Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Happy New year! I thought now would be a good time to make a comeback. Writing again was on the back of my mind for so many months.

I turned 21 three days back! I had a lovely birthday. Me and my friends made so many crazy but embarrassing videos, I'd rather not go into details.

I think my biggest joy in the past few days was that I was able to play an old video game again. The title should give you a hint.
Back in 7th standard to used to lurk in the CD-ROM section of Crossword trying to find a game which I would enjoy playing more than twice and which was also moderately priced. I came across "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"
I used to play it on my then shiny PC which had Windows 98. And ever since the world switched over to XP, I've faced a series of failed attempts to play it again.
There are various versions of the same game. I'm talking about one where 'The Chief' is an African-American. I also like the pun names like Dinah Might.
So anyway, The game only works on Win95 or 98. Also on Classic Mac. But its not possible to play this on the newer Macs even with Rosetta unless you follow this method. But I found it too tedious just for one game.

So this is the procedure in XP -
1. Start>Run>msconfig. Disable all the startup tasks. Restart the machine. So, you can perform a clean install.
2. Change display settings to 800x600 and 16-bit colour.
3. Load in the cd (or image). In explorer, search for *.exe. You will get around 13 files. Change the compatibility for these individually to the following-

• Run in 256 colours
• Run in compatibility mode for Windows 95 or 98

4. Uninstall any current version of Quicktime. The newer versions are too advanced for the game to work on it.
5. Install the game and also Quicktime which comes along with the game.
6. Go to Control Panel>Quicktime (or Q32)>Video Settings. Change the setting in Optimization to Bitmap Drawing (BMP).

And voila! The game should work now.

Occasionally, I do have a problem where the game works fine except for some videos. But restarting or clearing all background tasks solves this.

File Transfer Websites: Comparison Chart

This applies to only free service not paid accounts.

Site	Max File Size per file	Period of Hosting
Up-File	1 Gb	Unlimited
Giga Size	1.5 Gb	90 Days
Mega Upload	500 Mb	90 days
Send Space	300 Mb	7 days
MediaFire	100 Mb	unlimited
YouSendIt	100Mb	7 Days
Rapidshare	100 Mb	90 days
Spread-It	500 Mb	14 Days
FileSend	120Mb	45 Days
Uploading	300 Mb	30 Days
Gigeshare	2 Gb	90 Days
File Factory	300 Mb	7 Days
Divshare	200 Mb	unlimited

I've turned over to the dark side: Converting XP theme to Vista

After browsing through millions of screenshots, I couldn't resist. I customized my XP to mimic the Vista theme. And it looks glassy, gorgeous and a hell lot better than the luna theme.

I wanted to use kol's theme (from deviantart) but apparently, his theme was so popular, microsoft asked from to remove it. WTF Bill? That's like banning fanfiction or fan art. Imagine that!

So how did I achieve this task?

1. Before you experiment with anything of this magnitude, you better setup a restore point.
Go to Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and just follow the wizard and set up a point. This will ensure that if there's any crisis situation, you can revert back to the point and undo the damage. It's basically a key which will erase most actions carried out after you've set up the point.
2. You need to download a Vista theme first. These are unofficial themes made by generous Photoshopers. (what would I do without you guys!) You can go around Deviant Art, Win Customize and similar sites to download one of your choice. I got mine here and it's pretty awesome! Follow the instructions from Tech recipes and I'm sure it'll work just fine.
3. The .theme files should go in C:/WINDOWS/Resources/Themes.
4. When changing system files, you get a pop up about file protection. As per download instructions, ignore and close the window.

Most themes do cause some delay in the computer's performance. I haven't encountered anything like that yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!