Geek Software of the Week: Antibody Software Wizmouse

Free (but they accept donations,) this software may help you not be frustrated!

Antibody Software Wizmouse

“Makes your mouse wheel behave the way it always should have.
Works on 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7/8

Features

  • Scrolls windows under the mouse without having to click first
  • Enables the mouse wheel in applications that don’t support mouse wheels
  • Optionally reverse the mouse wheel direction (like OS X Lion “Natural” scrolling)

Mouse Touchpad users take note: WizMouse may not work with your touchpad as most touchpad drivers do not send mouse wheel messages the way a standard mouse does when scrolling. If you have this problem you’ll need to use an external mouse to enable WizMouse functionality.

Logitech Mice users take note: Some users have reported issues when using WizMouse with Logitech mice. This appears to be caused by conflicts between the Logitech mouse driver software and WizMouse. Upgrading your Logitech drivers and/or installing the latest Logitech SetPoint software should solve any such issues.

WizMouse is a mouse enhancement utility that makes your mouse wheel work on the window currently under the mouse pointer, instead of the currently focused window. This means you no longer have to click on a window before being able to scroll it with the mouse wheel. This is a far more comfortable and practical way to make use of the mouse wheel.

WizMouse can also optionally enable the mouse wheel in applications that don’t support it. It does this by translating mouse wheel commands into scroll bar commands that all applications can understand and process.

Once WizMouse has been installed and is active, configure it by double clicking on the WizMouse icon in the system tray. If the tray icon has been hidden then launch WizMouse from the Windows start menu or desktop shortcut.”

The Microsoft Hololens Hardware

Microsoft HololensThis is, indeed, impressive tech!

BUILD 2015: A closer look at the Microsoft HoloLens hardware

Microsoft Devices Blog – By: Todd Holmdahl – “We demonstrated a number of exciting new scenarios, made possible through HoloLens powered by Windows 10. Among other things, we announced that for the very first time, we would provide an opportunity for thousands of developers at Build to experience our hardware.

So far, the feedback we have received has been pretty incredible and the possibilities that we asked people to imagine are coming to life. The era of holographic computing is here and today I’m honored to share more information about our HoloLens hardware and how it works to make holograms real.

Transforming the world

Our vision for holographic computing is to transform the world with holograms – seamlessly connecting the digital world with real life. With the ability to design and shape holograms, you will have a new medium to express your creativity, a more efficient way to teach and learn, and a more effective way to visualize your work and share ideas. This means your digital content and creations will be more relevant when they come to life in your world.

Holographic experiences are made possible across a world of devices through Windows 10, including HoloLens – the first fully untethered holographic computer running Windows 10, because holograms are Windows universal apps, and all Windows universal apps can be made to work as holograms.

While a variety of specialized components make up HoloLens, it’s the way in which they are combined that makes the whole system seem like science fiction. Like the way the optical system works in lock-step with the advanced sensors, or the way the holographic processing unit makes light work of large amounts of data per second.

They all work together to enable holographic computing natively with no markers, no external cameras, no wires, no phone required, and no connection to a PC needed – doing a whole host of things that are in reality very difficult and technically complex – turning what was once science fiction into science fact. That untethered engaging experience is in-line with our vision to ensure that content comes first, allowing you to freely move within and around it.

Comfortable fit

HoloLens is a true collaboration between industrial designers, human factors experts, and engineering teams, and is designed like a performance car with great weight distribution for the most comfortable fit possible.

The device weighs significantly less than the average laptop, while at the same time containing significantly more computing power. And, to accommodate a large number of customers, HoloLens is designed to adjust to fit a wide range of head sizes and shapes while also accommodating most eyewear, without putting any undue pressure on your ears or nose.

HoloLens’ see-through holographic high-definition lenses enable you to see holograms right in your world, right in your lives, with more reality than ever before. Employing an advanced optical projection system, the see-through lenses generate multi-dimensional full-color images with very low-latency so you can see holographic objects in the physical world.

Unlike typical VR systems, where the physical world is completely occluded, the see through lenses allow you to continue to see much of the world around you. This is because we want to allow you to be present in the real world. With HoloLens, the experience leads – content comes to life, holograms join your real world environment – and the device quickly fades to the background.

Spatial sound

HoloLens has spatial sound so you can hear holograms even when they’re behind you.

Using a scientific model that characterizes how the human ear receives sound from a specific physical location, HoloLens can synthesize a binaural sound so that you perceive it to come from a specific location in the physical space around you. There’s also a microphone array which is used to capture your voice commands, a depth sensor that is used to spatially map your environment and interpret your hand gestures, and a photo/video camera so you can share what you’re doing with others.

The advanced sensors in HoloLens capture information about what you’re doing and the environment you’re in. This is done through the inertial measurement unit (IMU) which includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. It’s this IMU, coupled with head tracking cameras, which enables HoloLens to understand where your head is and how it’s moving.

Processing power

In addition to the IMU, HoloLens comes with a CPU and GPU. But that wasn’t enough to handle all the processing required to understand our world, so we had to go beyond the traditional CPU and GPU.”

Microsoft Adds Malicious Ad Blocker to Internet Explorer

Warning ScreenIt’s about time!

Microsoft cracks down on misleading (and frequently malicious) advertisements

PC World – By: Lucian Constantin – “Microsoft is taking a hard stance against advertisements that trick users into visiting malicious websites or downloading potentially harmful applications.

The effects will be seen in Internet Explorer, whose SmartScreen Filter feature will enforce new rules against misleading ads beginning June 1. The filter will display warnings to users when they encounter such ads (pictured at top).

‘There has been a recent increase in the number of online advertisements that are intentionally misleading in nature,’ Microsoft said in a blog post Tuesday. ‘We’ve found that these types of advertisements often try to convince a user to do something, the consequences of which they may not fully understand, such as visiting an infected website or downloading a program that can negatively impact their browsing experience.’

The company updated its evaluation criteria for malware and unwanted software to include ads that mislead, deceive or confuse users; ads that are indistinguishable from the content of websites they’re displayed on; ads that contain malicious code; and ads that directly invoke file downloads.

If you’ve ever visited a site and received a warning that your computer is running slow and needs some kind of update or a notification that you need to update Java or some other browser plug-in despite already running the latest version, then you’re already familiar with the type of deceptive ads that Microsoft wants gone.

Google has also made changes to its products and services this year to crack down on deceptive ads and websites that lead to potentially unwanted software. The new policy is enforced in Chrome through warnings, in Google Search and Google’s advertising network.”