much.

Yearly reminder: unless you're over 60, you weren't promised flying cars. You were promised an oppressive cyberpunk dystopia. Here you go.
— Kyle Marquis (@Moochava) July 10, 2013

This is why I like Bitcoin: say what you like about it, such as that you want it to “die in a fire” because it’s a libertarian conspiracy, it is genuinely weird, disruptive, and potentially dangerous to the status quo. This is why I have a soft spot for Travis Kalanick: for all of Uber’s flaws, someone needed to tear down the walls of the established taxi cartels.

Technology is, indisputably, the premier force for change in the world today. Every startup is an engine of change, and a potentially enormously powerful one. But we still tend to measure their success wholly in terms of millions raised, billions in valuation, revenues, profits, and timeline to IPO. That’s not genuinely subversive. That’s not truly disruptive. That’s establishment talk.

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. But then, so did the divine right of kings,” said the great Ursula Le Guin at the National Book Awards.

"…it has become glaringly obvious that capitalism does not require democracy. Or even benefit from it." http://t.co/e6JJLQfMAr by @cstross
— Jon Evans (@rezendi) February 25, 2015

I believe capitalism is excellent … up to a point. (I don’t believe anyone who has travelled in the developing world as much as I have can reasonably think otherwise.) But is that inflection point at which capitalism offers diminishing returns still ahead of us, here in the rich world? Will we live in capitalism (as we know it) forever? It seems unlikely.

While we do, though, we need the weirdos, the rebels, the counterculture, to be gathering together and founding companies. Because while we live in capitalism, no art collective, no protest, will be as effective an engine of change as a successful startup.

We must think tactically and strategically about how to use corporations as proxies of power to effect certain kinds of change.
— Jacob Appelbaum (@ioerror) January 28, 2015

What’s more, there has never been a better time to try to found a genuinely subversive company than right now. Consider Y Combinator’s new openness to not-for-profit startups. Consider the remarkable recipient list of Reddit Donate. It seems to me that there is a hunger for real change out there. A huge audience. You might even call it a market.

Capitalism won’t be violently overthrown. Nor should it be. Whatever system(s) may one day supplant it will instead grow quietly in the shadows of its tallest towers, and coexist for years. But in order for that to happen, I believe we need our true iconoclasts, dangerous freethinkers, and weird subversives to flock to the tech industry — rather than recoil from it in disgust, now that the pretty people have invaded.

Come And Get Your Net Neutrality Hot Takes

(GNN) - It is hot take season today on the net neutrality front, and TechCrunch would be remiss if we didn’t bring you the best, worst, banal, and asinine of the virulent anger and relieved happiness that is currently bouncing around the nation.
 
What we’ve done is put our ears to several groaning inboxes, and have selected a number of letters, responses, quotes, and oral comments from the day, and thrown them into this post. Think of it as a hot take gumbo of sorts.

The FCC

First up, the FCC. We’ll give Commissioner Ajit Pai first words, since he left so many behind this morning:

To put it another way, Title II is not just a solution in search of a problem—it’s a government solution that creates a real-world problem. This is not what the Internet needs, and it’s not what the American people want.

Keeping on the no side of things, here’s Commissioner Michael O’Rielly:

While I see no need for net neutrality rules, I am far more troubled by the dangerous course that the Commission is now charting on Title II and the consequences it will have for broadband investment, edge providers, and consumers.

We agree with the commissioner: If one did feel that net neutrality regulations were unneeded, what Chairman Wheeler got passed today would be in fact both belt and suspenders, but in reverse.
Moving from nay to aye, here’s Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel:

This is a big deal. What is also a big deal is 4 million voices. Four million Americans wrote this agency to make known their ideas, thoughts, and deeply-held opinions about Internet openness. […] That might be messy, but whatever our disagreements on network neutrality are, I hope we can agree that’s democracy in action and something we can all support.

And finally, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler:

The American people reasonably expect and deserve an Internet that is fast, fair, and open. Today they get what they deserve: strong, enforceable rules that will ensure the Internet remains open, now and in the future.

The ISPs

To the shock of none, ISPs are not happy with how the vote went down. All that good lobbying spend, noodled away by a party-line vote.
We’ll start with Comcast, promising incoming legal recourse:

We are disappointed the Commission chose this route, which is certain to lead to years of litigation and regulatory uncertainty and may greatly harm investment and innovation, when the use of Section 706 alone would have provided a much more certain and legally sustainable path.

That bit underscores the fact that the FCC had best draw the moat and sink the bailey when it comes to the coming legal tussle over its regulatory authority in the matter.
Verizon took a whimsical approach, putting its complaint in morse code:

See that little tag at the bottom? That’s some new-school style shade. Here’s the key excerpt:

-.. .. -.. / -.– — ..- / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.– / – .-. .- -. … .-.. .- – . / – …. .. … ..–..

