Cue Scoble tears. This is one hell of a technology from Microsoft Research that I think will have a huge impact on how amateurs and hobbyists write music. The technology and software prototype is called MySong.
In a nutshell, the software records your singing (preferably in tune) through a microphone, and it systematically generates an instrumental accompaniment for your song. The quality is even comparable with a professional accompanist, not to mention the cost and time involved.
If you don’t believe me, have a look at this quick 5-minute demo with loads of practical examples.
The technology was developed by Ian Simon from University of Washington in collaboration with Dan Morris and Summit Basu from Microsoft Research. They’ve published all of their research and methods in a paper (PDF) of the same name to present at the CHI Conference 2008 in a couple of months in Italy.
Without getting into too much detail, the technology uses the Hidden Markov statistical model which has been ‘trained’ by preprocessing a database of nearly 300 musical lead sheets. The sheets come from a variety of sources, genres and popularity to give a broad set of melody and chord sequence combinations. When it comes to the end user, it uses this abundance of data to find chord sequences which work best for each segment of melody. Presumably that means more ‘training’ can be done to improve the output even more.
The paper also points out “there is not a single correct accompaniment for a particular melody; chord selection will vary among musicians and genres, and a single musician may recognize many appropriate chord sequences for a single melody.” As a result, the software also gives the end user some room for creative adjustments in the form of “jazz factor” and “happy factor”. Both of which have a reasonable effect on the resulting accompaniment as demonstrated in the video.
If that wasn’t enough already, the researchers sought reviews from 30 independent musicians asking them to rate the different accompaniments produced by three different systems from one vocal input. They compared the result of MySong with hand-crafted chords and as well as Band-In-A-Box, the “state-of-the-art” commercially available software which they recognize to be the only automatic accompaniment generation system.
Here is just one example of the twelve they’ve ranked.
| Original input |
 |
| MySong |
 |
| Band-In-A-Box |
 |
| Hand-crafted |
 |
Like many cool technologies at Microsoft, this remains still a research project. Whilst there’s no written indication of a commercial product as a result of the technology, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t or even just release the software as is.
As for future work, they say “additional development will focus on improving and diversifying the audio generated by MySong; the system is already able to supply chords interactively to a pattern based arrangement tool, which results in compelling audio output. Several study participants indicated that MySong would be of significant value for learning music theory; we are thus excited about exploring educational applications of this technology.”
Written by Long Zheng on February 28th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Microsoft has announced an update which will detect two cracks commonly used to activate pirated copies of the operating system. One of the cracks refered to as
Grace Timer, extended Vista's activation grace period, upto 2099. The other called as
OEM BIOS, modified system files and the PC's BIOS to mimic the product activation done by computer-makers at the factory. If the sniffer detects an activation hack, it will pop up a warning that includes a link to the removal tool. Although
SP1 will block these two cracks, "
it's important to note that this update does not disable the exploits it finds," says Alex Kochis "
It simply alerts customers that exploits exist." However, MS will release a separate crack-removal tool at the same time that it rolls out the detection update.
Update for Windows Vista (KB940510)
Download size: 3.0 MB
You may need to restart your computer for this update to take effect.
Update type: Important
Install this update to enable Windows Vista to detect software that bypasses product activation and interferes with normal Windows operation.
More information:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=99255Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.comIts actually does turn out to be a main update, and no hidden installation.I think even if you try to cancel/hide the update it does get installed automatically.I hope pirates do not find a way, but if they do, that would be no surprise!
What happens after downloading the update (KB940510)?
It will only detects OEM BIOS and Grace Timer exploits and remove them.
When the update will be installed, no functionality of the system will be affected. If it detects and exploits you will be provided a link that would describes how you can remove the exploits. Once the exploits are removed you will be asked to activate your Windows copy with a valid product key. If you don’t want to remove the exploit then Windows may disable the exploits and then ask you activate Windows using a valid product key (surely there would be a nag screen). This update has no uninstaller.
Check out these screen shots to know how it works:
(Click to Enlarge)
Update : I personally think the system restore should work, just create a restore point just before installing the update. Then see if it works...Please let me know through the comments...Also check activation status too...
I think the hackers will be able to make
Windows Vista a freeware again....
You might me intrested here : Windows Vista
WGA Changes and
SP1 Changelog
Written by ShaDow on February 28th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Vista News and WGA and vista sp1.
For those that are not planning to install Windows Vista anytime soon, and want the styles and feel Vista has to offer when it comes to eyecandy and functionality, there are a few ways you can do this which can change not only the skins to Vista, but also icons, menus and your bootup screens.
The most popular aspect of Vista is its
Aero - Transparency and 3D Flip.
To get opaque windows on Windows XP, you can try out a various software packages. Forget WindowsBlinds, thats not a true enablement of the Vista experience, what you really need is the
BricoPack Vista Inspirat Ultimate 2. This free pack which modifies Windows XP system files in order to change its appearance and make it look like Windows Vista. Before installing this BricoPack, please read the instructions page "about the BricoPacks". You must not install this pack on Windows x64 OS. However I would say this is the easiest and quickest way to change your 32 bit Windows XP OS to Vista Styles.
