How BIOS works ??

In the previous list, you saw that the BIOS checks the CMOS Setup for custom settings.
Here's what you do to change those settings.
To enter the CMOS Setup, you must press a certain key or combination of keys during the initial startup sequence.
Most systems use "Esc," "Del," "F1," "F2," "Ctrl-Esc" or "Ctrl-Alt-Esc" to enter setup.
There is usually a line of text at the bottom of the display that tells you "Press ___ to Enter Setup."
Once you have entered setup, you will see a set of text screens with a number of options.
Some of these are standard, while others vary according to the BIOS manufacturer.
Common options include:
--System Time/Date - Set the system time and date
--Boot Sequence - The order that BIOS will try to load the operating system
--Plug and Play - A standard for auto-detecting connected devices; should be set to "Yes" if your computer and operating system both support it
--Mouse/Keyboard - "Enable Num Lock," "Enable the Keyboard," "Auto-Detect Mouse"...
--Drive Configuration - Configure hard drives, CD-ROM and floppy drives
--Memory - Direct the BIOS to shadow to a specific memory address
--Security - Set a password for accessing the computer
--Power Management - Select whether to use power management, as well as set the amount of time for standby and suspend
--Exit - Save your changes, discard your changes or restore default settings

Be very careful when making changes to setup.
Incorrect settings may keep your computer from booting.
When you are finished with your changes, you should choose "Save Changes" and exit.
The BIOS will then restart your computer so that the new settings take effect.
The BIOS uses CMOS technology to save any changes made to the computer's settings.
With this technology, a small lithium or Ni-Cad battery can supply enough power to keep the data for years.
In fact, some of the newer chips have a 10-year, tiny lithium battery built right into the CMOS chip!

Booting the COMP !!!

Whenever you turn on your computer, the first thing you see is the BIOS software doing its thing. On many machines, the BIOS displays text describing things like the amount of memory installed in your computer, the type of hard disk and so on. It turns out that, during this boot sequence, the BIOS is doing a remarkable amount of work to get your computer ready to run. This section briefly describes some of those activities for a typical PC.
After checking the CMOS Setup and loading the interrupt handlers, the BIOS determines whether the video card is operational. Most video cards have a miniature BIOS of their own that initializes the memory and graphics processor on the card. If they do not, there is usually video driver information on another ROM on the motherboard that the BIOS can load.
Next, the BIOS checks to see if this is a cold boot or a reboot. It does this by checking the value at memory address 0000:0472. A value of 1234h indicates a reboot, and the BIOS skips the rest of POST. Anything else is considered a cold boot.
If it is a cold boot, the BIOS verifies RAM by performing a read/write test of each memory address. It checks the PS/2 ports or USB ports for a keyboard and a mouse. It looks for a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus and, if it finds one, checks all the PCI cards. If the BIOS finds any errors during the POST, it will notify you by a series of beeps or a text message displayed on the screen. An error at this point is almost always a hardware problem.
The BIOS then displays some details about your system. This typically includes information about:
The processor
The floppy drive and hard drive
Memory
BIOS revision and date
Display
Any special drivers, such as the ones for small computer system interface (SCSI) adapters, are loaded from the adapter, and the BIOS displays the information. The BIOS then looks at the sequence of storage devices identified as boot devices in the CMOS Setup. "Boot" is short for "bootstrap," as in the old phrase, "Lift yourself up by your bootstraps." Boot refers to the process of launching the operating system. The BIOS will try to initiate the boot sequence from the first device. If the BIOS does not find a device, it will try the next device in the list. If it does not find the proper files on a device, the startup process will halt. If you have ever left a floppy disk in the drive when you restarted your computer, you have probably seen this message.

This is the message you get if a floppy disk is
in the drive when you restart your computer.

The BIOS has tried to boot the computer off of the floppy disk left in the drive. Since it did not find the correct system files, it could not continue. Of course, this is an easy fix. Simply pop out the disk and press a key to continue.

Philips released their Power2Charge and Power2Go in their new Power4Life range.

Both appear in the IFA 2007 in Berlin.

Power2Charge is a universal adapter solution that charges all your portable electronic devices and that removes the need to carry several chargers at once.

Philips offers three universal USB chargers and two universal USB car chargers to give maximum convenience while at the office, at home or on-the-move.

While the Power2Go is a portable power storage that offers up to 60 hours of back-up power from a single charge, allowing portable electronic devices to be powered-up from anywhere in the world without the need of a power outlet.

There is LED light indicator to tell you how much power is left.

Philip’s Power4Life range will be available in Europe end of the year on December.
Power2Charge is basically a universal charger to juice up most of your portable electronic devices and the Power2Go is a portable power pack, power that you can bring anywhere to charge your portable electronic devices.

Nikon Wifi-Enable UP300X Headphone !!!