From the group’s name alone, Broadband for America, can you guess what their take was on the vote? Surprise!

The FCC’s decision to impose obsolete telephone-era regulations on the high-speed Internet is one giant step backwards for America’s broadband networks and everyone who depends upon them. […]

There is only one solution: now is the time for Congress to act, to enshrine the Open Internet into law, end the gamesmanship, and secure America’s continued leadership in the global Internet economy.

I am not sure how efficacious calling for Congressional action is at the moment, but there you have it.

A House Divided

A group of 21 House Republicans, lead by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler saying, “We will not stand by idly as the White House, using the FCC, attempts to advance rules that imperil the future of the Internet.” The document also contained threats of legislation to strip the FCC of its regulatory authority in the matter.

On the other side of the fence, Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren called the vote a “victory for a free and open [I]nternet.” She continued later in the comment:

These new protections, including reclassification of broadband services under Title II authority, will likely face years of litigation by incumbent telecom and cable opponents. However, I am convinced that these rules comprise the strongest approach to preserving and guarding the internet as we know it.

Both sides, then, are willing to discuss litigation openly. I honestly wonder which side is being cocky without merit, and which is being cocky with merit, when it comes down to a potential future winner.

Sprint, Netflix and Mozilla

That Netflix likes the rules is roughly as surprising as spoiled milk in a desert. The digital video and television company said the following in a statement:

The net neutrality debate is about who picks winners and losers online: Internet service providers or consumers. Today, the FCC settled it: Consumers win.

Next up, another ally: Sprint. Sprint said that it has “been a leader in supporting an open Internet,” and that its corporate soul “commends the FCC for its hard work in arriving at a thoughtful, measured approach on this important issue.” So the inclusion of wireless under net neutrality doesn’t have this carrier worrying too much.
Finally, Mozilla called the vote an “important victory for the world’s largest public resource, the open Web.”

Other Voices

• The American Association of Independent Music thanks Chairman Wheeler in a statement, noting that the rules applying to “lawful content.” The group also praised the use of Title II, saying that it will “prohibit providers from favoring content distributed by the largest companies with the deepest pockets.”
• The American Library Association, calling itself a “longtime network neutrality advocate,” said that the FCC’s vote today is a “bold step forward in ensuring a fair and open Internet.”
• Senator Al Franken had something to say: “I’m thrilled that the FCC has taken this crucial step. But the fight isn’t over as some Republicans are already working on legislation to undo all of this. So in the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to make sure everyone understands what’s at stake, and why we need to stand by the strong rules adopted by the FCC.”
• The League of United Latin American Citizens argued that today’s action by the FCC “will not help low income, Latino and other minority communities in their quest to get online nor will it prevent ISPs from charging consumers for faster speeds.” The group called for the FCC to “return to [the] imperative of eliminating the digital divide among minority and other disadvantage populations.”
• The Discovery Institute, which peddles creationism under the guise of intelligent design, is not a fan of the vote: “Today’s party-line vote by the Federal Communications Commission to reverse three decades of bipartisan communications policy threatens to jeopardize investment and innovation in the network by opening the door to the possibility of pervasive regulation,” said the group’s Hance Haney.
• The National Venture Capital Association was in favor of the vote, which doesn’t surprise, given that it likely doesn’t fund too many new ISPs. But its members likely do pour capital into companies that ISPs would have liked to charge for faster access to end-consumers. Here’s the group: “Today’s vote is a win for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. By prohibiting ISPs from discriminating through paid prioritization, the FCC has ensured that America’s startups have the opportunity to thrive and grow on a level playing field without being placed at a competitive disadvantage to larger competitors.”
• And finally a note to the Reddit community from President Obama: 

We could go on, but you get the gist. In short, everyone who was in favor of net neutrality before the vote still is, and those who weren’t, still aren’t. Alert the media.

House Republicans Threaten To Curb The FCC’s “Ability To Regulate The Internet”

(GNN) - Following a landmark vote to put in place strict net neutrality regulations, a group of 21 Republican House members sent a nastygram to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, upbraiding him from policy to procedure, and threatening more than just words.

The GOP coterie, after repeating prior complaints, said the following:

Finally, to the extent that a public record supports further action, we will consider introducing legislation to ensure the antitrust laws are the preferred enforcement method against anticompetitive conduct on the Internet. Moreover, given how the FCC has exercised its authority, this legislation may include a restriction on the FCC’s ability to regulate the Internet.
Rest assured, the Committee on the Judiciary will take every action necessary to ensure that the Internet remains a free, competitive marketplace.

As the President maintains veto authority due to his office, the last threat is mostly empty. At the same time, the antipathy present in the prose makes the missive worth noticing.

Reader exercise: What percentage of the 21 signatories of the letter are on the record in favor of the NSA’s dragnet surveillance methods, especially as they relate to encryption, and domestic spying? Then cross that with the above-quoted plea to keep the Internet a free place where competition can thrive. If you can’t spot the dissonance, turn on the lights.

