Did you know that the remote control (WiiMote or WiiRemote) of Nintendo Wii console can easily be connected to your PC thanks to the bluetooth interface it uses to communicate with the console? Wait, but there is more, not only you can connect the remote to the PC, but you can as well control the computer with the WiiMote. With the help of the WiinRemote program (free and even with the source code available) you can configure the remote to be used in any way you like, not only for moving the mouse cursor, but using every available button on the remote for different functions. The good thing is that you can use either the accelerometers built in the Wii remote to move the mouse cursor (less accurate) or the infrared camera for more accurate control (you’ll need a sensor bar for this). WiinRemote is a great application to start using the WiiMote on your PC, but for more advanced flexibility you shouldn’t rely on this program, but try something like GlovePIE for instance. The GlovePIE uses a simple scripting system that is easy to learn and gives you quite a lot of power in handling the way the Wii-mote is being used…

- If you want to learn more on how to use the WiinRemote…

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Cascades is an official DirectX 10 demo by Nvidia showing off the capabilities of the new GeForce 8800 series video cards that come with full DirectX 10 hardware support (the first graphic cards to offer that). In order to run it you’ll need a GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS videocards with the latest Forceware drivers running on Windows Vista OS.

Explore a fantastic new world of endless rock formations and exhilarating detail. Watch majestic waterfalls cascade down the rock, while buzzing swarms of dragonfly-like inhabitants dive and play. Zoom in close to examine the vibrant surface detail, or move the camera up or down to explore the rock’s infinite outcroppings, cliffs, and caves.

Sit back and watch as the camera follows the water down as it flows over the rock, falls through the air, and crashes back onto the rock below in a cloud of mist. Or, take control and interactively place your own waterfalls on the terrain to create a beautiful personalized dreamscape just the way you want it.

Features
- Microsoft DirectX 10: Every aspect of the Cascades demo demonstrates next-generation features enabled by DirectX 10, including the generation of content, dynamic particle systems, and the high quality rendering of the scene.
- Procedural Geometry Creation: Rock structures are not only rendered, but also constructed by the GeForce 8800. This permits the user to move up or down forever, with the GPU continuously streaming out colossal chunks of rock in a wide variety of random shapes.
- Dynamic Particle Physics: The GeForce 8800’s geometry shaders perform all the physics calculations for the water, allowing the waterfalls to collide with the rock surface and to form rivers flowing around the features of the rock. Water particles are generated, propagated, and retired on the GPU, leaving the CPU free to perform other tasks.
- Displacement Mapping: Improved displacement mapping techniques use a simple height map in a complex pixel shader to display detailed cracks and bumps that are able to occlude each other, resulting in an extremely high level of realism on the rock surface.

- Download the Cascades DirectX 10 Demo by Nvidia (~169MB)…

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Finally, high-quality streaming for the rest of us. Using Apple’s revolutionary Rendezvous technology, you can make your movies available on the network for everyone to watch together, or even password protect them for private showings. Broadcast family movies, student films, or class lectures without ever having to worry about multicast addresses, SLP announces, or port numbers: Tryst puts all the power of streaming at the touch of a button.

Tryst handles the complexities of streaming in the background while offering you a wide array of practical choices. Tryst Options Set time delays to give peers the opportunity to discover your movie and “subscribe” to see it. Limit the amount of connections you allow for more intimate screenings or to simply reduce stress on slower networks. Password protect your broadcasts to screen whom sees your movie and whom doesn’t.

Tryst was developed by Francisco Tolmasky, currently a sophomore at the University of Southern California, using Apple’s XCode IDE. Tryst uses the Cocoa frameworks, utilizing Rendezvous to handle the “broadcasting”. The actual streaming is handled by the VLC back end.

Tryst is free application for OS X.

- To find more information and download Tryst…

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Do you find yourself typing common phrases over and over again? Just store abbreviations, answers to frequently asked questions, email templates or text snippets in PhraseExpress and reuse them again and again.

PhraseExpress organizes your frequently used text phrases and allows pasting them into any application quick and easy, eliminating the need to type common phrases again and again…

PhraseExpress also has an AutoText feature that expands short keywords into full phrases. For instancetTyping “btw” would be automatically expanded to “by the way” while you type. Ever missed this feature in your web browser or ICQ? This is where PhraseExpress steps in – It works everywhere! Not just in MS Office.

The current date/time stamp or incrementing variables e.g. for order numbers can be added at any position. The comprehensive macro language allows automating repetitive tasks on your computer such as logging in to a website.

Phrase Express is available for free, but only for personal use!

- To Download PhraseExpress Version 3.0.76 (~1,3 MB)…

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