Saturday, April 02, 2011

Trace Windows 7 boot issues

Amplify’d from www.msfn.org

Trace Windows 7 boot/shutdown/hibernate/standby/resume issues

Read more at www.msfn.org
To get started you need the Windows Performance Tools Kit. Read here how to install it:



http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=146919



Now open a command prompt with admin rights and run the following commands:



For boot tracing:

xbootmgr -trace boot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:TEMP




For shutdown tracing:

xbootmgr -trace shutdown -noPrepReboot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:TEMP




For Standby+Resume:

xbootmgr -trace standby -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:TEMP




For Hibernate+Resume:

xbootmgr -trace hibernate -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:TEMP




replace C:TEMP with any temp directory on your machine as necessary to store the output files



All of these will shutdown, hibernate, or standby your box, and then reboot to finish tracing. Once Vista/Server 2008(R2) or Windows 7 does reboot, log back in as necessary and once the countdown timer finishes, you should now have some tracing files in C:TEMP. If asked, upload or provide the file(s) generated in C:TEMP (or the directory you chose) on a download share for analysis.



Analyses of the boot trace:



To start create a summary xml file, run this command (replace the name with the name of your etl file)



xperf /tti -i boot_BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER_1.etl -o summary_boot.xml -a boot




Now you see this picture.:



Resized to 74% (was 1175 x 394) - Click image to enlargePosted Image




You have too look at the timing node. All time values are in ms.



The value timing bootDoneViaExplorer shows the time, Windows needs to boot to the desktop.



The value bootDoneViaPostBoot is the time (+10s idle detection) which Windows needs to boot completly after finishing all startup applications.



Quote

During the OSLoader phase (shown in the value osLoaderDuration), the Windows loader binary (Winload.exe) loads essential system drivers that are required to read minimal data from the disk and initializes the system to the point where the Windows kernel can begin execution. When the kernel starts to run, the loader loads into memory the system registry hive and additional drivers that are marked as BOOT_START.



Visual Cues



This phase begins approximately when the BIOS splash and diagnostic screens are cleared and ends approximately when the “Loading Windows” splash screen appears.




those values show you a summary.



The MainPathBoot Phase



Quote

What Happens in This Phase

During the MainPathBoot phase, most of the operating system work occurs. This phase involves kernel initialization, Plug and Play activity, service start, logon, and Explorer (desktop) initialization. To simplify analysis, we divide the MainPathBoot phase into four subphases, as show in the next picture. Each subphase has unique characteristics and performance vulnerabilities.



Visual Cues



Visually, the MainPathBoot phase begins when the “Starting Windows” splash screen appears and lasts until the desktop appears. If auto-logon is not enabled, the time that elapses while the logon screen is displayed affects the measured boot time in a trace.




Resized to 80% (was 1092 x 341) - Click image to enlargePosted Image




PreSMSS Subphase

Quote

What Happens in This Subphase

The PreSMSS subphase begins when the kernel is invoked. During this subphase, the kernel initializes data structures and components. It also starts the PnP manager, which initializes the BOOT_START drivers that were loaded during the OSLoader phase. When the PnP manager detects a device, it loads and initializes the device’s drivers



Visual Cues

PreSMSS begins approximately when the “Loading Windows” splash screen appears. There are no explicit visual cues for the end of PreSMSS.




So if the time takes too long for you, look inside the <PNP> node which driver is loading too slowly.



SMSSInit Subphase

Quote


What Happens in This Subphase

The SMSSInit subphase begins when the kernel passes control to the session manager process (Smss.exe). During this subphase, the system initializes the registry, loads and starts the devices and drivers that are not marked BOOT_START, and starts the subsystem processes. SMSSInit ends when control is passed to Winlogon.exe.



Visual Cues

There are no explicit visual cues for the start of SMSSInit, but the blank screen that appears between the splash screen and the logon screen is part of SMSSInit. It ends before the logon screen appears.



SMSSInit Performance Vulnerabilities


Video drivers are a common source of performance problems in the SMSSInit subphase. The video driver must be initialized first in the system session and then in the user session. Reduction of video driver initialization time leads to a direct wall-clock reduction in boot time.

Initialization in the user session is typically much faster than in the system session because Windows performs common initialization tasks during the system session.




So if the SMSSInit Phase takes too long, try to get an graphic card driver update.



WinLogonInit Subphase



Quote


What Happens in This Subphase

The WinLogonInit subphase begins when SMSSInit completes and starts Winlogon.exe. During WinLogonInit, the user logon screen appears, the service control manager starts services, and Group Policy scripts run. WinLogonInit ends when the Explorer process starts.



Visual Cues

WinLogonInit begins shortly before the logon screen appears. It ends just before the desktop appears for the first time.



WinLogonInit Performance Vulnerabilities

Many operations occur in parallel during WinLogonInit. On many systems, this subphase is CPU bound and has large I/O demands. Good citizenship from the services that start in this phase is critical for optimized boot times.

Services can declare dependencies or use load order groups to ensure that they start in a specific order. Windows processes load order groups in serial order. Service initialization delays in an early load order group block subsequent load order groups and can possibly block the boot process .




If you have too long WinLogonInit Time, open the etl file and scroll to the service graph and look for a long delay.



Posted Image



In this example the service SavService (Sophos Anti-VirusSavService.exe) is part of the Plug and Play group and causes a delay because the service takes too long to start. Try to get an update for the hanging service or remove the software.



ExplorerInit Subphase



Quote


What Happens in This Subphase



The ExplorerInit subphase begins when Explorer.exe starts. During ExplorerInit, the system creates the desktop window manager (DWM) process, which initializes the desktop and displays it for the first time.

This phase is CPU intensive
. The initialization of DWM and desktop occurs in the foreground, while in the background the service control manager (SCM) starts services and the memory manager prefetches code and data. On most systems ExplorerInit is CPU bound, and timing issues are likely the result of a simple resource bottleneck.

Visual Cues

ExplorerInit begins just before the desktop appears for the first time. There is no clear visual cue to indicate the end of ExplorerInit.