Also keep in mind the rift we have in place between the two ‘factions’ on this particular issue. The Congressional majority thinks that the FCC is snuffing out the Internet’s freedom, and its status as an open marketplace with its regulations. The Democratic majority on the FCC think precisely the opposite. Both teams can’t be right.

High Fidelity Raises $11M To Build Deployable Virtual Worlds

(GNN) - High Fidelity, the San Francisco-based startup from Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, has raised another $11 million in funding in a round led by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital. The funding was noted in a SEC filing that went through today and was confirmed to TechCrunch by Rosedale.

Founded in 2013, High Fidelity is building deployable virtual worlds, combining the ease of rolling out a VM instance on a modern cloud platform with the interactivity of Minecraft and the immersion of virtual reality.

Over the course of several hours at High Fidelity HQ yesterday, Rosedale demonstrated the state of the startup’s tech and the vision he has for turning it into a viable business.

The main idea driving High Fidelity forward is the ability to quickly generate a virtual space to meet in and interact with. While the interface is far from final, it’s already at the point where you can pick a template, choose a name, and instantly have a space accessible by others. Each space is essentially a small video game world, filled in with the same 3D models you’d build for a game built with Unity.

The startup has built enough logic that you can jump in with friends, have a quick virtual chat, and interact with the virtual space. If you want more stuff to do, you can grab or sculpt your own models and create logic in JavaScript to tell the world how interaction should work. Rosedale showed off this capability by dropping a billiards table he’s been working on in his free time into a world. Using two Razer Hydra controllers, you could pick up balls, roll them around, or throw them at one another and see them react with realistic physics.

Similarly, the studio has invested a ton of time into naturalistic facial/gesture capture and 3D audio, making it the closest thing to the ideal virtual reality chatroom.

If you can code it, you can build basically anything into High Fidelity’s worlds. Between alpha users and the team’s developers messing around in their own time, people have built procedurally generated cities and AI-powered animals that wander around realistically — and that’s just scratching the surface of what’s possible.

As with Second Life, High Fidelity doesn’t plan to sell you a one-time license in exchange for unlimited play. In fact, the base of the experience is open source, letting anyone host worlds on their own machines with less of a hassle than even the kid-friendly Minecraft.

Rosedale plans to monetize High Fidelity at the points where the community provides value to itself. While you can generate a temporary name to send to friends so they can quickly jump into a world with you, you’ll also be able to pay a fee to keep a distinct name for longer-term use — kind of like reserving a good URL for your site or username on Twitter.

Since users can make all kinds of content for their worlds, High Fidelity also wants to host the go-to repository for models and code in a digital store resembling Unity’s Asset Store. Given the product’s open source approach, generous users can give out their offerings for free if they’d like, but if they want to charge money, High Fidelity will take a small cut.

As I’ve noted before, advertising is probably going to be common in virtual reality. Some might hear that and groan, but in “contemporary” virtual settings, ads done right can actually contribute to immersion. Rosedale says the startup is looking to make ads not only feel natural in High Fidelity, but helpful: while there might be ads for “real” products on in-game televisions or billboards down the road, in the near-term you’re more likely to see ads for cool objects you can pick up from the asset store.

Virtual reality allows for an infinite range of experiences, and the studios and hobbyists working on content for headsets from market leaders Oculus and Samsung have barely touched on what’s possible. For now, the majority of development in the space happens in traditional game engines like Unity and Unreal. High Fidelity’s deployable worlds put it somewhere between those professional tools and the most customizable video games, opening up innovation in the space to those who are willing to get technical but don’t want to build something from the ground up.

Xero Raises $111M And Hires New U.S. Lead For Its Cloud-Based Accounting Business

(GNN) - New Zealand-founded accounting software firm Xero has raised a $110.8 million round of capital to grow its business in the North American market.

NZ Stock Exchange-listed Xero — which provides online accounting software for small/medium businesses and accountants — said that the new funds come from Accel Partners and Matrix Capital Management, its largest institutional investor. Accel is providing the lion’s share of capital in the deal — $100 million at a $15.052 per share value — which is expected to close by the middle of March 2015.

The money will be put to work growing the company’s business in the U.S. and, on that note, Xero is also bolstering its U.S. and global team with a new hire. Russell Fujioka, formerly of Dell and a current partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, has taken on the role of U.S. President, based out of Xero’s San Francisco office. In addition, former Salesforce CFO Graham Smith has joined the Xero board as a non-executive director.

Xero beefed up its U.S. team in February 2014 when it hired a U.S. CEO, new board director, and an additional U.S.-based director to its team. Its inaugural U.S. CEO, Peter Karpas, has since moved on to pastures new, and it looks like Fujioka has taken on his responsibilities (and more) with this new role.

