5 Myths About Mark Zuckerberg

There's lots of chatter out there about Mark Zuckerberg. As one of the richest people in the world, and someone who made his fortune at a very young age, that's not surprising. It's also not surprising that many of us feel we know him pretty well -- even if we've never met him -- because we've seen the movie "The Social Network." "The Social Network" portrays Zuckerberg in very stark, prickly terms. Many people who have seen the movie end up strongly disliking him, even if they also admire him a little for thumbing his nose at the status quo. Of course, "The Social Network" is just a movie. And we all know movies, even biopics like this one, don't necessarily tell the entire truth. Furthermore, "The Social Network" was made without the cooperation of Zuckerberg or his close associates, with the exception of providing some biographical info and pointing out some of his past speeches [source: The Economic Times]. So what's the truth versus myth when it comes to hoodie-clad Zuckerberg? No one will know for sure except him. But here are five common descriptions of Zuckerberg that others strongly disagree with and say are made up, or pretty big exaggerations. Everyone knows Zuckerberg is a big cheapskate. He wears jeans, t-shirts and hoodies all the time, doesn't he? He donned that attire for a meeting with somber Wall Street investors, and even when he met President Barack Obama. OK, he upgraded a little for his meeting with the prez, keeping the jeans but swapping the tee for a shirt and tie [sources: Anderson, Gross]. But what about his wedding? The ring he gave his wife, Priscilla Chan, is a very modest-sized ruby with a diamond on each side; one jeweler estimated it to cost a measly $25,000. For someone of Zuckerberg's wealth (he's said to be worth at least $17 billion), Chan should have been given a boulder-sized beauty. Can't forget he also served inexpensive Mexican eats at the reception [source: Delfiner]. And when he and Chan were honeymooning in Italy, they ate at McDonald's once, and didn't leave a tip when they dined at two more formal spots [source: Squires]. The myth-busters dismiss all of this petty sniping. Maybe Chan didn't want a big ring. Maybe they both like Mexican food and McDonald's. And at one of the Roman restaurants where he and his wife supped without tipping (and maybe both), the gratuity was already included in the bill [source: Dalton]. So there. The real proof he's no skinflight, though: Zuckerberg donated $100 million to start an education foundation to assist long-troubled schools in Newark, New Jersey. And Zuck has no connection whatsoever to the city [source: Pérez-Peña]. Mark Zuckerberg, seen here at a November 2010 press conference, strikes some people as arrogant. Kimberly White/Getty Images Anyone who's seen the movie "The Social Network" knows how arrogant Mark Zuckerberg is. In the flick, he's depicted as not only arrogant, but also devious and an ego-maniac [source: Rohrer]. Ick. Films have the power to make us believe things that aren't necessarily true, even though our minds rationally know that we're simply watching a movie, and filmmakers quite often embellish the truth to suit their needs. Yet Zuckerberg critics say this depiction in the film is surely true, because anyone who wears hoodies and t-shirts to important meetings with investors and dignitaries is definitely arrogant. His arrogance is also borne out by the fact that he priced Facebook's IPO at the top of its projected range, they add [source: Ortutay]. But those who really know Mark Zuckerberg -- who have met him, worked with him, lived with him -- disagree. Joe Green, Zuckerberg's former college roommate, says Zuckerberg isn't arrogant, just very confidant. And David Kirkpatrick, a writer who spent a lot of time at Facebook while researching his book "The Facebook Effect," says Zuck is pretty funny, and has lots of friends. Hardly what you'd expect from an arrogant jerk [source: Miller]. How can Mark Zuckerberg notbe a business whiz? The guy is worth billions after launching Facebook, a social network that pretty much everyone in the world knows about, and that's used by 1 billion people today -- and he did it all when he was still a pajama-clad kid in college [source: Vance]. Heck, he was even named Timemagazine's "Person of the Year" in 2010 [source: Grossman]. True. But there are business whizzes, and there are technology whizzes. Many, if not most, business experts would agree Zuckerberg is a techno-whiz. But, say some, what business whiz would come up with the IPO that Zuckerberg did? Expected to earn him at least $846 million, Facebook's stock tanked shortly after it debuted, and Zuck's net worth actually fell by $8.1 billion instead [sources: Anderson, Forbes]. Why? He priced it way too high, and investors feel Facebook doesn't have a sustainable revenue model for the future, as people are currently switching from PCs and laptops to smart phones [sources: The Week, Golub]. If that isn't enough proof, Zuckerberg himself admitted he knew nothing about business a full two years into Facebook, when Yahoo! offered him $1 billion to buy it and he refused, infuriating employees and investors [source: Miller]. He's undoubtedly learned a lot since then, but certainly not enough to be called a business whiz. Zuckerberg has been known to wear a tie from time to time, like when he met with world leaders and businesspeople at the 2011 G8 summit in Paris. Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg is a nerdy geek, and we all know it. If you saw "The Social Network," you know he spent his college years skulking around campus in rumpled clothes, couldn't get into a prestigious social club and his few friends consisted of fellow geeks and loser types. So not true, cry those who know him well. Harvard roommate Joe Green calls him über-confidant. Author David Kirkpatrick, who had access to Zuckerberg and the entire company while he researched his book "The Facebook Effect," says Zuckerberg is funny and not just social, but "extremely" social [source: Miller]. Another author, Karel Baloun, worked at Facebook for a year, then wrote a book about his experience. Baloun says Zuckerberg actually was rather socially awkward in the not-too-distant past, but he's been working hard at improving this part of his personality, and today's he's a pretty socially unawkward dude [source: Rohrer]. Never turn your back on Mark Zuckerberg, or he'll plunge a knife deeply into it. (And probably twist it a bit as well.) Yes, it's true. According to "The Social Network," he agreed to work with the Winklevoss twins at Harvard on a similar social media project, then ran off and founded Facebook instead. And while he initially worked well with friend and partner Eduardo Saverin, once Eduardo disagreed with some of Zuck's moves, Zuck cut him out of the business to fly solo. That's how the movie portrays things, anyway. Plenty of others in the know disagree with not only the versions of these events, but Zuckerberg's personality. David Kirkpatrick, author of "The Facebook Effect," says Zuckerberg is definitely not a mean, cruel person, and he should know, as he spent a fair amount of time with both Zuckerberg and company employees while he researched his book. And Karel Baloun, a guy who actually worked at Facebook for a year -- and very closely with Zuckerberg -- says Zuckerberg would definitely never deliberately betray a friend [source: Rohrer]. Top 5 Myths About Bill Gates If you're one of the most well-known and well-off individuals in the world, people are bound to make up stories about you. Why are there so many crazy stories about the co-founder of Microsoft? Read more » Truth be told, I don't "Like" or "Unlike" Mark Zuckerberg. I don't know the guy. I saw the movie "The Social Network," and I've read a lot of things about him, both pro and con. And even though I've done a lot of research for this article, I still don't have a clear picture of who he really is or what he's like. Now if only he'd create an "I don't care" button ... +View Sources Related Articles How Facebook Works How to Start a Social Networking Site Our Top 10 Stops for a Tech Road Trip Top 5 Myths About Facebook Print Cite Feedback