ExplorerInit Performance Analysis



Applications—such as antivirus programs or application servers—that are created during service start in this or previous phases can consume CPU resources during ExplorerInit. Some services might not be started yet when ExplorerInit is complete.




So if the ExplorerInit phase takes too long, make sure you minimize the services which use a lot of CPU power and make sure your AV Tool doesn't hurt too much. If it doesn't change the tool and try a different.



The PostBoot Phase



Quote


What Happens in This Phase

The PostBoot phase includes all background activity that occurs after the desktop is ready. The user can interact with the desktop, but the system might still be starting services, tray icons, and application code in the background.

Specifically, Xperf samples the system every 100 ms during the PostBoot phase. If the system is 80-percent or more idle (excluding low-priority CPU and disk activity) at the time of the sample, Xperf considers the system to be “idle” for that 100 ms interval. The phase persists until the system accumulates 10 seconds of idle time.

Note: When you review traces and report timing results, you should subtract the 10 second idle time that accumulated during PostBoot to determine total boot time.




Visual Cues

There are no explicit visual cues for PostBoot. The phase begins after the user’s desktop appears and ends after satisfying the 10-second metric that was explained earlier.



PostBoot Performance Vulnerabilities

During PostBoot, Windows examines the entries in the various Run and RunOnce keys (Run, RunOnce, RunOnceEx, RunServices, and so on) in the registry and the Startup folder in the file system, and then starts the listed applications.




If post boot takes too long, reduce the number of running applications at startup with the help of msconfig.exe or AutoRuns.



When you have a HDD (no SSD!) and you want to speedup the boot, run the optimization from this guide:



http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=140262




Analyses of the shutdown trace:



The shutdown is divided into this 3 parts:



Resized to 85% (was 1025 x 179) - Click image to enlargePosted Image




To generate an XML summary of shutdown, use the -a shutdown action with Xperf:



xperf /tti -i shutdown_BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER_1.etl -o summary_shutdown.xml -a shutdown




Open the XML and you see this:



Posted Image



It shows you the most relevant data.



<timing shutdownTime="23184" servicesShutdownDuration="1513">




The shutdownTime is in this example 23s. Stopping the services takes 1.5s which is fast.



Next you have an entry for all sessions. Starting with Vista, all services run in Session 0 (Session 0 Isolation) and each user gets his one Session (1,2,..,n).



sessionShutdown sessionID="1" duration="3321">




shows the time which it takes to stop all applications which the user is running. In this example it takes 3.3seconds.



UserSession Phase



Quote


What Happens in UserSession

During this phase, the Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem (Csrss.exe) shuts down all applications that are running in the user session—that is, all applications that have session ID 1.



If after 5 seconds any application blocks shut down, Windows displays the dialog box in Figure 24 so that users can choose to force or cancel shutdown.



Posted Image



UserSession Performance Vulnerabilities



Because Windows serially shuts down applications, any delay in a process’s shutdown path contributes to the total shutdown duration. To ensure a speedy shutdown, every application must respond quickly to shutdown notification messages (WM_QUERYENDSESSION and WM_ENDSESSION).

Windows uses long time-outs so that applications have sufficient time to shut down and save user data. Therefore, applications can have a significant effect on shutdown performance.









sessionShutdown sessionID="0" duration="1513">




The value sessionShutdown sessionID="0" shows the servicesShutdownDuration. So you can see which service takes too long to stop.



SystemSession Phase



Quote


What Happens in SystemSession



This phase includes two subphases:

• Preshutdown notification. Windows serially shuts down all services that registered to receive preshutdown notifications. Ordered services—services that have set up the shutdown order of dependent services—are shut down before non-ordered services.

• Shutdown notification. All services that registered to receive shutdown notifications are shut down in parallel.



If all services have not exited after 20 seconds (in Windows Vista) or 12 seconds (in Windows 7), the system continues the shutdown. Processes and services that do not shut down in a timely manner are left running as the system shuts down.



SystemSession Performance Vulnerabilities



In the preshutdown notification subphase, the SCM serializes the waits. Therefore, these services block system shutdown until they exit or until the wait hint time-out expires.

Services are not guaranteed to have enough time to finish all their work in the shutdown notification subphase before the system shuts down.







In both cases expand the node and look at the shutdownDuration value.



It helps you to identify a hanging application are service.



KernelShutdown Phase



Quote


What Happens in KernelShutdown

In the KernelShutdown phase, the rest of the system, including all devices and drivers, is shut down.




To calculate the time spent in KernelShutdown, subtract the time that is required to shut down the system and user sessions from shutdownTime.



In my example:



KernelShutdown = 23184 - 3321 - 1513 = 18350



In this case the 18.35 seconds are very slow. In the <interval> you see an entry ZeroHiberFile which takes too long. In this expample the user enabled the Option ClearPageFileAtShutdown under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management to 1. This overrides the hiberbation file with 0 to delete personal data. This causes the huge slowdown. Setting this option to 0 would save 12.64 seconds of shutdown time.







That is all you need to analyze slow shutdown issues.
Read more at www.msfn.org
 

Friday, April 01, 2011

Analyzing Windows Shutdown Performance

Amplify’d from www.ghacks.net

Analyzing Windows Shutdown Performance

Windows Shutdown usually takes only a matter of seconds before the computer shuts down. It can take longer if commands or applications are executed at shutdown – like cleaning temporary files or the pagefile – or if a driver or program does not respond properly to the shutdown command. One of the better additions of the Windows Vista operating system is the advanced Event Viewer that can be used to analyze Windows shutdown performance problems easily. The very same possibility will be included in Microsoft’s next operating system Windows 7.

You can start the Event Viewer in Windows using the keyboard shortcut [Windows R], typing [eventvwr.msc] and hitting [enter]. Navigate in the Event Manager using the menu on the left side using the following path: Applications and Services Logs => Microsoft => Windows => Diagnostics-Performance => Operational. This will lead directly to the location that contains performance diagnostics not only for the Windows shutdown but also for standby and boot performance issues.