There’s plenty of competition in the accounting software space in the U.S., and Xero must do battle with NASDAQ-listed Intuit, arguably the biggest player in the space, and smaller rivals like Freshbooks.

Accel partner Andrew Braccia believes that Xero — which claims to have more than 400,000 small businesses on its books — has what it takes to compete though:

Accel always looks for enduring technologies with global reach and we see the need and opportunity for millions of small businesses to grow on Xero’s platform. We’ve worked with several other leading companies in the region to broaden their global reach and we hope this experience will be valuable as Xero’s strong leadership team looks to expand in the United States.

Prior to today, Xero had raised over $240 million from investors, according to Crunchbase. Its most recent round was $150 million in October 2013, led by Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures and Matrix Partners.

Pebble Time Smashes Through $6.5M On Kickstarter In Half A Day

(GNN) - Early this morning, we noted that the Pebble Time — Pebble’s new color e-ink smartwatch — had smashed through its $500,000 goal in an absolutely preposterous seventeen minutes.

We don’t generally do play-by-play updates on Kickstarter campaigns, but this one is a bit too crazy not to note. The Pebble train just won’t stop.

Nine hours after the launch of the campaign, Kickstarter is still vacuuming up cash at an absurd rate. It now sits at $6.5 million, earning it a spot in the Top 5 most funded projects to ever hit the site.

The only projects that have pulled in more? The Ouya console ($8.5M), The Oatmeal’s Exploding Kittens card game ($8.7M), the original Pebble ($10.2M), and the Coolest cooler ($13.2M). All of those had a month-plus to earn their totals; the Pebble Time has joined their ranks in half a day.

Pebble’s repeated success on the platform has started something of a debate, with some arguing that they’re too successful to turn to a crowdfunding site. “It’d be like watching Bill Gates, Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett panhandling on the streets of Seattle”, writes Daniel Cooper on Engadget.

But is that really Kickstarter’s problem to solve? Where does one draw the line? What makes a company too successful for Kickstarter? Public perception? Should having a successful Kickstarter and going on to find retail success prevent you from returning to the well? Or should we let people vote with their wallets and stop romanticizing Kickstarter as something that it’s not?

You can find the Pebble Time Kickstarter campaign here.

VMware Server 2.0.2

VMware Server 2.0.2, VMware® Server is a free virtualization product for Windows and Linux servers with enterprise-class support.

It enables companies to partition a physical server into multiple virtual machines and to start experiencing the benefits of virtualization.

VMware Server is a robust yet easy to use product for users new to server virtualization technology and is based on VMware's proven technology.

1. Provision additional servers in minutes without investing in new hardware
2. Run Windows, Linux, Solaris and Netware operating systems and applications on the same physical server
3. Increase the CPU utilization of a physical server
4. Move virtual machines from one physical server to another without re-configuration.
5. Capture the entire state of a virtual machine and roll back to that configuration with the click of a button
6. Gain centralized management to efficiently provision, monitor and manage IT infrastructure when combined with VMware VirtualCenter
7. Choose to access enterprise-class product support
8. Easily migrate virtual machines to VMware Infrastructure

Change Log
# Security Fixes

* New: Exception handling privilege escalation on Guest Operating System This release addresses a security vulnerability in exception handling. Improper setting of the exception code on page faults might allow for local privilege escalation on the guest. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-2267 to this issue.

* New: Directory Traversal Vulnerability on Linux-based hosts This release addresses a directory traversal vulnerability that is present on host systems and that may allow for remote retrieval of any file from the host system. In order to send a malicious request, the attacker will need to have access to the network on which the host resides. The issue is present on Linux-based hosts only, not on Windows-based hosts. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3733 to this issue.

# Miscellaneous

* Disk Stress Test fails with data corruption error WLK DiskStress test fails with data corruption error on LSI Logic virtual device.

* Server 2.0.1 does not allow vmnet-bridge service to be run in the foreground
The vmnet-bridge service has a parameter -d for putting it in daemon mode. Without using the -d parameter, the vmnet-bridge service should be able to run in the foreground. This was not working. This issue is resolved in this release.

Technical
Title:    VMware Server 2.0.2
Filename:    VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.exe
File size:    507.48MB (532,132,088 bytes)
Requirements:    Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows7 / XP64 / Vista64 / Windows7 64 / Windows8 / Windows8 64
Languages:    en-US
License:    Freeware
Date added:    October 31, 2009
Author:    VMware Inc www.vmware.com
Homepage:    www.vmware.com/products/server
MD5 Checksum:    A6430BCC16FF7B3A29BB8DA1704FC38A

X4620A Sun Blade RAID 5 Expansion Module Driver for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 5.2.0-15882

This device driver pack will install drivers for X4620A Sun Blade RAID 5 Expansion Module for the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system.

