WLM Universal Patcher – Disable and remove ads in Windows Live Messenger

We’ve already talked about A-Patch on this blog and here is yet another utility to disable and remove advertisements in Microsoft’s popular IM client, Windows Live Messenger. WLM Universal Patcher does not have a whole lot of customization options but it has a few that matters the most such as ability to disable banner ads, ability to hide tabs, ad bar, MSN search component and of course multiple login support (aka polygamy). There have been multiple versions of this software released on the net but the latest available build at time of this post seems to be v.1.2.0.

There isn't much to talk about this app because everything WLM Universal Patcher does is self explanatory. It is of course a free piece of software which you can download in less than a minute in most cases (only 156kb in file size). Note that WLM Universal Patcher will require an unmodified installation of Windows Live Messenger. If you have applied any other patches that modified WLM exe, you might need to reinstall the software before running universal patcher.

Download

[Click Here] to download WLM Universal Patcher 1.2.0 from Softpedia

TemplateP2P – DDL forum for graphics, web design, templates, scripts and more

Well here is a forum you don’t see open for public registrations everyday. TemplateP2P is a specialized site that hosts direct download links (DDL) for premium content such as templates, scripts, 3D animation, photography and more. This is an extremely handy site to have if you are a student or a professional in web development/web design/graphics design and other related fields. Unlike most other lifeless DDL forums, TemplateP2P has given birth to a strong community of members who share and download fresh new premium content every day.

This is by no means a tiny forum with just a handful members. TemplateP2P currently has a user base in excess of 7000 members and hosts close to 50k non archived forum threads. Most of the forum threads on this site provided verified, non fake DDL/one click hosting download links to premium templates, scripts, CMS and forum content, Flash content, 3D and animation, fonts, stock photography, graphics, images, icons, vectors, wallpapers and lots of other stuff that are not usually found on torrent trackers or general/0Day DDL forums. An excellent collection of tutorials is also online under which content related to Cartoon Smart, Design Pro Video, Digital Tutors, Eat3D, EC-Council, Gnomon, Kelby, Lynda, Noesis, Photoshop Cafe, Photoshop Top Secret, SimplyMax, Talented Pixie, Total Training, TurboSquid and VTC can be found. Some related Magazines and e-books are also available. The following screenshot captures part of templateP2P’s forum index:

TemplateP2P is a closed community and registrations are only open once or twice a year. The last time this tracker opened signups was back in December 2008 and after more than 6 months it has once again opened it's doors to new members. A mass PM/forum post on the site says:

Well, Our last open sign up was during Christmas time. I think it might be time to open the flood gates of hell and let in some new fresh blood.
I know some people, *cough* operator *cough*, aren't that fond of open sign ups. Each time we may get inactive members or leechers, but each time we seem to get a few really good members too. I think that is worth it. Please welcome any new comers and help them become a part of the community.
I ask that any new members introduce themselves properly to the community here: http://templatep2p.com/forum/index.php?board=113.0
The event will last from June 3rd to June 5th. (Wednesday Through Friday)

As the notice above says open registrations will continue till the 5th of June. If you are interested, here is your chance to get in.

Site Name: TemplateP2P (http://templatep2p.com/forum/index.php)

Signup URL: http://templatep2p.com/forum/index.php?action=register

Categories:

• Templates - Template Monster, Boxed Art, Dream Template, ThemeForest, Microsoft Office Templates, Other Templates
• Scripts
• CMS And Forum Content  - Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, XOOPS, PHP-Nuke, PostNuke, DotNetNuke, CRE-Loaded, Magento, OSCMax, osCommerce, Zen Cart, WordPress, PHP-BB, SMF, vBulletin, IPB, Other
• Flash -  Adobe Flex, Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe AIR, FlashDen
• 3D & Animation
• Stock Photography
• Graphics, Images, Icons, and Vectors
• Fonts
• Photoshop Addons
• E-Books
• Magazines
• Tutorials - Cartoon Smart, Design Pro Video, Digital Tutors, Eat3D, EC-Council, Gnomon, Kelby, Lynda, Noesis, Photoshop Cafe, Photoshop Top Secret, SimplyMax, Talented Pixie, Total Training, TurboSquid, VTC
• Certification Tests
• WallPapers
• Audio/Video

The Sims 3 store items including Riverview town leaked online

We previously reported how the popular life simulation game Sims 3 leaked online two weeks before its official release. Unfortunately for EA, the leaks apparently did not stop there - premium items available for purchase via the Sims Store have now leaked online as well. This includes Riverview, the second town that is not available unless you register online at the Sims store as well as several other premium content packs that need to be purchased separately.