A good way to start is to sort the columns by Task Category. Click on the Task Category title and look for Shutdown Performance Monitoring entries. Each entry will contain information about the application or process that was causing problems during shutdown including the time it took to shutdown that process. A process that takes very long to shutdown is usually the problem for the shutdown problems.

windows shutdown

Once the process or application has been identified it is a matter of finding out why it is causing the delay. It could be outdated or incompatible with that version of Windows and to a lesser extent a faulty version or driver. A good way to start is to look for updates for that software and install those if they are available. It might be easier on the other hand to simply deactivate or uninstall the software if that is possible.

Read more at www.ghacks.net
 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

10 Uses for Spare Thumbdrives

Amplify’d from lifehacker.com
indows Vista and Windows 7 users can turn

10. Keep Linux (or Windows) in Your Pocket


If Linux is a sometimes operating system (you know, like cookies are a sometimes food for Cookie Monster), there are plenty of tiny Linux distributions that will fit on practically any thumb drive. You can even multiple boot options and boot to each of them in in a virtualized environment. If you work the other way around and prefer Linux but sometimes need to run Windows, you can always install a light version of Windows onto a thumb drive and boot from it as well. Even a portable Hackintosh is an option.



9. Make a Contemporary Mix "Tape"


The art of the mix tape has been a little bit lost in the digital age. While it's definitely fun to share playlists with tools like Mixtape.me so you can send your friends music, when you want to make a personalized gift it isn't quite the same with just a URL. While you're not going to do much good by creating an old-fashioned mix tape with your dual-cassette boom box, you can use a spare thumb drive to bring a physical element to your mix. You could even disguise it as an analog tape. (We're not the first ones to think of that.)



8. Make an Encrypted, Disposable "Spy" Drive


Top 10 Clever Uses for Spare Thumb DrivesIf you're really a spy, chances are you've got something a little bit cooler than an encrypted flash drive, but since most of us aren't really in the spying business we can still have a little fun with what we've got. If you've got a small thumb drive you're not really using anymore and need to pass along some secret data to a friend (or stranger you have no choice but to trust), throw it on that drive and use TrueCrypt to keep the data encrypted on the fly. We can't help you make it self-destruct when the data's been retrieved—and that's probably for the best—but it is a piece of technology, after all, so you shouldn't find it too hard to break.



7. Create a Digital Time Capsule


Perhaps thumb drives won't exist in the future and we'll transfer all our data using microscopic dots embedded in our actual thumbs. Creepy. But if you want to create a replica of the past and inform the children of the future how things used to be—and you should, because children of the new millenium don't even know what white out is—you can make a time capsule out of a spare thumb drive. If it's going to stand the test of time, you might want to make it indestructable (or just get one of these). Whatever thumb drive you use, fill it with information about the world today and bury it somewhere. It'll be a lot less work to bury a thumb drive than a huge metal container, right?



6. Make a Virtual RAM Drive


Windows Vista and Windows 7 users can turn their thumb drives into virtual RAM disks, which can be pretty useful if you need a little extra and are low on disk space (especially if your thumb drive is fast). While it won't be a replacement for a real RAM upgrade, it can be a pretty useful alternative until you're able to get the real thing.



5. Create a Digital Travel Kit


Top 10 Clever Uses for Spare Thumb Drives Some of us like to take our laptops on our vacations and some of us don't, but either way you can benefit from creating a USB thumb drive travel kit. If you're not taking your computer but want a few important files and applications for the occasional stop at the internet cafe, a thumb drive can help you out. Even if you do take your laptop, a spare thumb drive is a good place to keep copies of receipts, car rental agreements, and other files you should have copies of when traveling but don't necessarily want (or need) to print out. If you need to take any sensitive data, you can always <a href="use TrueCrypt to keep the data encrypted on the fly">encrypt it. You may never need to use it, but it's nice to know you have what you need in one convenient location.



4. Create an Easy App Install Drive with Ninite


Ninite is a really great tool for Windows and Linux that helps you install a bunch of free apps by creating a single installer for all of them. What's a great place for that installer? On a spare thumb drive! If you need to set up a new computer quickly and don't have internet access, that spare drive can be indispensable. A more likely scenario, however, is when a less tech-savvy friend or family member needs to set up a new machine and you want to get them used to using something other than the crap the machine came with. Make them a thumb drive with a Ninite installer and you can be sure they'll get the important stuff installed.



3. Use It as a Portable Pocket Arcade


Top 10 Clever Uses for Spare Thumb Drives With tons of free game emulators for classic consoles, as well as game ROMs that take up very little disk space, you can put together a classic arcade you can keep in your pocket, backpack, or pretty much anywhere. Retro games are a lot of fun, but when all your save files are confined to a single computer you're stuck playing in one location. Keeping everything on a thumb drive will let you plug in and play wherever you can find a machine so you can always partake in a little console game nostalgia whenever you like.



2. Make a Personal Portable App Drive


Top 10 Clever Uses for Spare Thumb Drives Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is great and a lot of it is portable. So are a number of regular applications. We've made a bunch of suggestions for small, portable apps you can store on a spare thumb drive but those were mainly for Windows. There are also plenty of options for Mac OS X. You can even create a portable version of Dropbox to sync your files. If you want to have access to your stuff no matter what computer you're on, keeping a portable thumb drive handy is a great way to do it.



1. Create an Emergency Recovery Kit


Top 10 Clever Uses for Spare Thumb DrivesComputers are hardly perfect and bad things happen. System files get corrupted, hard drives die, and so on. Whatever the cause of the problem may be, you may be able to fix it with some handy tools that you can run from a bootable thumb drive. We've looked at the many ways you can save your Windows system with a thumb drive, XBoot can help you make a bootable rescue drive for Linux, and Mac OS X users can simply clone their system restore DVD and run the utilities it provides. It sucks when computers have problems, but if you know something can go wrong and you have a plan in place to take care of it then you can mitigate the potential damage quickly and easily.