This driver is also compatible with the following devices:

X4620A Sun Blade RAID 5 Expansion Module
Sun StorageTek SAS RAID HBA, Internal
Sun StorageTek SAS RAID HBA, External

Technical
Title:    X4620A Sun Blade RAID 5 Expansion Module Driver for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 5.2.0-15882
Filename:    X4620A Sun Blade RAID 5 Expansion Module Driver for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 5.2.0-15882
File size:     (0 bytes)
Requirements:    Windows (All Versions)
Languages:    default
License:    Driver
Date added:    November 12, 2013
Author:    Intel Corporation www.intel.com

Wireshark 1.11.2 32-bit Beta

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer, and is the de facto standard across many industries and educational institutions.

1. Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the time
2. Live capture and offline analysis
3. Standard three-pane packet browser
4. Multi-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many others
5. Captured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utility
6. The most powerful display filters in the industry
7. Rich VoIP analysis
8. Read/write many different capture file formats
9. Capture files compressed with gzip can be decompressed on the fly
10. Live data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others (depending on your platfrom)
11. Decryption support for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2
12. Coloring rules can be applied to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysis
13. Output can be exported to XML, PostScript®, CSV, or plain text

Technical
Title:    Wireshark 1.11.2 (32-bit) Beta
Filename:    Wireshark-win32-1.11.2.exe
File size:    25.93MB (27,188,648 bytes)
Requirements:    Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows7 / Windows8
Languages:    en-US
License:    Open Source
Date added:    November 19, 2013
Author:    Wireshark.org
MD5 Checksum:    3509EC9C1E851B7E4F2FC32D37FC330E

ZipGenius 6.3.2

ZipGenius is your free and easy to handle agent for dealing with compressed archives. It supports more than 20 types of compressed archives. Creating archives, extracting files or encrypting important data, whatever you want to do, with the help of ZipGenius and it's powerful and clear interface the task will be done in a breath.

Features:

1. Create compressed archives, extract files from those
2. Create encrypted archives
3. Organize your pictures in albums
4. Browse FTP servers (through the add-on tool FTPGenius)

Supported Formats:
1.)Extraction, Creation and Update:

1. ZIP, CZIP
2. EXE (ZIP self-executable archive)
3. JAR, EAR, WAR (Java archives)
4. BSZ, MSKIN, WAL, WMZ (Skin archives)
5. XPI (Firefox extension)
6. OD*, SX*, ST* (OpenOffice documents)
7. DSFZ
8. CBZ
9. PCV
10. 7Z
11. LZH, LHA
12. SQX
13. YZ1

2.)Extraction and Creation:

1. TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, TAZ, TGZ
2. CAB
3. RPM

3.)Extraction only:

1. ACE
2. RAR
3. EXE (ACE/RAR self-executable archive)
4. CBR
5. ARJ
6. ISO, NRG, CMI (CD/DVD image file)

Technical
Title:    ZipGenius 6.3.2
Filename:    zg63sui.exe
File size:    11.80MB (12,376,679 bytes)
Requirements:    Windows (All Versions)
Languages:    Multiple languages
License:    Freeware
Date added:    July 27, 2012
Author:    WinInizio.it Software www.wininizio.it
Homepage:    www.zipgenius.com
MD5 Checksum:    F396A6855C205B732FE068F54DA045D1

WordWeb 7.0 Free Download

WordWeb is your assisting dictionary and thesaurus that looks up words in almost any program.

Choose from the off-line dictionary with 150,000 root words and 120,000 synonym words or take a look in web dictionaries, just one click away. In general, WordWeb quickly provides you with definitions, synonyms and related words as well as readable and audible pronunciations.

It keeps running in the background and can be activated by marking a word and pressing the customizable hotkey. Use the "Replace"-Button to exchange the initial word in your favourite word-processor with an appropriate synonym.

Technical
Title:  WordWeb 7.0
Filename:  wordweb7.exe
File size:  21.37MB (22,407,464 bytes)
Requirements:  Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows7 / XP64 / Vista64 / Windows7 64 / Windows8 / Windows8 64
Languages:  en-US
License:  Freeware
Author:  WordWeb Software WordWeb.info
MD5 Checksum:    56FAC632EA34F18FC098263B57A3F8A2

Change Log
- Database updates, new words and related links
- Hundreds of new audio pronunciations
- New improved one-click engine, with better 64-bit and Windows 8 support

Word Viewer 11.0.8173

Word Viewer 11.0.8173 : After installing Word Viewer you can open and view DOC files without having to use Microsoft Office Word.

The small tool supports DOC, RFT, TXT, HTML, XML, WPD and WPS documents.

One limitation of the viewer is that it can not run Macros. On the positive side it means your Windows computer is not at risk to be infected by a Macro virus when opening documents with Word Viewer.

To view documents in the newer DOCX and DOCM formats, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack is needed additionally. You can download the tool from www.techc.tk, too.

