Microsoft will soon submit to an international standards organization a new photo format that offers higher-quality images with better compression, the company said today. The format, HD Photo (recently renamed from Windows Media Photo) is taking aim at the JPEG format, a 15-year-old technology widely used in digital cameras and image applications.

Both formats take images and use compression to make the file sizes smaller so more photos can fit on a memory card. During compression, however, the quality of the photo tends to degrade. Microsoft said HD Photo's lightweight algorithm causes less damage to photos during compression, with higher-quality images that are half the size of a JPEG.

- Source: [JXCP.net]

Imagine a gym that ran its lights and TVs off the energy that was generated by all the treadmills and stairmasters being used. That's exactly what some guy in Hong Kong did, hamsterizing his gym to power a few TVs and 60-watt light bulbs with workout-power.

This is just a gimmick to get more customers, since all the electricity generated in a year by these only adds up to $183, whereas the installation cost was $15,000. Still, kinda cool if they knock off some of the membership fees for participants. That would get rid of one of about six excuses wee have not to work out.

- Source: [Gizmodo]

Well now… this is unsettling. This might look like a regular old headshot-delivering sniper rifle, but it doesn't shoot bullets. No, the ID Sniper fires tiny GPS chips. I guess the idea is that you can set up in a clocktower somewhere and sink little tracking devices into people from up to 0.62 miles away so you can see where they are later.

It's creepy, but the fact remains that you would need a pretty miniscule GPS chip for someone to not get their arm ripped apart by one getting shot out of a sniper rifle, let alone not notice it going in. Basically, it's designed so you'll know where your targets are later, but the only place they'd end up if you used this on them is the hospital. Oh, the irony!

- Source: [Gizmodo]

This list is outdated, please see the Downloads section for current themes

Decided to start a list on all the XMB themes I've managed to find.  Currently, list is incomplete, but will update it later...

Instructions
Click on the image to download the theme, or click the title to view more info or the original release thread.  Note that the original release thread may contain more screenshots or some mirrors - use those if you're having trouble downloading from the links here.
Enjoy!

[tr=#E0E0E0]
[td]~Desu~ XMB Theme by Sparker
[/td]

Windows XP XMB Theme by Thunderstrike	DaRk ThEmE by nicodemus82
black32 XMB Theme by xploren	Metal Gear Solid Portable OPS XMB Theme by APNataku
Full Grunge Set by Dantheman29	Full Alienware Xmb by fizzyxl
KDE Buuf by Dave	Duranium by Dave
G.A.N.T. Theme by PokeDad	Windows Vista XMB 2.0 by ItsaSpoon
Black/White XMB by SaiZn	Red/Silver XMB by SaiZn
Black/Yellow XMB by SaiZn	Orange/White XMB by SaiZn
Sexy Car Theme by desi_soulja8	TAKMEK XMB theme by ntune
Gears Of War Xmb by wraithalchemist	Gears of War Theme by Squid_Lord
Noir Black Mod by wutknubbel	Ym92 Custom XMB by Ym92
The Blue PSP Suite by RaiderX	Ultimate black XMB by undertaxxx
The_Matrix_Zone_Theme_PSP by deadzone	Iphone XMB by undertaxxx
My thrown together theme by Halopro	My XMB...Mis of XMBs put together by Pooky_187
Black Icons by 4bs3nt	White Icons by 4bs3nt
~d-x~ by fimmy	Complete Zelda Theme by ricanthug2nv
NNTB's Theme by No Name Trowa B	HIJACK BLUE by wraithalchemist
PROJECT HIJACK BLUE II by wraithalchemist	Vista Squares theme by ldcpsp
Ratchet's Sleek Blue Theme by ratchet	PSPHacks theme by Boomproof
Moon Blue XMB (Orange/Green/Black) by ClearTranquil	WINDOWS VISTA THEME by PSPCulture
CARMEN ELECTRA THEME v1.0 by PsycKo	WINDOWZ XP THEME v3.0 by PsycKo
Pablito 3D Square Blue by Pablito	Orange Pack by Pablito
Black Pack by Pablito	Gabe89 Buff pack by Gabe89
Drug Boy Red Pack by Marcy	Marcy Hight resolution icon by Marcy
Pablito icon pack by Pablito	MARIO PACK by GABE89
Black Orbz Icon Pack by Marcy & Pablito	Black fire mod icons Style by gabe89
MGS THEME by beaner2k6	The Ultimate Super Mario XMB Theme by Mr. Shizzy
Silk Glow by madsoul	Silk Glow Green by madsoul
Custom Theme Pack by Frankie27	Ninja Naruto Theme by Akskater009
Manchester United Theme by	Simpsons Theme by J'adore le paissons