Read more at lifehacker.com
 

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Browser Battle 2011

Browser Battle 2011: Who Is the New King of the Web?

from Maximum PC by Paul Lilly


The last time Maximum PC played host to a knock-down, drag-out dogfight for the browser crown, it was predominantly a two way scuffle featuring Mozilla’s spunky Firefox browser, then in version 2.0, versus Microsoft’s revitalized Internet Explorer, which had just been updated to IE7. We ultimately declared Firefox the winner, but that was four years ago, which, in computer years, is an eternity. Boy how things have changed since then, and at the same time, stayed the same.


For starters, Internet Explorer still claims the largest share of the browser market. This has been the case for more than a decade now. Firefox, meanwhile, has maintained its rank as the world’s second most used browser and remains a fan favorite among enthusiasts.


But there’s also now a third contender vying for browser dominance. We’re of course talking about Google Chrome, which didn’t even exist four years ago. That’s OK, because Chrome has had little difficulty making up for lost time. Now in version 10, Chrome’s expanded feature set and growing popularity have earned it the right to go up against IE9 and Firefox 4. These are the latest and greatest among the “Big 3” browser makers, and what’s at stake is not just bragging rights, but piles of advertising dollars and control over emerging web standards.


Our goal is to figure out which of these three is the best vehicle for navigating cyberspace. We’ll be paying particular attention to new features, security, privacy, and of course performance. We’ll even throw in a few power user tips for each one. And for those of you who roll with Opera and Safari, don’t worry, we’ll cover the latest versions of those, too. In the words of Michael Buffer, “Let’s get ready to rumble!” 


Google Chrome 10



 Sleek, fast, and one version short of awesome


It’s hard to imagine now, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt initially wanted no part of the “bruising browser wars,” or so he told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page did, however, and they hired a few Firefox developers to build a concept version of Chrome. Schmidt was instantly convinced Chrome could be a game changer, and less than three years after its introduction, Chrome’s browser market share sits in double-digits. Chrome follows an aggressive release schedule and the version we’re looking at here is Chrome 10 (final).


What’s New?


Google didn’t invent the web browser, but it did popularize the concept of a minimalistic interface. Chrome 10 retains this bare-bones approach and takes it a step further by eliminating the Page button. Now the Wrench icon sits by itself to the right of the Omnibar.



Other changes are just as subtle. The Options menu now opens in a tab and includes an awesome search function. Type password, for example, and you’re presented with a bunch of related options and privacy settings, which would normally appear on separate pages. Also new to Chrome 10, you can synchronize passwords, not just other items, between various computers.


Security


Chrome has always been big on security, and version 10 includes dozens of patches. It also updates automatically and disables outdated plugins so you’re never rocking a compromised build, so long as you restart Chrome when prompted.


Google expanded Chrome’s sandboxing feature to wrap around the browser’s integrated Adobe Flash Player plugin. This is important because Flash seems to be attracting more attention from hackers lately. It took a collaborative effort from Adobe and Google to put Flash in a sandbox, adding an additional layer of protection by isolating it from the OS.


Privacy


If you steer clear of thunderstorms because it’s too risky with your tinfoil hat, then you’re probably worried Chrome is just another vehicle for Google to track your every move. The disclaimer that Chrome “only communicates with Google services where absolutely necessary to deliver features and functionality” probably doesn’t help, but Google points out that you can disable features that require this.



We also applaud Chrome’s Incognito private browsing mode which, unlike Firefox, can be run in a separate browser window simultaneously with a regular browser window.


Performance


In addition to popularizing the concept of a minimalistic browser UI, the other thing Chrome is known for is speed. Chrome 10 kicked it up a notch with its retooled CrankShaft JavaScript engine and ran circles around the other browsers in the majority of our JavaScript-specific benchmarks. It reminded us of that scene where Superman circles the Earth to reverse its rotation.


Unfortunately, Chrome 10 lacks GPU-assisted acceleration, at least by default. Even when enabled—which entails mucking with secret commands – Chrome struggles to process 3D content at the same clip as FF4 and IE9. (See our comparative benchmarks chart on page 48).


Power User Tips


1. Turn on GPU acceleration by typing about:flags in the Omnibar. Enable GPU Accelerated Computing and GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D.



2. To make a favicon-only bookmarks bar, simply delete the text in the Name field when saving a bookmark. If you do this, Chrome will just show the favicon, and you’ll earn 200 geek cred points.


3. Get a geeky breakdown of Chrome’s resource management by typing about:memory into the Omnibar, which even shows how much memory other open browsers are using.



 


Microsoft Internet Explorer 9



Look who decided to show up to the modern-day browser scene!


Internet Explorer’s tight integration with Windows played a big role in Microsoft’s ability to bury its one-time nemesis, Netscape Navigator. IE’s market share skyrocketed, and then innovation came to a screeching halt. More than five years passed between the release of IE6 and IE7, and there have only been two major revisions since then. 


But now, there's Internet Explorer 9.


What’s New?


Out of the box, IE9 affords more real estate for browsing than either Chrome or Firefox, and that’s because Microsoft whittled the UI down to the bare essentials. Everything’s been consolidated to a single row, with tabs appearing to the right of the dual-purpose URL/search bar.



IE9 integrates well with Windows 7, and specifically Aero Snap. To view web pages side-by-side, you simply drag two tabs to opposite ends of the screen and they’ll snap in place next to each other. You can also pin sites to the Taskbar simply by dragging them there.


There’s a new Download Manager (finally!) that lets you pause downloads, an Add-on Performance Advisor that audits add-ons and tells you how much they’re bogging down your browser, and if you right-click anywhere in the main window, you can navigate directly to an address copied to your clipboard.



Security


One of the biggest concerns with Internet Explorer has always been Microsoft’s ActiveX technology, which hackers like to use as a gateway to install malicious software on your PC. Microsoft introduced Per-Site ActiveX controls in IE8, prompting users when a site tries to run ActiveX. Microsoft has taken it a step further in IE9 with ActiveX Filtering, which allows users to turn off ActiveX controls for the entire web and enable them only for trusted sites.