Technical
Title:  Word Viewer 11.0.8173
Filename:  wordview_en-us.exe
File size:  24.50MB (25,685,128 bytes)
Requirements:  Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows7 / XP64 / Vista64 / Windows7 64 / Windows8 / Windows8 64
Languages:  Multiple languages
License:  Freeware
Date added:  June 22, 2012
Author:  Microsoft Corporation www.microsoft.com
Homepage:  www.microsoft.com/en.../details.aspx?id=4
MD5 Checksum:  EF59DC6B88EAB99362B3BA4982F1A4CB

Windows Live Writer 2012 16.4.3508

Writer makes it easy to share your photos and videos on almost any blog service Windows Live, WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and many more.

Writer is part of Windows Live Essentials, which includes free programs for photos, movies, instant messaging, e-mail, blogging, family safety, and more. Get Writer or get them all they're free!

1) What you see is what you get - With Writer, you can preview everything you’re adding to your blog, to see how the fonts, spacing, colors, and images will look, before you publish.

2) Bring your blog to life - It's fast and easy to make your photos and videos look great on your blog. Insert them and apply cool borders and effects.

Technical
Title:  Windows Live Writer 2012 (16.4.3508)
Filename:  wlsetup-web.exe
File size:  1.18MB (1,239,536 bytes)
Requirements:  Windows Windows7 / Windows7 64 / Windows8 / Windows8 64
Languages:  en-US
License:  Freeware
Date added:  May 15, 2013
Author:  Microsoft Corporation www.microsoft.com
Homepage:  explore.live.com/windows-live-writer
MD5 Checksum:    517792A56DBF99B4277B9B573E008EDD

Yahoo! Widget Engine 4.5.2 Free Download

Yahoo! Widgets help you save time and stay current by bringing an always-updated, at-a-glance view of your favorite Internet services right to your desktop.

The Yahoo! Widget Gallery offers over 4,000 desktop Widgets the most available anywhere online. Yahoo! Widgets is the only major desktop Widgets platform that works on both Windows and Mac OS.

1). Save time with live updates right on your desktop

1. Your favorite info comes to you
2. No need to surf around for what you use most

2). Convenient at-a-glance view keeps your Widgets in line

1. Get all of your personalized updates in one place
2. Neatly organize your Widgets along any edge of your desktop

3). Choose from more than 4,000 Widgets. Make it all yours

1. The most Widgets available anywhere online… more than 4,000 and growing fast!
2. Weather, games, web cams, radio, scoreboards, calendars, mood rings… if you can imagine it, there's a Widget for it!

Technical
Title: Yahoo! Widget Engine 4.5.2
Filename: widgetsus.exe
File size: 15.11MB (15,848,344 bytes)
Requirements: Windows XP / Vista / Windows7 / XP64 / Vista64 / Windows7 64 / Windows8 / Windows8 64
Languages: en-US
License: Freeware
Date added: August 26, 2009
Author: Yahoo! Inc www.yahoo.com
Homepage: widgets.yahoo.com
MD5 Checksum: DF191DEC3A45C2B8A0DF9B02AD35B923

Unlocker 1.9.2 Free Download

If you've ever been unable to delete a file in Windows, and can't figure out what program's using it, Unlocker is the solution. Have you ever seen these Windows error messages?

1. Cannot delete folder: It is being used by another person or program
2. Cannot delete file: Access is denied
3. There has been a sharing violation.
4. The source or destination file may be in use.
5. The file is in use by another program or user.
6. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Unlocker can help! Simply right-click the folder or file and select Unlocker. If the folder or file is locked, a window listing of lockers will appear. Simply click Unlock All and you are done!

Technical
Title: Unlocker 1.9.2
Filename: Unlocker1.9.2.exe
File size: 1.03MB (1,078,591 bytes)
Requirements: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows7 / Windows8
Languages: Multiple languages
License: Freeware
Author: Unlocker unlocker.emptyloop.com
MD5 Checksum: 1E02D6AA4A199448719113AE3926AFB2

Change Log
- Improved Installer: Universal installer for both 32 and 64 bit machines
- Fixed Bug: Fixed small memory and behavior bugs
- Promotional feature: Fully optional Delta toolbar.

Free MP3 Player - Free Download - GNN Free Software

#GNN #Software - #Editors' review : Free #MP3 Player offers a specialized alternative to catch-all media players that have proliferated lately and that may provide inconsistent quality. Because this program is designed to play only files in MP3 format, it can produce a more uniformly high-quality listening experience.

Pros
Playlist creation: This app allows you to create playlists of your favorite songs or other audio files, so that you can listen continuously without having to manually switch to the next track. There is also an option to Randomize Playlist if you're in the mood to mix things up a bit.

Clear controls: This app presents all navigation options in a clear and accessible way. There are buttons for Fast Forward, Skip Ahead, Rewind, Skip Back, Play, and Stop. You can also open and play a file directly from the app's main interface window.