Nikon Corporation in Japan has introduced their latest Media Port UP.
It is a wifi-enabled multimedia playback headset device.
Nikon combine the display screen, headphones, mobile A/V player, Wi-Fi capability, high-capacity memory, and power source in one compact device.
The device is priced around $587, available in the high performance UP300x and the basic UP300.
The UP300x comes with built-in motion sensor that allows hands free operation (volume adjustment, etc…).
It features up to 8GB of flash memory, Wi-Fi b/g, USB port, and two Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries and supporting the WMV9, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 video files, and MP3, AAC, WMA9 audio files.
The unit is compatible with HTML 4.01, JavaScript, Flash Version 7, other media contents are downloadable from Nikon’s service.Unfortunately, they are only available in Japan.

What is Phishing filter ???

Online phishing (pronounced like the word fishing) is a way to trick computer users into revealing personal or financial information through an e-mail message or website. A common online phishing scam starts with an e-mail message that looks like an official notice from a trusted source, such as a bank, credit card company, or reputable online merchant. In the e-mail message, recipients are directed to a fraudulent website where they are asked to provide personal information, such as an account number or password. This information is then usually used for identity theft.

What BIOS does ???

The BIOS software has a number of different roles, but its most important role is to load the operating system. When you turn on your computer and the microprocessor tries to execute its first instruction, it has to get that instruction from somewhere. It cannot get it from the operating system because the operating system is located on a hard disk, and the microprocessor cannot get to it without some instructions that tell it how. The BIOS provides those instructions. Some of the other common tasks that the BIOS performs include:
A power-on self-test (POST) for all of the different hardware components in the system to make sure everything is working properly
Activating other BIOS chips on different cards installed in the computer - For example, SCSI and graphics cards often have their own BIOS chips.
Providing a set of low-level routines that the operating system uses to interface to different hardware devices - It is these routines that give the BIOS its name. They manage things like the keyboard, the screen, and the serial and parallel ports, especially when the computer is booting.
Managing a collection of settings for the hard disks, clock, etc.
The BIOS is special software that interfaces the major hardware components of your computer with the operating system. It is usually stored on a Flash memory,chip on the motherboard, but sometimes the chip is another type of ROM.
BIOS uses Flash memory, a type of ROM.
When you turn on your computer, the BIOS does several things. This is its usual sequence:
Check the CMOS Setup for custom settings
Load the interrupt handlers and device drivers
Initialize registers and power management
Perform the power-on self-test (POST)
Display system settings
Determine which devices are bootable
Initiate the bootstrap sequence
The first thing the BIOS does is check the information stored in a tiny (64 bytes) amount of RAM located on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. The CMOS Setup provides detailed information particular to your system and can be altered as your system changes. The BIOS uses this information to modify or supplement its default programming as needed. We will talk more about these settings later.
Interrupt handlers are small pieces of software that act as translators between the hardware components and the operating system. For example, when you press a key on your keyboard, the signal is sent to the keyboard interrupt handler, which tells the CPU what it is and passes it on to the operating system. The device drivers are other pieces of software that identify the base hardware components such as keyboard, mouse, hard drive and floppy drive. Since the BIOS is constantly intercepting signals to and from the hardware, it is usually copied, or shadowed, into RAM to run faster.

Intro to how BIOS works !!!!

One of the most common uses of Flash memory is for the basic input/output system of your computer, commonly known as the BIOS (pronounced "bye-ose"). On virtually every computer available, the BIOS makes sure all the other chips, hard drives, ports and CPU function together.
Every desktop and laptop computer in common use today contains a microprocessor as its central processing unit. The microprocessor is the hardware component. To get its work done, the microprocessor executes a set of instructions known as software (see How Microprocessor Work for details). You are probably very familiar with two different types of software:
The operating system - The operating system provides a set of services for the applications running on your computer, and it also provides the fundamental user interface for your computer. Windows 98 and Linux are examples of operating systems. (See How Operating Systems Work for lots of details.)
The applications - Applications are pieces of software that are programmed to perform specific tasks. On your computer right now you probably have a browser application, a word processing application, an e-mail application and so on. You can also buy new applications and install them.
­It turns out that the BIOS is the third type of software your computer needs to operate successfully. In this article, you'll learn all about BIOS -- what it does, how to configure it and what to do if your BIOS needs updating.

Another Feature from GMAIL : Mail Goggles

Many a times we think about messages that we send to someone but wish that we hadn't sent them.We wish to go back in a time machine and stop ourselves from typing that one mail.Stop stop stop !!!

No no Gmail has not invented a time machine.It has introduced a new feature to judge the state of your mind and then make sure that you are sure about sending an email.
What it does is that it just asks you some basic computational questions and this way give you a last chance to back off from sending the offensive mail.
How this feature fares is yet to be seen but it surely has something for people who are never sure of what they are doing, at first go.