IE9 includes an improved Smart Screen filter that checks websites for malicious code, and the Download Manager performs several security checks before downloading files. There’s also a cross-site scripting (XSS) filter that helps prevent compromised websites from recording your login information.


Privacy


By now you’re undoubtedly familiar with IE’s InPrivate Browsing mode, or porn mode. The feature remains in IE9.


Private browsing was last year’s big ticket item. This year it’s tracking protection. IE9 offers surfers a new opt-in mechanism that blocks elements of websites from tracking your online behavior. This is accomplished by subscribing to Tracking Protection Lists (TPLs), which you have to seek out on your own and enable. It’s sort of like a cross between a Do Not Call list and a lite version of AdBlock, in that some ads end up being blocked, depending on which list(s) you subscribe to.



Performance


Despite the drastic new look to IE9, the biggest changes are all behind the scenes. Microsoft rewrote the layout engine from the ground up for rich, interactive sites, and the new Chakra JavaScript engine is several times faster than in previous versions of IE. Hardware accelerated graphics also play a big role in IE9, which is revealed in several tech demos on IE9’s website.


Is IE9 fast? The answer is yes, and this is the first version of IE that doesn’t feel as though it’s being dragged down by unnecessary cruft. And while it’s still not as snappy as Chrome, IE9 has the edge in processing GPU-accelerated content, at least temporarily.


Power User Tips


1. To always open IE9 in full-screen mode, open up your system registry (Start > Regedit) and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain. Change the Fullscreen value to Yes.


2. To run InPrivate Mode automatically, create a desktop shortcut and type the following in the path box: “C:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore.exe” –private 


3. Don’t like the placement of the Stop and Refresh buttons? Right-click and select “Show Stop and Refresh before Address bar.”



 


Next Page: Mozilla Firefox 4, and Opera 11!


 




 


Mozilla Firefox 4 



Still the best option for power users 


Firefox is an open-source alternative to Microsoft’s proprietary browser, and like Russell. Crowe in Gladiator, Firefox has been winning the crowd ever since it stepped into the ring. Mozilla had just released its first Release Candidate of Firefox 4 when we put this story together, so that’s what we used for testing. The final version should be out by the time you read this.


What’s New?


Mozilla completely overhauled the user interface in Firefox 4 with the intention of making it sleeker and easier to use. It’s the biggest aesthetic update since Firefox first came out, and a welcome one if you appreciate less clutter. All the menu items are neatly tucked away and accessible via a single Firefox button in the upper left corner.



New features abound, like the ability to sync your browser settings across multiple devices, multitouch support in Windows 7, and a new tabbed interface drawing inevitable comparisons to Chrome. The Add-On Manager now opens in a tab, too.


Security


As you might expect, Firefox 4 is the most secure version of Firefox yet. It’s also the least glamorous topic because many of the safeguards that keep the bad guys away work silently in the background. One of the biggest new security safeguards is a new feature called HTTP Strict Transport Security. This is supposed to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks that hijack regular HTTP connections and make them appear as HTTPS, like when logging into a banking institution using an untrustworthy network (think of a public Wi-Fi hotspot). Support in Firefox is only half of the equation; HSTS also requires websites to play ball.



Privacy


Firefox’s Private Browsing mode is left largely unchanged in Firefox 4, which means you can’t run an incognito session and a regular session simultaneously like you can in Chrome, even if you have multiple browser windows open. Firefox does, however, restore your regular session when you’re finished, um, looking up anniversary gifts (that is why you use Private Browsing, right?).


There’s a new Do Not Track feature receiving tons of hype. When enabled (found under Options > Advanced), Firefox sends a header to websites telling them you don’t want to be followed. It’s a neat idea, but still relies on the honor system; a website can choose to blatantly ignore your request.


Performance


Midway through Firefox 4’s development, Mozilla injected the browser with its JägerMonkey JavaScript engine, a wise move considering that earlier betas of the next-generation browser felt sluggish and were getting slammed in the enthusiast community. In its current form, Firefox 4 runs and feels much faster than its predecessor, though it still isn’t as nimble as Chrome in JavaScript heavy tasks. But unlike Chrome, Firefox boasts hardware acceleration, tapping into your GPU to boost performance when rendering graphics heavy tasks. Chrome will address this in version 11, but for the time being, the advantage belongs to Firefox (and IE9). 


Power User Tips


1. To quickly view pages you’ve recently visited, right-click the left and/or right arrow(s).


2. Is your favorite Firefox 3.6 add-on blocked in FF4? Type about:config in the address bar. Right-click and select New > Boolean, and enter extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0. Select False for the value.



3. Miss the menu bar? Bring it back by pressing Alt > View > Toolbars > Menu Bar.



 


 


Opera 11



The Opera browser finally sings with add-ons


One of the great innovators in the browser space, Norwegian software maker Opera Software has been in the browser business for 14 years, either inventing or popularizing forward-thinking concepts that we take for granted today, like tabbed browsing. This time around, Opera 11, which we’re reviewing in final form, plays catch-up to the other browsers in this roundup.


What’s New?


Given Opera Software’s long history of blazing a trail in browser development, it’s a bit ironic that Opera is one of the last browsers to adopt extensions, which are finally included here in the latest build. At the time of this writing, there were just 446 add-ons to choose from, though that’s 446 more than were available for Opera 10. We also find it interesting that Opera is just now getting around to adding predictive text queries, known as search suggestions. Opera 11 also introduces tab stacking, allowing you to plop tabs on top of each other in manageable groups, as well as visual mouse gestures—a handy cheat sheet appears when you hold the right mouse button.



Security


Opera 11 makes intelligent use of the address field to give users a quick rundown of a website’s security. When visiting a site, most of the URL is grayed out or hidden, save for the main domain. In addition, security badges are color-coded, with yellow for secure, green for trusted, blue for Opera’s Turbo mode, and gray for the rest. Clicking these badges reveals a site’s encryption level and whether or not it has a clean security record.


