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We Will Never Forget
September 11, 2001 |
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Volume 3, Issue 12
September 2008
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Theme Shack To Enter It's 4th Year |
Screensaver Of The Month
Calling Wild by Irene's Dreams |
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Tell your friends about the Theme Shack newsletter and for the month of
September we have a free gift for them and you just for signing up to
receive our FREE monthly newsletter. This month’s awesome FREE screensaver is
titled
"Calling Wild" and was created by Irene "the magnificent
elephant lifts his mighty voice and you can almost hear the trumpet of a
challenge to all." in this FREE Screensaver.
But, only if you signup
to receive our monthly newsletter. Sign Up Today and Get A FREE Exclusive Screensaver
created by one of The 5 Star Theme Shack Creators every month.
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Subscribe to the monthly
newsletter and get this screensaver FREE |
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Latest Group Project |
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Wish Upon A Star
by Deanna Luper |
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Group Projects are a unique feature at The Shack with new projects being
released on the 1st and 15th of every month. With so many talents all
rolled up in to a single project, these are by far some of the most
unique and one of a kind desktop enhancements available on the net. We've
even set up a page just for these EXCLUSIVE projects. So be sure to
bookmark our
Projects Page
to get these very special FREE themes, savers, wallpapers,
stationeries and more! You won't find these anywhere else on the
net. The latest addition is titled "Wish Upon A Star and was
created by Deanna Luper.
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Theme
Shack To Enter It's 4th Year |
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WOW! I can't believe that this month marks the end of Theme Shack's
3rd year. October begins our 4th year of offering you some of the
best desktop enhancements on the net from 5 star creators.
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Thank You from all of us here at The Shack for visiting and
allowing us to bring a little magic to your desktop. |
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Will Windows 7 be just a warmed-over Vista? |
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Vista has been, to be kind, a flop.
Microsoft is no longer being coy about the
fact that they're working on a replacement
for the wretched Vista., Windows 7. |
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But will Windows 7 will be
little more than Vista rehashed. Who wants
warmed over Vista? So, what are you going to
do? Vista, whether you call it Vista SP2 or
Windows 7, is a dead-end operating system.
You might want to give desktop Linux or the
Mac a serious look |
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Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in
with XP SP3 |
Microsoft Corp. warns users of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
that they won't be able to uninstall either the service pack or
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) under some circumstances.
Jane
Maliouta, a Microsoft program manager, spelled out the newest
situation, which affects users who downloaded and installed IE8
Beta 1 prior to updating Windows XP to SP3. If those users then
upgrade IE8 to Beta 2, which Microsoft unveiled today, they will
be stuck with both IE8 and Windows XP SP3. A warning dialog will
appear to alert users. "If you chose to continue, Windows XP SP3
and IE8 Beta 2 will become permanent," Maliouta said. "You will
still be able to upgrade to later IE8 builds as they become
available, but you won't be able to uninstall them." She
recommends that users instead first uninstall Windows XP SP3,
then uninstall IE8 Beta 1; they should then reinstall XP SP3 and
follow that by installing IE8 Beta 2.
Windows Vista users, however, will not see IE8 Beta 2 in
Windows Update because update apparently cannot sniff out
instances of IE8 Beta 1 and uninstall them automatically.
Instead, users must remove Beta 1 manually, said Maliouta.
Several additional updates are required before installing IE8
Beta 2 on Vista, including one that, if omitted, blocks its
installation entirely. That fix, a revised version of a Vista
Service Pack 1 (SP1) prerequisite that earlier this year sent
machines into an endless series of reboots, is
also necessary for IE8 Beta 2; users with SP1 will, of course,
already have it in place, but those running pre-SP1 versions of
Vista must still install it.
