I recently wrote a program to test my new computer. I wanted to test the wattage range and cooling of the new processor so needed a program that would keep all the cores of the processor busy. The Core i7-950 is a 4 core processor with Hyper-Threading which means that there are a max of 8 threads. Since AMD provides server processors with up to 12 threads so the program has a maximum number threads of 32. I use the HWMonitor program to monitor temperatures and wattage if your processor supports it.

The program is written using the Qt toolkit, which allows it to be easily ported to Windows and Linux.

Program Dialog

To use the program:

• Select the computation type: Integer, Real, Both.
• Select the number of threads.
• Select the array size. The arrays will be this size x 1024 x 1024.
• Use Start to start the threads.
• Use Stop to stop the threads.
• Use Task Manager to see the size of the process grow when the threads are started.
• Use Task Manager to see how many cores / threads are busy on your processor when the program is running.
• Use the HWMonitor program to check the case, processor temperatures and wattages [if supported] as the program runs.

The program is licensed under GPL 3.

Downloads are on Source Forge.

We can discuss any issues you have with the program in the Source Forge Project Forums.

The link might change. If that does not work, try this: CoreHeaterQt project

MFC Version

An MFC version, with sources, also available under GPL 3 is here:

CoreHeater_MFC_V1

CoreHeater_MFC_V1_Src

- Windy

Open your JPG or other file.


and open the channels panel.

Use Magic Wand or Select by Color to select the portion to be transparent.

Inverse the selection to copy the foreground image.

Create a new channel – the Alpha channel.

Take the Defaults.

The Channels Panel

Copy the Image from the RGB to the Alpha Channel.

Use Levels to adjust the Brightness of the Alpha channel.

Save the TGA file with Alpha

Alpha Options.

Import the file into Second Life

Imported file with hatched pattern for the transparent portions.

I’m going to assume you are using Outlook Express but other programs probably have similar steps.

I have not investigated using web email clients [web pages directly on Yahoo or Gmail] to accomplish this. I am not aware that they support secure email.

Setup Your Email Accounts
First of all, make sure that you have outlook express set up for your one or more email addresses that you want to use and that you have tested them. You can send email from one account to another to test them. During this process you will need to receive multiple email messages from the certificate authority, so your email will need to be working.

Also you will need to be using MSIE, not Firefox or another browser for this process. This is because Outlook Express and MSIE are in cahoots and share knowledge about how to manage certificates. Those built for Firefox will work only for the Netscape or Mozilla Email program. So run MSIE and go to the following Thawte link.

Sign up at Thawte
You can get Free Email Certificates for personal use from Thawte.com. There are other authorities, but I’m using Thawte as an example. No endorsement is intended.

Click JOIN and then fill out the form, select a password and enter your personal information for the certificates. You will need to receive an email for the email address you entered and transfer some data from that email to a web page to authenticate yourself. Once that is done you are “official” joined up at Thawte. Now you can go to the account page and add more email addresses if you want to. You can also do this at any time in the future.

Request a Certificate
After you sign up, choose the certificates page, and then click on Request Certificate.

This will take you to a small window where you will go through the process. If you set up more than one Email address in your account, you will get to choose which email address the certificate applies to. You will need a separate certificate for each email address you have or want to use securely.

The process is straight forward until you get to the following page. Do not click on the Configure Button unless you know what you are doing. ACCEPT is the right choice here. The certificate will work for all email activities.

After a few more pages you will come to this screen. This is the actual step where a certificate is created.

When you click here you will then go through a screen and a dialog box will popup asking if you want to install the certificate. Click OK. But this is not the end of the process. The certificate has been handed to MSIE / Outlook Express, but it cannot yet be used.

Check Your Email
You should have received an email message talking about the certificate. You will need to read that email and this will automatically enable the certificate for you at Thawte. If a box pops up talking about a read request then click OK.

Install your Certificate
The certificate is created, but not yet actually installed in MSIE, in spite of what MSIE has said. Go to the certificate status page that looks like this:

Now you need to click on the MSIE link to go to the page to fetch the certificate:

The fetch button is the red button at the bottom of the page. Click on the fetch button and click ok on any dialog that appears and your certificate is installed in MSIE.

Now Set up your Digital ID in Outlook Express
In Outlook Express, choose Tools >> Accounts… then Properties… for the account that you have a certificate for. Now choose the Security Tab and you will see something like this:

Choose the same certificate you just created by choosing Select… for both the signing and encryption certificate. 3DES is the correct default to use for the encryption.

Sending Encrypted Email
To send encrypted email, first you need to send a Signed Message.

The Sign and Encrypt email buttons are under the cursor arrow on the image above. To begin sending encrypted email, you should each exchange digitally signed messages. Once you have received these digitally signed messages you can each send encrypted email.

Things should work now to send encrypted email.

The tutorial is about 11MB, so be patient while it loads.

Posting an Article in WordPress

enjoy,
d