There is an app called WinFlip which can give you the similar experience of Windows Aero in Vista. It runs in the taskbar and Aero effects (3D flip) can be invoked by pressing the Windows key + Tab. Get it here Download WinFlip
Other applications out there that do similar changes are:
-
SphereSite -
Actual Transparent Window-
WindowFX-
Y'z ShadowIf your a do it yourself type of person and want to teak things individually yourself from scratch, you can modify the Windows XP OS and get the Vista Themes separately following these steps:
1. Get the
Uxtheme Multi-patcher which will allow you to use any 3rd party msstyle theme on Windows XP/SP1/SP2 or Windows Server 2003 (with Themes enabled) just by patching the uxtheme.dll (dynamic link library), then reboot after for the changes to take effect.
2. Get a Windows Vista Theme such as the
VistaVG or
AeroVG Theme, (browse through them here at http://themes.belchfire.net/vista-themes.html) and unzip it and copy it to
C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes directory.3. Get some nice Hi-res wallpaper from
gnome-look.org or check out
my previous article on pimping your desktop with wallpaper.
4. Get a Windows Vista
Sound Pack and put them in the to
C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA folder. Then in the
Control panel > Sounds and change the sound for respective events.
5. For enabling the Aero look you can try the links I specified above for details and options.
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Written by PCWizKid on February 28th, 2008 with no comments.
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One thing users aren't aware of is all the unnecessary network protocols and components that you may have enabled and not using. Sometimes having these enabled may cause network problems and even degrade your connection. I've been through this with countless users that either have enabled too much or too little just for a basic broadband cable modem connection.
If you are experiencing issues with your connection and believe its your PC's configuration, take a look at your network connections properties a little closer:
Verify your connection properties
- Open control panel Network Connections.
- Identify the icon for the network connection your using for the cable modem/ISP, right-click it, and select Properties.
The following components might be worth disabling:
* File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks: this is both a security risk and a source of unnecessary network traffic unless you are sure you require to share files.
* Client for Microsoft Networks: Most cases its enabled if you wish to mount drives from a remote PC on the Internet using Microsoft file sharing.
* Client Service for NetWare: should be disabled.
* Service Advertising Protocol: should be disabled.
* SAP Agent: should be disabled.
* NetBEUI Protocol: should be disabled.
* NWLink NetBIOS: should be disabled.
* NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol: should be disabled.
* iVLAN Protocol: should be disabled.
* AppleTalk Protocol: should be disabled.
* DLC Protocol: should be disabled.
The following components, if present, should not be disabled:
- QoS Packet Scheduler: this is harmless and should be left enabled.
- Network Monitor Driver: this is used by the Performance Monitor, is harmless, and should be left enabled.
- Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): this is essential and must be enabled.
Optimize the remaining network configuration by selecting the name Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click Properties:
- Click the button Advanced
- Click tab DNS:
Uncheck Register this connection's addresses in DNS
- Click tab WINS:
Select Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP, unless either:
Client for Microsoft Networks is enabled and you wish to mount drives from remote Windows systems or
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled and you wish remote Windows users to mount your shared resources
- Disabling NetBIOS over TCP/IP is also a worthwhile security improvement.
- Click OK to close Advanced TCP/IP Settings.
- Click OK to close Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties.
- Click OK to close the Connection Properties.
- Disable SSDP Discovery Service: Right-click My Computer and select Manage:
- In the left-hand box, expand Services and Applications, then select Services.
- In the right-hand box, scroll down to find SSDP Discovery Service, and double-click it.
Set Startup type to Disabled.
Click Stop.
Click OK to close SSDP Discovery Service Properties.
Close Computer Management.
Free up 20 percent of your internet bandwidth.
Would you like 20 percent more internet speed? Windows XP reserves 20 percent of your internet bandwidth for itself.
Limit Reservable Bandwidth - Determines the percentage of connection bandwidth that the system can reserve. This value limits the combined bandwidth reservations of all programs running on the system.
By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system uses the default value of 20 percent of the connection.
Here is how to change this setting and achieve better download rates.
Click START, Run and then enter
gpedit.msc This opens the group policy editor.
Then go to:
Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Network / QOS Packet Scheduler
In the right hand column under settings double click on
Limit Reservable Bandwidth. It will say it is not configured. The trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, and then set it to ZERO. Click
Apply. Click
OK. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20 percent. Reboot your system. Now you will have 20 percent more bandwidth to surf the internet faster.
If you have Windows XP Home Edition, follow these instructions to disable QoS:
Click Start and then the “Settings” option.
Select the Control Panel, and open up “Network Connections”
Right-click “Local Area Connection”and choose Properties.
On the General tab, uncheck QoS and O out of the dialogue window.
Restart your Computer and reconnect.
Increase your Bandwidths Capacity· Make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator".
· Start->Run->type gpedit.msc
· Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch.
· Expand the "Administrative Templates" branch.
· Expand the "Network Branch".
· Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window.
· In right window double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting.
· On setting tab check the "Enabled" item.
· Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0.
Effect is immediate on some systems, some need to re-boot. This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, programs can request up to 20% of the bandwidth be reserved for them, even with QoS disabled.
Test your network connection speed before and after doing changes to benchmark the results.
Try these free services which will calculate you upload and download speeds
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Written by PCWizKid on February 28th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on broadband tip and browser tips and cable dsl modem and windows xp tweak.