Apart from Riverview town, some of the content that have allegedly leaked online include various clothing, hairstyles, storybooks, cars available only in pre order editions, etc. Various online forums such as NFOhump and ‘More Awesome Than You’ are abuzz with this news. I’ve seen fans of Sims 3 competing against each other to post download links for premium content packs they found online. One user even claims to have uploaded as much as 40 such packs to an online file hosting service.

Anyways I don’t think the leaks would affect EA significantly. Whatever’s leaked online, a lot of legit users and Sims 3 ‘addicts’ are still going to purchase additional content via the Sims Store, ensuring continuous cash flow for EA even after the game is sold.

Note: Do not ask for or post direct download links to leaked content here.

GFT tracker dynamic IP issues fixed, new user classes introduced

GFT (GForces Tracker), the popular ratio free zero day torrent tracker has gone through some changes. The site’s user class system has been completely revamped and 13 all new user classes have been introduced. This has of course changed the site’s existing promotions scheme as well. A bunch of new user classes is not all the changes that GFT has undergone – their coders have finally fixed an issue with dynamic IP that’s been driving some users crazy over the past few months.

Ever since it’s launch, GFT has not been the most dynamic-IP friendly tracker that was around. Although there were barriers for users with dynamic IP to register on the tracker or to download torrents, they needed to have the same IP they had when the torrent file was first downloaded throughout the leech/seeding period. If the IP was changed during this time, user had to log into GFT with the new IP in order to use the tracker. Since IP changes are frequent with dynamic IP based connections, needless to say this annoyed the hell out of some users. Good news is that it’s all been fixed now.

As for the new user classes on GFT – there are 13 of them. Here is a summarized list with user classes and requirements that have to be met in order to get promoted (quoted from faq.php):

GFT Virgin -The default class of new members.

GFT Friend  - Can view NFO files and upload.
Requirements:

• Be a member for at least 8 weeks
• Have uploaded at least 256 GiB OR
• Have an average seed time of 4 days and downloaded 250 files

GFT Dating - Can get Engaged.
Requirements:

• Be a member for at least 12 weeks
• Have uploaded at least 512 GiB OR
• Have an average seed time of 10 days and downloaded 500 files

GFT Engaged - Can get Married.
Requirements:

• Be a member for at least 12 weeks
• Have uploaded at least 512 GiB OR
• Have an average seed time of 10 days and downloaded 500 files

GFT Married - Can view Top 10.
Requirements:

• Be a member for at least 16 weeks
• Have uploaded at least 1 TiB OR
• Have an average seed time of 15 days and downloaded 750 files

GFT Parents - Can participate in invite draws.
Requirements:

• Be a member for at least 16 weeks
• Have uploaded at least 2 TiB OR
• Have an average seed time of 20 days and downloaded 1000 files

Family (VIP) - Same privileges as GFT Parents and is considered an Elite Member of GFTracker. Immune to automatic demotion.
Requirements:

Other - Customised title.

Uploader - Special Uploader class

Moderator - Can do some things.

Administrator - Can do just about anything.

SysOp - Can do everything.

Staff Leader - The boss, does nothing.

Meanwhile there is still no news of any new planned IRC invite giveaway (the last planned giveaway was cancelled). If we get any news regarding any such event, this blog will be updated.

SceneSound : New MP3 torrent tracker - possible alternative to SoftMP3

SoftMP3 was probably the best BitTorrent tracker for scene released MP3 music at the time of its demise. Unfortunately the Sweden hosted site had to shut down due to legal threats received following TPB’s defeat in court. For those who are looking for a SoftMP3 alternative and for those looking forward to get into a decent scene MP3 music tracker, here is a glimmer of hope. SceneSound is a brand new MP3 torrent site that went online two days ago. This tracker is built around the recently made public source code of SoftMP3 - everything from the logo to the site interface resembles the look and feel of the popular music tracker.

Although it’s been only two days since this tracker has gone online, it’s already got a good number of users on board. As of 2/6/2009 there are  over 675 members. Torrents are being added at an amazing speed as well – currently there are over 700 music albums (150+ new ones and around 550 more in the archive section) tracked by SceneSound’a BitTorrent tracker.

