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Our Associates September 2008

We Will Never Forget
September 11, 2001

Volume 3, Issue 12

September 2008

Theme Shack To Enter It's 4th Year

Screensaver Of The Month
Calling Wild by Irene's Dreams

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.

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter and get this screensaver FREE
 

Latest Group Project

Wish Upon A Star by Deanna Luper

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.

 

Theme Shack To Enter It's 4th Year

 
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.
 Thank You from all of us here at The Shack for visiting and allowing us to bring a little magic to your desktop.
 

Will Windows 7 be just a warmed-over Vista?

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.

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

 
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.

 
Coming Soon: A gas-free car?
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.
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

Directions:
1 Elephant
Salt & Pepper
2 Rabbits (optional)
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.

Printer Friendly Version

*Note: This is a joke and is not a real recipe. Please do not try this.

The hidden costs behind gas prices

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?  
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.

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

 

 

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  

 Editor: Lady Di - September 2008