Microsoft also spelled out a long list of IE8 Beta 2 known
issues and compatibility problems. Ironically, of the nine
applications called out as incompatible with the new IE8, the
only two that will lock up and crash are Microsoft's Visual
Studio .Net Version 7, said Microsoft, will crash on a PC
that also contains IE8 Beta 2. No workaround is currently
available. The other Microsoft incompatible application is
Windows Live Mail, formerly called Windows Live Desktop,
and the desktop mail client meant to replace Outlook Express
and Windows Mail. "If you install Internet Explorer 8
Beta 2, Windows Live Mail will crash when you create or
reply to an e-mail message," Microsoft warns. |
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Coming Soon: A gas-free car? |
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Imagine driving a sleek and roomy plug-in electric hybrid sports
car that might never need gas. It's coming soon, and even if you
can't afford it, you can invest in the technology. Not too long
from now, a sensuously curved sports car designed by a German
and made with American parts will roll off an assembly line in
Finland and quietly mark the first clear break from our
century-old dependence on crude oil for transportation. Many a
dreamer has attempted to create a serious, reasonably priced
automobile that sidesteps oil and gas as an energy source, but
all have flopped. Yet this one really has a shot at success that
could provide the first independent rival to the big
international automakers in decades. |
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The new vehicle, the Fisker Karma, is the result of a marriage
of convenience between art and commerce -- the love child of
idealistic former BMW designer Henrik Fisker and Silicon Valley
venture capitalists eager to make a smart, early bet on
alternative energy. Although the car looks like sex on wheels,
with a long, swoopy hood and flared-out wheels, it is a marvel
of engineering that re-imagines the automobile from the power
plant to the solar-panel roof for an era when cheap, clean,
plentiful electricity will push expensive, filthy gasoline to
the sidelines. It's ready to roll for around 4 cents a mile.
The power for the Karma comes straight from a standard
electrical outlet, no fancy charging apparatus required. The
Karma could run its entire life without ever sniffing gas. The
Karma is an electric vehicle that requires only a short recharge
boost from its small gas engine if traveling 50 miles from its
base. The Karma, which will initially cost $80,000 while in
limited initial production, is that the best alternative to
crude oil for transportation is not a new fuel or technology but
simply efficiency. If you're among the 60% of the U.S.
population that drives less than 25 miles each way to work, you
may never have to buy gasoline again. If you do decide to take
it out on the open road for a trip across the state, this
plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, or PHEV, will get about 100
miles to the gallon -- at least double the Prius' fuel
efficiency. That's not bad for a car rated to jump off the line
to get to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds.
The Karma is to go into full production next year. To learn
more about the Karma, click
here.
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RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Elephant Stew
submitted by Lois Tabbert, friend of Christopher
Zaspel, US Army,
710 Brigade Support Battalion, 10th Mountain, Fort Drum NY -
Afghanistan 2006-2007 |
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1 Elephant
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Salt & Pepper
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2 Rabbits (optional)
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First, Cut the elephant into bite size pieces. This will
probably take about two weeks. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Cook over kerosene fire at 475 degrees for 8 days.
This will serve 1,360 people. If more people are
expected, add 2 rabbits. Do this only if necessary as
most people do not like to find hare in their stew. |
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Printer Friendly Version
*Note: This is a joke and is not a real recipe.
Please do not try this. |
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The hidden costs behind gas prices
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Soaring crude oil isn't the only thing that affects what you pay
at the pump. Another may be how much a station is willing to
lose -- yes, lose -- on gas to get you into its store or repair
shop. You think you feel helpless at the gas pump? Even the
people who sell the gasoline have little control over what it
costs. How exactly are gas prices set? What determines the
hair-pulling figure you see displayed in large electronic or
plastic numbers? Why is a gallon of gas, say, $3.66, and not
$3.65 or $3.67? Why is the price different across the street? So
just where does the money go? |
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| 3% Refining Costs & Profits:
Value increases during the refining
process. This is the difference between average price of
crude oil purchased by refiners and the spot price of
gasoline or diesel fuel. |
| 10% Taxes:
You pay a variety of taxes on every gallon you put in
your car. The calculations use a national average of
federal and state taxes on gasoline or diesel fuel. |
| 11% Distribution & Marketing:
From the cost of trucking gasoline to
your local station to the money behind Chevron's "Human
Energy" ads, this is the money spent getting the refined
product into your tank. |
| 76% Crude Oil:
The raw material - this is the average
price of crude oil purchased by refiners. |
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Note:
Figures are based on the average retail price of
regular gasoline as in July 2008: $4.06 a gallon.
Source: US Energy Information Administration |
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Do you have something you would like to see added at Theme Shack?
Drop us a note and let us know. We will do our very best. E-mail:
postmaster@themeshack.net
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| Editor: Lady Di -
September
2008 |
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