As for the nature of the content and the site layout, there is nothing much to talk about – it’s all SoftMP3. Most familiar features such as the archive section, lossless music section, customizable start page, easy to read FAQ and rules presentation, toplists and requests have all returned.

Like most newly launched private BitTorrent trackers, SceneSound is open for public signup. A user limit is not mentioned on the site but if the current trend of mass registrations continue, they might shut the doors pretty quickly.

Site Name: SceneSound (http://scenesound.org/)

Signup URL: http://scenesound.org/signup.php

Categories: Acoustic, Alternative, Ambient, Audio Book, Blues, Classical, Comedy, Country, Dance, Dancehall, Drum 'n' Bass, Electronic, Emo, Folk, Funk, Hardcore Electronic, Hardcore Punk, Rap/Hip-hop, Industrial, House, Indie, Instrumental, Jazz, Kids, Latin, Lo-Fi, Metal, Musicvideo, OST, Oldies, Other, Pop, Psychedelic, Punk, Punk Rock, R'n'B, Reggae, Rock, Ska, Soul, Techno, Trance, Hardstyle, MDVDR

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ThreatFire 4.5.0.14 – Prevent zero day malware infections

ThreatFire is an anti malware product developed by PC-Tools, the same folks behind the excellent registry optimizer ‘Registry Mechanic’. What’s interesting about ThreatFire is that it focuses largely on the prevention of new, undiscovered, zero day malware infections. Unlike traditional Anti Virus software ThreatFire does not use a ‘virus signature database’ based approach towards the elimination of security threats. Instead, it uses behavioral monitoring that can detect previously unknown viruses and other pests without the need for updated definition files.

 

Note that ThreatFire should not be considered as an all in one security solution for virus/malware prevention. I suggest you combine it with a dedicated Anti Virus software such as Kaspersky to get killer results.

Features

• Comprehensive protection against viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers & buffer overflows
• Real-time behavior-based malware detection
• Immediately shut down destructive processes and quarantine malware
• Automatic updates (when opted in to ThreatFire Community)
• ThreatFire reporting and protection statistics
• Malware quarantine & removal
• Rootkit scanner - ability to schedule and customize
• Advanced custom rules settings, fully configurable
• System Activity Monitor - view instructive data about all running processes
• Informative alerts provide guidance on how to proceed; most threats automatically quarantined
• Free online support
• Personal and individual use allowed

Download

Basic version of this software is free of charge. It has almost all major features of the pro version and is great for day to day use.

[Click Here] to download latest version of ThreatFire 4 free version from official server (Direct Download)

Emuparadise – BitTorrent tracker for ROMs and Emulator downloads

A while ago we featured here a Gazelle based private gaming tracker named JuicyBitz. Unlike most specialized games trackers, JuicyBitz focused on ROMS, emulators and retro games. It was a good niche tracker but unfortunately the site is not online anymore. For fans of ROMS and emulation who are looking for similar BitTorrent trackers with ROMS and emulation, we present you Emuparadise. Emuparadise is a tracker full of ROMS and emulators for many different consoles such as Playstation 1/2, PSP, XBOX . With the help of this tracker, you should be able to play some of your favorite console games on the PC.

Unlike JuicyBitz, Emuparadise is a pretty old. With more than 16000 users and over 1200 active torrents, this is a well established tracker in the BitTorrent scene (note that the number of torrents could have been a lot bigger – they seem to delete inactive torrents quickly). As for the content, there are a lot of ROMS and emulators (an emulator is a software which emulates the console environment on the PC and hence allows console games to be played on the PC. A ROM is similar to an ‘image’ of a game cartridge or a DVD/CD if it’s a modern system. In short, you load the ROMs into the PC using an emulator). See the screenshot below to get a better understanding of the content available:

Public registrations for Emuparadise are currently open. If you are interested in joining a tracker which’s main focus lies on old school console games and ROMs, then go ahead and get yourself an account.

Site Name: Emuparadise (http://bt.emuparadise.org:6969/index.php)

Signup URL: http://bt.emuparadise.org:6969/index.php?page=signup

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• FTP server with SNES, Sega Genesis, ATARI, NES and Neo Geo ROMs & Emulators – Direct Downloads