Cons
Unwanted extras: Installing this app sends you on a path through a minefield of special offers attempting to install unwanted programs on your computer. It's possible to install only the program you want and not any of the others, but you have to be paying attention throughout the entire process.

Bottom Line
If you need a new alternative player for MP3 files, this is a good option to try. It's free, its controls are straightforward, and it can play MP3 files with no conversions needed. Just pay attention during the installation if you don't want any extras.

Publisher's Description
From Media Freeware:
With this free MP3 player, you will be able to listen to the most popular type of sound file that is currently being used. The MP3 file type is so well known and used that it there are many software options for a music player. This MP3 player is completely free and is not only high quality, but remains easy to install and use on your own.

Installation for this free MP3 player only takes a few minutes. After installing it on your computer, run through the tutorial wizard and get acquainted with the layout of the software. You will notice that there are a few high quality features. You can get the file playing on the software with a few simple clicks. Rather than including many different features, this free MP3 player is specifically designed to play the MP3 files with extremely high quality. The technology is designed with sound quality in mind rather than anything else.

The crispness of the sound is evident by those who listen to the MP3 music carefully. Of course, the best feature of this MP3 player is that it is totally free. Rather than spending a lot of money on different MP3 music players and other types of software, you can get this free software and listen to high quality music with only a few clicks. By downloading this free software, you will not only save a lot of money, but you can save time and increase the quality of music as well.

Quick Specs
Version:
1.0

File Size:
554.08KB

Price:
Free

Operating Systems:
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/8


Free Download                             Direct Download Link

Apache OpenOffice - Free Download - GNN Free Software

#GNN #Software - #Apache - #Editors' review: #OpenOffice has come a long way after racing to improve its compatibility with Microsoft Office. If you're looking for Microsoft-caliber applications for free, OpenOffice has alternatives to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and more.

Pros
Free: The most significant feature of OpenOffice is that it's free -- no subscription fee, no lump sum, no upsell to a pro version. If your business needs don't include complex word-processing or database-management features, then OpenOffice is a bargain.

Compatibility: OpenOffice supports the same file formats as rival programs like Word and Excel. Those coming from Microsoft will be pleased to hear that Office files work in OpenOffice, too.

Function: For most basic uses, OpenOffice holds its own. Math allows you to create basic charts and cell-dependent calculations just like Excel, and most useful features from Microsoft Word also appear in Writer, including spell checkers and most text-formatting options.

Cons
Not for heavy Excel users: Expert spreadsheet manipulators will find it hard to live without compatibility with Visual Basic for Applications, especially if your macro functions depend on Microsoft's environment.

Poor presentations: If you create the most basic of presentations, Impress will suffice. But PowerPoint holds a large lead when it comes to variety in designs, templates, transitions, and collaborative features. Though OpenOffice can open PowerPoint files, don't expect the transitional effects to import.

Bottom Line
Apache OpenOffice vs. Microsoft Office: The question isn't which suite has better features (that's Microsoft's), but rather whether the open-source suite has enough features for your work. Microsoft offers affordable pricing for Office 365, a subscription model that puts Office on just about every device you can imagine. But if you're looking to save a few bucks and don't need all the fancy support of Office, then OpenOffice's core offerings will get the job done.

Publisher's Description
From The Apache Software Foundation:

Apache OpenOffice is both an open-source product and a project. The product is a multiplatform office productivity suite. It includes desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. Apache OpenOffice also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office.

Localizations of Apache OpenOffice are available in 27 languages, with more being constantly added by the community. Apache OpenOffice runs on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), and Windows. Written in C++ and with documented APIs licensed under the LGPL and SISSL open-source protocols, Apache OpenOffice allows any knowledgeable developer to benefit from the source.

What's new in this version:

New features:

1. Comments/Annotations on text ranges
2. Support for iAccessible2
3. Improvements/Enhancements:

1. In-place editing of Input Fields
2. Interactive Crop Feature
3. Import Picture from File and Drag & Drop of Graphic Data
4. Load/Import of 3D Charts improved
5. Improved Graphic Modifications/Filters for Vector Graphics
6. Keep original Graphic Data when ever possible 
7. Clipboard ... 

See all new features »

Quick Specs
Version:
4.1.0

File Size:
127.48MB

Price:
Free

Operating Systems:
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista

Free Download

VLC Media Player - Free Download - GNN Free Software

#GNN #Software - #Editors' Note: #VLC is an open source product developed by #VideoLAN Project licensed under GNU GPL v2. The VLC Media Player source code is also available for download from GNN-AIP.GA

This logo or a modified version may be used or modified by anyone to refer to the VideoLAN project or any product developed by the VideoLAN team, but does not indicate endorsement by the project.

Editors' review

VLC Media Player is an open-source application that gives you the ability to play media from your computer or a disk, or to stream it from the Web. Have your favorite videos playing in a snap through this app's intuitive interface.