Privacy


The option to open a private browsing session is buried deeper than in the other browsers here (Menu > Tabs and Windows > New Private Window), but once you find it, you’ll also see an option to open a private tab. And when installing extensions, two privacy checkboxes let you choose whether or not to allow them to interact with secure pages and/or private tabs.


Performance


Hardware acceleration isn’t being introduced until version 11.5, so already Opera’s a bit behind the performance curve compared to some of the competition. But what version 11 lacks in GPU-assisted rendering, it makes up for in JavaScript performance and overall pep. Subjectively, browsing just feels fast, and objectively Opera 11’s benchmark scores were competitive. Sadly, performance in some cases comes at the cost of compatibility, such as the inability to use Google’s Instant Search for search queries or Instant Scrolling for images.



 


Next Page: Safari 5, the performance benchmarks, and we declare a winner!


 




 


Safari 5



One of the fastest browsers around (in 2010)


It’s easy to tell that Apple developed the Safari browser, which looks like it was plucked straight from Mac OS X. That’s because it was. Safari started off as a Mac-only browser in 2003 before making the jump to Windows in 2007. Safari 5, the last major update, came out in June 2010.


What’s New?


If you abhor flipping through multipage articles, you’ll instantly fall in love with Safari Reader. This handy tool automatically detects when you’re on an article page and presents a Reader icon in the address bar. Clicking it brings up the entire article in a scrollable eBook-like reader in the foreground stripped of extra elements, like ads and buttons. It’s an awesome way to digest longer write-ups.


Safari 5 supports extensions, which are divided into 16 categories. There’s also a hidden extension builder accessible by enabling the Develop menu in the menu bar (Settings > Preferences > Advanced) if you want to try your hand at making your own add-ons.



Security


On the Mac OS X platform, Safari tags downloads with certain vitals, like when a file was downloaded and where it came from. That same information isn’t available in Windows, though Safari’s other safeguards extend across both platforms. Safari blocks tracking cookies by default, as well as pop-up ads, and it also includes a cross-site scripting (XSS) auditor that sniffs out and filters malicious scripts. 


Privacy


Steve Jobs once famously said, “Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone,” but it turns out they can also use Safari, which includes a private browsing mode like all the other browsers in this roundup. And like the others, Apple pitches less obscene uses for private browsing, like checking your email at a library (yeah, sure).


Safari 5 boasts built-in parental controls for parents of kids who aren’t computer savvy enough to figure out how to circumvent them, but this is another option native to Mac OS X and not available in Windows. If you do own a Mac, you can set up a list of approved websites and view activity logs, all within the browser.


Performance


Six months ago we’d be singing a different tune, but compared to the current crop of browsers, Safari 5 is a step behind. The Nitro JavaScript engine is in need of another tune-up, and while hardware acceleration is present, it didn’t pay off in benchmarks. And what’s with not being able to search in the URL bar? Boo!



 


Browser Performance








































































































Chrome 10Firefox 4Internet Explorer 9Safari 5Opera 11
Futuremark Peacekeeper10,963*5,1437,2305,56310,966*
SunSpider (ms)231.2226195.1*303.1227.9
Google V89,743*4,6933,0062,9954,362
Celtic Kane JSBenchmark856*610499518635
NonTroppo Table Rendering (ms)227
538777136*304
GUIMark HTML5 (fps)7.421.620.15.534.6*
Mozilla Dromaeo JavaScript (runs per second)715.5*
491591.3290.4470.5
Acid31009795100100
Microsoft Preschool Demo (Sec)15.5
13.23.9*WNRWNR
Microsoft Maze Solver Demo (sec)189104141188.8*
Microsoft Psychadelic Demo (rpm)74
3,016†10,1203846†




Best scores have an asterisk. Our test bed was a Intel Core i7 930, Asus P6X58D Premium, 6GB Corsair DDR3/1333 RAM, a Radeon HD 5850, a Kingston 64GB SSDNow, and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. †Did not play sound.


 


And the Winner is…



If we’ve learned anything here, it’s that the browser market is in great shape. Firefox still gets our nod as the best of the best, but it’s not a runaway victory. If Chrome came with hardware acceleration enabled by default—and it will in version 11—then we might have had to give the nod to Google. Chrome is fast, it’s polished, and its extensions library is fleshed out. But so is Firefox 4, which has the added benefit of tapping into your GPU without the need to muck around with advanced code.


While enthusiasts debate the merits of Chrome versus Firefox, the biggest surprise is Internet Explorer 9. For the first time in a long time, a case can also be made for IE as the best browser of the bunch. We’re not willing to go that far with it, but there’s no doubt IE9 is a potential game changer for Microsoft, and not a moment too soon. IE’s market share lead continues to shrink as users seek out faster, sleeker browsers, and IE9 is both of those, plus a whole lot more. If IE9 represents the direction Microsoft is headed, Chrome and Firefox could be in trouble.


Alternative browser users don’t have it quite as good. Safari is a generation behind, and while we’re fans of Opera, the latest release is more about catching up to the competition than blazing a new trail, as has been Opera’s MO. Still, it’s another solid option among many.

