Automatic Vista Backups

Windows Vista includes an option to back up documents, photos and several other file types automatically, on a schedule you select. However, you can’t select to backup your entire PC on a regular basis by default.

If you have a NAS drive or 2nd hard drive, it would be ideal to be able to automatically backup your computer should the worse happen. Thankfully, you can use the command line interface and the “Task Scheduler” to create an automated backup solution without any other software. This will only work with Ultimate, Business or Enterprise editions of Vista in Administrator mode.

To begin, load the Task Scheduler by starting taskschd.msc from the run box (press WINDOWS KEY + R to load this):

Once the Task Scheduler has loaded, click Create Basic Task:

Now, enter a name and an optional description for your automated backup script:

You can now choose the intervals at which you want your backup to run (weekly or monthly would be sensible, depending on how often you need backups). Click Next when you are done:

Select a time of day for the script to start based on your interval selection, then click Next:

Now, select Start a Program and click Next:

For the “Program/Script” box, enter the following command:

wbadmin

Then, the following arguments to the next box:

start backup -allcritical -backuptarget:d: -include:c: -quiet

This example argument assumes you are backing up the entire C: and storing the backup on the D:. You can chance the storage paths by editing the values above. Once you are done, click Next:

This final screen lets you confirm the backup script details. If everything appears correct, click OK:

When the script starts, a command box similar to the one below will load. This will show you the progress of the backup and close automatically once complete. All of the backups will be stored in a “WindowsImageBackup” folder on the backup drive you selected, should you need to restore the computer using the Vista installation disk:

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How to Repair Corrupt Vista Files

Some Windows Vista errors are caused by corrupt system files causing instabilities, but troubleshooting these problems manually can be almost impossible. Thankfully, Vista includes a “System File Checker” application that will verify the integrity of core system files.

There are 2 types of scan, a verification and a scan/repair mode. The former will only check the files without repairing them automatically, the latter will fix any errors it finds.

To begin, load the command prompt by starting “cmd” from the run box (Press WINDOWS KEY + R to access this):

Then, type in one of the following commands (followed by the enter key) depending on the type of scan you wish to perform:

• sfc /verifyonly - To verify any corrupt files only.
• sfc /scannow - To verify and fix any corrupt files.

This will then start the scan and inform you of any files that require fixing:

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Meet the happy-faced spider sure to make you smile

This amazing happy-faced spider found in Hawaii is bound to leave you beaming from ear to ear.

The tiny insect, which measures just a few millimetres across, has developed bizarre markings which look just like a smiling face.

Scientists think the spider, which is harmless to humans, has evolved the patterns to confuse predators.

This tiny spider has developed markings that look like a smiling face

But it's no laughing matter for the spider which is under-threat from extinction from its home in the rainforests of the Hawaiian island chain in the Pacific ocean.

Spider expert and geneticist Dr Geoff Oxford, 62, from the University of York, said studying happy-face spiders was a real joy.

He said: 'I must admit when I turned over the first leaf and saw one it certainly brought a smile to my face.

'There are various theories as to why the spider has developed the markings it has, one of these that it may be to confuse predators.

'When a bird or other predator first sees a prey item it has not seen before there is a moment before it decides whether to eat it or not.

'It may be that this spider has developed these variations to take advantage of this, in the moment the predator is deciding if it is food it may have the chance to escape.

'I don't think the smiling face is enough to put off a bird though, but it would be nice to think so.

'Not all happy-face spiders have such striking markings, and some are nearly all orange or all blue.'

Dr Oxford, who has been studying the spiders since 1993, said that the unusual markings of the arachnid had made them an ambassador for all of Hawaii's threatened wildlife.

He said: 'They are ambassadors for all the threatened invertebrates, insects and spiders on Hawaii.

'Conservationists are using them to highlight the plight of native species and you can't go far on the islands without seeing them on T-shirts, baseball caps and post cards.'

Hawaiian fauna is being threatened by the human-imported species of animals and plants that establish there each year.

Most of the plants and animals in lowland areas of Hawaii are now non-native.

By Daily Mail Reporter
dailymail.co.uk

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Google Street View does not invade personal privacy, rules UK watchdog

Google Street View does not invade privacy, the Information Commissioner ruled today.

The privacy watchdog rejected a complaint that the service breaches the Data Protection Act and said it was not in the public interest to 'turn the digital clock back.'

Privacy breach? This woman captured by Google Street View in Queensway, London has proven an internet hit

Street View was launched last month in the UK and allows users to scroll round a montage of street-level photographs of Britain. It caused controversy after it was revealed some individuals could be identified after they were missed by the automatic face blurring tool.

One Google Street View car that captures the photos, was forced out of the village of Broughton by angry residents. They claimed the pictures might be used by burglars to target their homes.

Privacy International made the complaint to the watchdog, requesting the service be suspended.

But a spokesman for the Information Commissioner said removing the entire service would be 'disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment'.

David Evans, Senior Data Protection Practice Manager said they were taking a 'pragmatic' and 'common sense approach'.

Have you been snapped? A Google street mapping car in Bristol

He said: 'There is no law against anyone taking pictures of people in the street as long as the person using the camera is not harassing people.'

He added that it was not in the public interest 'to turn the digital clock back.'

He said Google should routinely blur images of people's faces and car number plates. The company was responding 'quickly' to requests from people to have particular images deleted, he said.

When the service launched, users discovered a man walking out of a sex shop and another being sick outside a pub.