Pros
Wiki help: For just about any process you want to carry out with this software, you'll find a detailed Wiki with step-by-step instructions. All of these documents have been created and edited by other users, so they're surprisingly detailed and complete.

Intuitive controls: For all basic functions, this medial player is accessible to users of all skill and experience levels. The controls are intuitive, and playback works smoothly regardless of the source of the media being displayed.

Cons
Advanced knowledge: This app can do a lot more than just play media, but to access any of those more advanced features, you need to have some technical knowledge. Although there are thorough instructions on how to do just about anything, only users with some experience using this technology will be able to follow them accurately.

Inconsistent interface: This app is available for various systems, and its interface looks a little different on each one. That means that Wikis containing instructions for completing various processes aren't necessarily describing the same interface you're seeing.

If you know what you're doing, though, you can still accomplish what you set out to do, and then add your experience to the document to help make it more complete for future users.

Bottom Line
As with any open-source software, there are benefits and drawbacks to using VLC Media Player. But if you just want to be able to stream and play video on your computer without hassle, this program is a good choice. Likewise, users with some technical know-how can have fun exploring the more advanced capabilities of this free program.

Publisher's Description
From VideoLAN Project:
VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, and OGG, as well as for DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It also can be used as a server for unicast or multicast streams in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

What's new in this version:
With the capabilities of "RinceWind", 2.1.5 fixes a few bugs, and important security issues 2.1.5 fixes a few decoding bugs, on MP3, MKV, and hardware decoding on Windows. It also fixes QTsound capture and audio channel orders for OS X. 2.1.5 also ships with updated GnuTLS and libpng libraries, because of security issues.

Quick Specs

Version:
2.1.5

File Size:
23.6MB

Price:
Free

Operating Systems:
Windows XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/8

Free Download

GOM Media Player - Free Download - GNN Free Software

#GNN #Software - Editors' review: #GOM #Media #Player for Windows handles most of the more common video formats, including MP4, AVI, MKV, and more. It comes with a sleeker, more media center-focused design and packs plenty of codecs under the hood to play just about any media format you throw at it.

The initial installation is standard, like any other Windows product: accept a couple terms, set a destination folder, and choose to opt in or out of an offer from AVG. After installation completes, GOM will guide you through an optional setup process to optimize initial use based on sound and monitor setup.

You'll be introduced to a 4:3 ratio default window with an orange, black, and silver theme that will make you wonder if Halloween came early.

Your token playback tools like Play, Stop, and Skip Forward and Back are located on the bottom left corner, and control panels for managing your media content are located on the opposite side. In the middle is a small, integrated upsell ticker that links users to any of GOM's other products or video content.

Though this can easily be removed by switching to another skin, it's far less intrusive than other attempts at product promotions that we've seen in many other apps.

Right above is a timeline that's extremely narrow; this is fine for standard keyboard/mouse users but hardly ideal for touch. Right-clicking anywhere on the player will expose even more detailed options and audio/video-related tweaks like those found in other open-source players.

You can add custom audio EQ effects, tweak subtitle lengths, and even take burst screenshots to capture particular moments from videos. However, some of the language was a bit confusing: GOM labels screen rotation as "flip input/output." Not a deal- breaker by any means, but not a labor-intensive fix either.

Power users are given the added option to set custom hot keys and even sync their remote iOS and Android devices like tablets and phones to control the media player over Wi-Fi. And though this feature works for the most part, buggy playback and less-than-stellar navigation do not make this prime time-ready.

But when it came to video playback, GOM was no slouch. Videos played and looked as they should, and it was easy enough to incrementally tweak your picture settings during live play.

Whether you choose this or VLC, both are solid media players, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. GOM tries to do a lot, and though some of those attempts could use some work, its core mode is rock solid: watching your favorite Global Starcraft II League (GSL) masters duke it out in this season of GSL.

Publisher's Description
From Gretech:
GOM Player is a free multimedia player with popular video and audio codecs built-in. GOM Player supports file formats such as AVI, DAT, MPEG, DivX, XviD, WMV, ASF. Users don't have to install codecs separately. GOM Player is capable of playing incomplete or damaged AVI files by skipping the damaged frames.

It can also play locked or partially downloaded files. Its other features include drag-and-drop support, HTTP streaming, editable skins, subtitling, overlay mixer, key remapping, enhanced filter rendering, real-time index rebuilding for AVI files and unicode support among others.

What's new in this version:

Changes in version 2.2.62.5207 include the following:

1. Corrected a security issue.
2. Corrected an issue where the screen capture features were not working properly when a video was in the "pause" state.
3. Corrected an issue where certain files would not be displayed with the proper aspect ratio when using the Enhanced Video Renderer video output type.
4. Correct an issue where Arabic and other RTL subtitles were not being displayed correctl...   

See all new features 

Quick Specs
Version:
2.2.62.5207

File Size:
12.69MB

Price:
Free

Operating Systems:
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8