Read more at www.maximumpc.com
 

Monday, March 14, 2011

Free Days at the National Parks

Amplify’d from www.nps.gov

Free Entrance Days in the National Parks

America's Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees.*

Waterfall at Yosemite National Park, Photo by DanNg, NPS

Mark your calendar for these fee-free days in 2011:




  • January 15-17

    (Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday weekend)



  • April 16-24

    (National Park Week)



  • June 21

    (First day of summer)



  • September 24

    (Public Lands Day)



  • November 11-13

    (Veterans Day weekend)
Read more at www.nps.gov
 

Interactive Pictures of Tsunami Damage


Monday, March 07, 2011

100 Accomplishments of President Obama

Since coming into office on January 21, 2009, President Barack Obama has:



1. Signed an Executive Order on government contracting to fight waste and abuse:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/economy_in_government_contracting



2. Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtKAKlurRAY



3. Renewed dialogue with NATO and other allies and partners on strategic issues:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/04/Afghanistan-and-NATO



4. Announced a plan to responsibly end the war in Iraq:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/washington/28troops.html



5. Provided funding to families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/pentagon-will-help-families



6. Ended media blackout on war casualties and the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7986203.stm



7. Signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

http://www.recovery.gov/About/Pages/The_Act.aspx



8. Launched Recovery.gov to track spending from the Recovery Act, an unprecedented step to provide transparency and accountability through technology:

http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx



9. Announced the "Making Home Affordable" home refinancing plan:

http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov



10. Launched a $15 billion plan to boost lending to small businesses:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-small-business-owners



11. Invested heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education



12. Provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with more than $1.4 billion to improve services to America’s Veterans:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/veterans



13. Signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Office of Urban Affairs:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070201410.html



14. Limited lobbyist's access to the White House:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/obama-outlines-lobbying-restrictions



15. Issued an Presidential Memorandum to restore scientific integrity in government decision-making:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Memorandum-for-the-Heads-of-Executive-Departments-and-Agencies-3-9-09



16. Answered questions at the first online town hall from the White House that were submitted and voted on transparently by the public at WhiteHouse.gov:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2uzQs2_XBgeHotRBvNhY7DR572g



17. Established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities:

http://www.serve.gov



18. Launched Business.gov – enabling conversation and online collaboration between small business owners, government representatives and industry experts in discussion forums relevant to starting and managing a business:

http://www.business.gov



19. Appointed the first ever Federal Chief Information Officer to provide management and oversight over federal IT spending:

http://www.cio.gov



20. Signed the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act on February 4, 2009, which provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who were previously uninsured:

http://themiddleclass.org/bill/children039s-health-insurance-program-reauthorization-act-2009



21. Issued an Executive Order repealing the Bush-Era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/09/obama-administration-stem-cell-funding



22. Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of Americans living with paralysis:

http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.ddJFKRNoFiG/b.4442889/k.EC4B/Christopher_and_Dana_Reeve_Paralysis_Act.htm



23. Announced creation of a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record for members of the U.S. Armed Forces to improve quality of medical care:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/09/The-Care-They-Were-Promised-and-the-Benefits-That-They-Have-Earned



24. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/washington/19gates.html



25. Committed to phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdates weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/gates.budget.cuts



26. Provided federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1908954,00.html



27. Provided new federal funding for science and research labs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/science/18sfstimulus.html



28. Played a lead role in G-20 Summit that produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis:

http://www.g20.org



29. Signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop fraud and wasteful spending in the defense procurement and contracting system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_Systems_Acquisition_Reform_Act_of_2009



30. Ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay and a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/guantanamo.order/index.html



31. Appointed Special Envoys for Climate Change, Southwest Asia, the Middle

East, Sudan, and a Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan:

http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/January/20090122175146idybeekcm1.328677e-02.html



32. Empowered states to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/us/politics/26calif.html



33. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/stimulus/2009/01/08/poll-americans-strongly-back-increase-in-infrastructure-spending.html



34. Increased minority access to capital:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/16/increase-minority-access-to-capital



35. Developed a comprehensive new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan that will help defeat Al Qaeda and authorized the deployment of more than 21,000 troops to Afghanistan:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032700836.html



36. Signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act which gives the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud, from lending to the financial system, and creates a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial practices that brought us to this point:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/05/obama-signs-hou.html



37. Signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures, providing $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and helping to stabilize the housing market for everybody:

http://www.zillow.com/blog/mortgage/2009/05/21/president-obama-signs-helping-families-save-their-homes-act



38. Increased, for the first time in more than a decade, the fuel economy standards for Model Year 2011 for cars and trucks so they will get better mileage, saving drivers money and spurring companies to develop more innovative products:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22650.html



39. Issued a Presidential Memorandum to the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances, like dishwashers and refrigerators. Through this step, over the next three decades, we’ll save twice the amount of energy produced by all the coal-fired power plants in America in any given year:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ApplianceEfficiencyStandards



40. Unveiled a program on Earth Day 2009 to develop the renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. These regulations will enable, for the first time ever, the nation to tap into our ocean’s vast sustainable resources to generate clean energy in an environmentally sound and safe manner:

http://www.earthday.org



41. Announced a new U.S.-Mexico border initiative:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Administration-Officials-Announce-US-Mexico-Border-Security-Policy-A-Comprehensive-Response-and-Commitment



42. Concluded cyberspace policy review:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-by-the-Press-Secretary-on-Conclusion-of-the-Cyberspace-Review



43. Announced a strategy to address the international nuclear threat:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered



44. Established a new "U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue":

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-On-Bilateral-Meeting-With-President-Hu-Of-China



45. Announced new policy steps towards Cuba:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/world/americas/05cuba.html



46. Increased minority access to capital:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/16/increase-minority-access-to-capital



47. Issued a Presidential Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act instructing the Attorney General to issue new guidelines to the government implementing those same principles of openness and transparency in the processing of FOIA requests:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Freedom_of_Information_Act



48. Funded the design of a new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015:

http://www.facebook.com/NMAAHC



49. The Executive Order on Presidential Records brings those principles to presidential records by giving the American people greater access to these historic documents, severely curtailing the ability to use executive privilege to shield those documents:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential_Records



50. Signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, a hallmark piece of legislation:

http://www.democrats.org/a/2009/04/edward_m_kenned.php



51. Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act to protect Americans from unfair and deceptive credit card practices:

http://www.newsunfiltered.com/archives/2010/02/pew_finds_credi.html



52. Signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to provide a coordinated Federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and

families:

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/obamas-council-on-women-and-girls



53. Launched a U.S. financial and banking rescue plan:

http://www.america.gov/st/econ-english/2009/February/20090210163128saikceinawz0.7537805.html



54. Ordered secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere to be closed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_site



55. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Accord



56. Launched U.S. Auto industry rescue plan:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/31/content_11102980.htm