---

The following themes require registration at the forum :(  (I'll probably upload later, when I get the chance)
[td]Ultimate Blue/Black XMB by evolve
[/td]
[td]vodkkaa's 100%/Vol Red XMB by vodkkaa
[/td]
[/tr]

---

Other themes: (don't have a proper screenshot, lol)
Drug theme by ntune
Gears of War Theme ver. OP by optics
Golden Firmware Theme by greg677
Zelda XMB Theme by unknownwarrior33
Blocki Full XMB theme by Vibestar
Custom PSP Theme Pack 4: C Edition by PSP NIKOS and PSP Viper
Themez by Francis
Juggalo XMB Theme by JuggaloJohn
Black&Green Matrix-ish Theme by d1gital
Halo 3 Themed PSP With Hex Edits by Sidonuke
iPSP by ReSide
Ubuntu XMP Theme by d1gital
Silencer sytle XMB by 33as

Linux Ubuntu (Pronounced Oo-Boon-Too) Has been released, and you can download it legaly, mostly cause its free, but, you may be thinking, i love my Windows too much for linux, well, when you start up, it acts as a dual boot, AKA. keep yor windows, also, this download is only for windows ;)

If you are interested, install linux, but please look at the instructions (next post) and you may want to fix the default computer boot ;)

Enjoy :D
click the penguin to download :D

More Instructions Coming Soon...

Default Boot Fix:
There is a file called /boot/grub/menu.lst which has the grub boot menu, just change the default boot number, or paste the windows entry above the linux one.

XMB Project Beta Public Version #1 with Blue Crystal Skin is a homebrew interface for the PSP, and it is among the latest in a line of PSP XMB homebrew applications and solutions for customizing the PSP's Cross Media Bar or XMB. The aim of this project is to come up with a menu or Cross Media Bar that is different from Sony's XMB: something that is more "graphical" and "personalizable."

    
• Psp radio by Raf, Links2 by Raf, PMPavc by jonny, Imageviewer by pensoffsky
      
• Usb support, Time and hour, Ttf font support
      
• CPU Overclocking: 66mhz, 111mhz, 222mhz, 266mhz, 333mhz
      
• Battery States
      
• Config file for access functions
      
• Png backgrounds support
      
• Pmf Gameboot support
      
• Mp3 support (Still under development)
      
• 1.50kernel Eboots support (1.0kernel under development)
      
• Png skins support (By now, manual way; zip way under development)
      
• Skin support from XMB (4 themes)
      
• Screenshots support (musical note, on 2.71se is confirmed that works)
      
• Options menu, with battery info status, percentage (as on xmb)
      
• Language support (english, spanish, italian, french)
      
• Soundscroll navegation support (mp3 format)
  

- Source: [QJ]

Have you ever wondered what the biggest plane in the world to take flight more than once is? It is actually Russian Antonov-225, a strategic airlift transport aircraft made to carry the Buran orbiter, the only fully completed and operational space shuttle from Soviet Union's Buran Program.

Antonov 225 has a wingspan of 290 ft., a height of 89.4 ft., and a length of 276 ft. Another plane has a larger wingspan, the Hughes H-4 Hercules known as "Spruce Goose". But Spruce Goose flew only once, and the Antonov 225 beats it in all other aspects. Antonov 225 has a maximum gross weight of 640 tons, making it the heaviest plane in the world. In 2004, the Guiness Book of Records acknowledged this plane for all its unique attributes.

The aircraft can carry over 275 tons of load. This is what it's made for: carrying load, specifically the Buran orbiter. After being produced in 1988 the Antonov 225 has been used to transport cargo. The US has been using the Antonov 225 quite a lot mainly for transporting military supplies to the Middle East. This is a testament to the quality of the aircraft, no other American-made aircraft compares to it.

Only one aircraft of this model is currently working while another one is still in the making. The US made a long-term contract with the makers of Antonov-225 to make more of these sorts of planes. They are to be used to carry more load for the US military. Here are some pictures of An-225 to admire.

- Source: [Gadgets]

Black Rhizura Icon set by innercy





- Source: [QJ]