The Information Commissioner's office confirmed it had received 74 complaints and inquiries about Street View and would continue to monitor the service.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) revealed it met with Google in July 2008 to discuss privacy issues before its UK launch last month.

A Google spokeswoman said: 'We are pleased with the ICO's statement.

'We took care to build privacy considerations into Street View from the outset and have engaged with the ICO throughout the development process.

'Already millions of British people have benefited from Street View, whether to get driving directions, find local businesses, or explore a tourist destination.

'We recognise that a small minority of people may not wish their house to be included in the service, which is why we have created easy to use removal tools.'

By Claire Bates

dailymail.co.uk

READ MORE - Google Street View does not invade personal privacy, rules UK watchdog

Missing link: Arctic fossil reveals how seals went from land to sea

A fossil has been unearthed in Canada's Arctic that reveals how seals developed from land-based mammals, scientists said.

The web-footed carnivore measured 43 inches from nose to tail and lived near fresh water lakes between 20 and 24million years ago.

A primitive animal, it had a body similar to that of an otter, with a skull more closely related to a seal.

A 3D reconstruction of the skeleton of the Puijila darwini, an otter-like creaturel that was found on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. The lighter colored bones are those that were missing and were recreated

The mammal, named Puijila darwin, could move easily on both land and water and is a member of the pinniped family, which groups seals, sea lions and walruses.

The science team has dubbed it 'a walking seal', although it is not the direct ancestor of any modern seal.

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The most primitive pinniped previously discovered was Enaliarctos, an animal that lived around the same time but was already fully flippered and had a streamlined marine body.

'Our animal fills that transitional gap between the land form and the marine flippered form we're familiar with today,' Natalia Rybczynski of the Canadian Museum of Nature said.

Enlarge

The Puijila darwini has been labelled a 'walking seal' by scientists

Details of the expedition will be published in the latest edition of Nature magazine.

The team found the fossil in 2007 during an expedition on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. Unusually, it is about 65 per cent complete.

Puijila was a carnivorous mammal with large canine teeth, a short snout and a powerful jaw. It had an elongated streamlined body, webbed feet and a tail that enabled it to move through the water at speed.

At the time when the creature was alive, the Arctic was forested and much warmer than it is today.

Natalia Rybczyski, of the Canadian Museum of Nature, prepares the specimen that was found during the 2007-08 Fossil Project on Devon Island

The team - which hopes to return to the Arctic this year to continue the investigation -- is particularly interested in why and how the Puijila came to lose its long tail.

'Other mammals that went from land to sea, like whales and manatees, retained and made good use of their tails, (which) became propulsive structures. For some reason the pinniped lineage didn't do that, and now we know they had had the option ... they had the tail but didn't use it,' said Ms Rybczynski.

By Daily Mail Reporter
dailymail.co.uk

READ MORE - Missing link: Arctic fossil reveals how seals went from land to sea

Inventor gives Rodin's 'The Thinker' a shocking new twist... by shooting 500,000 volts of electricity down his body

It's a picture that's sure to make your hair stand on end.

A daredevil inventor has created a shocking new image of Rodin's 'The Thinker' - by shooting 500,000 volts of electricity down his body as he sat in the pose.

Enlarge

It's electric: Peter Terren shoots 500,000 volts of electricity down his body as he sits in the pose of Rodin's 'Thinker'

Using a home-built Tesla coil pieced together from junk and bits from hardware stores, Peter Terren risked his life to make the electrifying image.

He was also only protected from painful death by electrocution by a layer of cheap builders' foil.

Terren, from Bunbury, Western Australia,said: 'I wanted to convey the concept of the modern electrical age with the barrage of electrical interference in our lives. So much is happening and demanding our attention that it is difficult to "think".

'I decided upon a real life posture like the thinker with a lot of electrical activity around me with sparks onto my body.'

Enlarge

The electricity pours out safely out through Terren's rubber-soled shoes to the floor below

His previous Tesla experiments have seen him wrapped in a Faraday cage - like a see-through Dalek - but this time he wanted to push himself.

Peter's face was protected by a mask made of fine strands of stainless steel and his 'safety suit' consisted of a wrapping of builders' insulating foil. A wig covered up a foil headcap.

The electricity fired from the Tesla rod, which is passed over him in a semi-circle, can then pass down the foil suit and safely out to the earth through his foot.

The 52-year-old said: 'In doing this I wanted to do something new that also challenged the boundaries.

'Allowing the sparks to contact my body or face directly is not safe of course. A single spark that gets past the defences would throw me to the ground in intense pain like a Taser shock.

'Multiple sparks would also stop me breathing and be fatal.'

dailymail.co.uk

READ MORE - Inventor gives Rodin's 'The Thinker' a shocking new twist... by shooting 500,000 volts of electricity down his body

Most expensive cars on eaRth

January 5, 2009

Bugatti Veyron

The Bugatti Veyron is sold at $1,700,000. It is the most expensive, powerful, and fastest car that is legal on the streets in the world. Going up to a top speed of 253 miles per hour, it was finished in late 2005. This car is built by Volkswagen AG. The Bugatti Veyron is named after the racecar driver Pierre Veyron, who is very famous for winning the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939, when he was racing for Bugatti.

most expensive car

$1,192,057. This is by far one most expensive cars available on the market today. It is the fastest accelerating car reaching 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. It claims to be the fastest car with a top speed of 253 mph+. However, the title for the fastest car goes to the SSC Ultimate Aero which exceed 253 mph pushing this car to 2nd place for the fastest car.

READ MORE - Most expensive cars on eaRth