57. Provided better body armor to our troops:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-03-26-body-armor_x.htm



58. Authorized cutting the missile defense program by $1.4 billion in 2010:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=62548



59. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/25/world/fg-obama-nuclear25



60. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic:

http://jonbowermaster.com/blog/2009/04/obama-calls-for-limits-on-antarctic-tourism



61. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, and addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ-SMqh7q3o



62. Supported the first steps of a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide:

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2009/2009-02-16-02.asp



63. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/nov/19/chain-email/chain-e-mail-claims-obama-has-visited-more-countri



64. Managed several natural disasters successfully, including severe winter ice storms and flooding in several states:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drlsi3Ng4jw



65. Provided new car tax credit:

http://www.soundmoneymatters.com/new-car-tax-credit



66. Provided attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles:

http://www.hybridcars.com/federal-incentives.html



67. Purchased fuel efficient American-made fleet of vehicles for the federal government:

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/06/gsa-buys-210-million-worth-of-fuel-efficient-vehicles-from-us-carmakers.html



68. Endorsed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax havens:

http://www.financialtaskforce.org/2009/10/27/the-foreign-account-tax-compliance-act-of-2009



69. Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court. She was confirmed and becomes the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/06/sotomayor-confirmed-by-fu_n_253146.html



70. Helped reverse a downward spiral of the stock market. On January 19, 2009, the last day of President Bush's presidency, the Dow closed at 8,218.22. Today, the Dow closed at 10,309.24:

http://stockcharts.com/charts/historical/djia1900.html



71. Earned an unprecedented success rate of 96.7% on winning congressional votes on issues where he took a position. He did even better than legendary arm-twister Lyndon Johnson who had a 93% success rate in 1965:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122436116



72. Provided affordable, high-quality child care to working families:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/244/provide-affordable-high-quality-child-care



73. Restored America's reputation as a global leader that will do the "right thing" in world affairs:

http://pewglobal.org/docs/?DocID=12



74. Issued an executive order to create the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/18/news/economy/obama_debt_commission/index.htm



75. Increased funding for student loans and pell grants for 2010 students:

http://www.ourfuture.org/report/2009031325/obama-s-budget-supporting-students-not-banks



76. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals:

http://www.law.com/jsp/law/international/LawArticleIntl.jsp?id=1202433002570



77. Provided tax credit to workers thus cutting taxes for 95% of America's working families:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/sep/18/barack-obama/a-credit-for-workers-cuts-taxes-for-middle-class



78. Cracked down on companies that deny sick pay, vacation and health insurance to workers by abusing the employee classification of independent contractor. Such companies also avoid paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance taxes for those workers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/business/18workers.html



79. Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that made it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/28/hate.crimes/index.html



80. Appointed the first Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Vice-President-Joe-Biden-Announces-Kareem-Dale-As-Special-Assistant-to-the-Preside



81. Signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act authorizing advance appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs by providing two-fiscal year budget authority thus enabling better medical care for veterans. Endorsed by the American Legion, American Veterans, Blinded Veter...ans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War Veterans, Military Officers Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Vietnam Veterans of America:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Signing-of-the-Veterans-Health-Care-Budget-Reform-and-Transparency-Act



82. Held impromptu press conference to urge Congress to investigate Anthem Blue Cross and other corporate health insurance companies that raise premiums in high amounts without explanation. Rep. Henry Waxman launches probe. In this case, Anthem Blue Cross wanted to raise premiums 39%. They have now put the increase on hold for two months (as of February 2010). Legislation preventing such increases pending:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100218/hl_nm/us_usa_healthcare_insurers



83. Designated $1.5 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in the states hardest hit by the housing crisis: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. The MBA forecasts that foreclosures will peak in the last quarter of 2010:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35476054/ns/business-stocks_and_economy



84. Protected 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors through the Recovery Act that would have otherwise been lost:

http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/02/02012010a.html



85. Extended discounted COBRA health coverage for the nation's unemployed from 9 months to 15 months. Workers laid off between September 1, 2008 and February 28, 2010 qualify:

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/how-to-get-extended-cobra-health-coverage-subsidies



86. Extended unemployment benefits for 2,000,000 unemployed Americans by 20 weeks. At the time the bill was signed 7,000 unemployed Americans were losing their unemployment benefits each day:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/05/news/economy/Extending_unemployment_benefits/index.htm



87. Eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education which was significantly increased during the Bush Administration to $176 million annually:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/20/bush-teen-pregnancy-cdc-report



88. Rescinded the Global Gag Rule:

http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2009/01/23/index.html



89. Appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history including more women appointees than any other incoming president:

http://www.diversityinc.com/content/1757/article/6319



90. Committed to no permanent military bases in Iraq through the Defense Authorization Act. For your reference:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/132/no-permanent-bases-in-iraq



91. Provided tax credits to first-time home buyers through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 to revitalize the U.S. housing market:

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com



92. Provided the Department of Veterans Affairs the largest spending increase in 30 years to improve medical facilities and national cemeteries, and to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities:

http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1671



93. Strengthened the Endangered Species Act:

http://www.stopextinction.org/media/releases/89-release-president-obama-restores-endangered-species-protections.html



94. Empowered states that legalized medical marijuana to regulate themselves. Fourteen states have allowed some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Maryland, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/new-medical-marijuana-pol_n_325426.html



95. Enhanced earth mapping:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/345/enhance-earth-mapping



96. Increased funding for national parks and forests in 2010, and plans to do it again for FY 2011:

http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/press_releases_folder/2010/02_01_2010_obamas_budget_includes_key_funding_for_land_and_water.php



97. Changed failing war strategy in Afghanistan:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/01/obama.afghanistan/index.html



98. Allocated special funding to the Labor Department to provide green job training to veterans:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/466/create-a-green-vet-initiative-to-promote-environ



99. Allocated funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police or firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/188/increase-funding-for-local-emergency-planning



100. Created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy 3.5% [as of December 31, 2009] through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2311303720100223
Read more at simplifythepositive.blogspot.com