3-D Mapping Rescue Robot

Video Game System Image Gallery The Xbox Kinect has taken the world of gaming by storm -- but hackers love it, too. See more video game system pictures. Joe Raedle/Getty Images With the release of the Kinect for Xbox 360 (the first hands-free game controller) in November 2010, Microsoft was poised to completely transform the gaming industry. The Wii's motion-sensing controller had opened the door to the future of gaming when it was released; Kinect blew that door off its hinges. Gamers everywhere were thinking about the full-immersion possibilities of gaming's next step. But the real revolution stirred by the Kinect had nothing to do with gaming. Hackers immediately saw potential in the device far beyond its intended use as a gaming accessory. On Kinect's release date, Adafruit Industries, an open-source hardware development group, posted a $3,000 bounty for the first successful, open-source driver to make use of Kinect's motion-sensing technology outside of its Xbox 360 application [source: Adafruit]. The bounty was claimed by a hacker who didn't even own an Xbox and managed to create a Linux-based camera driver for the Kinect in about three hours. The contest is over, but independent developers continue to find new uses for the Kinect every day, some of which are pretty darned cool. Join the fun as we scope out five Kinect hacks that transcend the device's gaming roots. To see the hack that's on every world-domination-plotting villain's wish list, you must continue to the next page. Muahahahahahaha! WHAT'S MICROSOFT'S STANCE ON KINECT HACKS? How does the software giant feel about the Kinect's extracurricular activities? Their position has evolved rather quickly: What better motivator for a hack than bringing fun to your fellow brainiacs? At Maker Faire UK 2011, a pub-hatched hack came to life rather quickly when Tom Wyatt and friends conceived of the idea to hook a Kinect up to a pair of Tesla coils [source: Frank]. In simple terms, a Tesla coil (named for its inventor, Nikola Tesla) is a transformer that produces extremely high-voltage, high-frequency electrical currents. When the electricity is discharged, sparks are emitted. You've probably seen this effect employed in movies. By using the Kinect's motion-tracking technology to correlate user movement to the frequency of the Tesla coils' current, this hack created the illusion of lightning shooting from the user's hands. Suddenly, even the most mild-mannered gent is transformed into Lord Palpatine. Don't let all that power go to your head! The next hack in the lineup has the potential to be a real life-saver. Robotic surgery suites like this one may soon add a Kinect to their arsenal of tools. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Have you ever wondered what it would be like to perform surgery? How about performing surgery without your sense of touch? Doctors do it every day with the use of robotic surgical tools. This Kinect hack adds a new level of precision to the robotics-assisted operating room. Graduate students at the University of Washington are developing a force-feedback device for surgeons performing procedures with robotic tools. While robotics-assisted surgeries are not a new concept, there has always been a problem: Doctors using the instruments don't receive tactile feedback from their equipment. During non-robotic surgeries, doctors employ their sense of touch to guide their movements; in the minimally invasive robotic procedures, they've always had to rely on cameras. This ingenious hack uses the Kinect to map virtual force fields around the vital organs of patients, preventing accidental incisions, adding a new layer of safety and providing surgeons with improved, real-time feedback as they work. In addition to advancing the field of robotic surgery, this enhancement also saves thousands of dollars, as other options are estimated to run around $50,000 [source: Dunn]. Does the thought of surgery make you squeamish? Fear not! The next hack is nothing but fun. Before this hack, PS3 users had to use the PlayStation Move controller for motion-control gaming. Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images Owners of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console have it rough. While all their Xbox 360-owning friends get to flap their arms around unencumbered to play games using their Kinect peripherals, PS3 owners are forced to use the PlayStation Move, which consists of remote controllers with Ping-Pong ball-esque orbs mounted on the ends. What's a player to do? Take matters into his own hands by getting the controllers out of them, that's what. Shantanu Goel has converted the motion data collected by the Kinect into the format normally used by a PS3 controller. While his hack is still in its infancy in terms of development, Mr. Goel has posted footage online showing his handiwork in action as he works his way through the popular, first-person shooter game "Killzone 3." "Killzone 3" was the first action game to take advantage of the PlayStation Move controllers, and this hack shows players that, with a little ingenuity, they don't need handheld controllers at all. Feel completely in the dark when it comes to action gaming? Perhaps the next hack will help you find your way. The white cane used by many visually-impaired people may soon be replaced with a Kinect-based alternative. George Doyle/Stockbyte/Thinkstock If this hack from University of Konstanz students Michael Zöllner and Stephan Huber reaches the open market, life could get a lot simpler for the visually impaired. As part of a graduate project, this dynamic duo has developed a helmet-mounted Kinect setup that acts as eyes for visually challenged users. The Kinect is combined with a prototype, vibrotactile waist belt to digitally analyze the wearer's indoor surroundings and give audio navigation commands to guide him or her through the area [source: Zöllner and Huber]. It's very similar to the way a GPS system in your car directs you to turn left or right at the appropriate point in your journey (hopefully). At the moment, this system also requires a slightly clunky backpack, which carries a laptop to process all of the information from the belt and the Kinect. With just a little streamlining, though, this could easily be the replacement for the white cane normally used by visually impaired people to navigate their surroundings. Now that you've got your bearings, click forward to the next page to learn about a hack that could aid disaster rescue efforts. The final hack to round out our top five has one goal in mind: saving lives in emergency situations. This application of Kinect's capabilities, like two others in our list, was born in a graduate university program. An engineering team at the University of Warwick has coupled the Kinect with a mobile base to create a robot capable of serving as remote eyes for rescue workers. In high-danger situations like collapsed buildings, where conditions are simply too hazardous for human crews to enter, this mobile robot uses the mapping abilities of the Kinect to hunt for signs of life. While the rescue robot is not able to move survivors, it is capable of mapping the areas it scans in 3-D to enable rescue personnel to concentrate their efforts and minimize risk to all involved. Because this application of the Kinect's motion-detection system is less expensive and more sophisticated than the laser-based alternative, it may soon be tested in real-world situations [source: Lee]. As is immediately apparent, the Kinect's possible applications are as varied as the developers working on them. Hacks that turn the device into an artist's brush, a musical instrument, an autonomous mini helicopter, a sculpting tool and an e-mail command interface have popped up since the Kinect's release, with fresh hacks coming to light every day. It's entirely possible that at some point in the future, the Kinect's association with the Xbox 360 will be eclipsed by its contributions to the robotics and art worlds.

Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired

If this hack from University of Konstanz students Michael Zöllner and Stephan Huber reaches the open market, life could get a lot simpler for the visually impaired. As part of a graduate project, this dynamic duo has developed a helmet-mounted Kinect setup that acts as eyes for visually challenged users. The Kinect is combined with a prototype, vibrotactile waist belt to digitally analyze the wearer's indoor surroundings and give audio navigation commands to guide him or her through the area [source: Zöllner and Huber]. It's very similar to the way a GPS system in your car directs you to turn left or right at the appropriate point in your journey (hopefully). At the moment, this system also requires a slightly clunky backpack, which carries a laptop to process all of the information from the belt and the Kinect. With just a little streamlining, though, this could easily be the replacement for the white cane normally used by visually impaired people to navigate their surroundings. Now that you've got your bearings, click forward to the next page to learn about a hack that could aid disaster rescue efforts.

As a PS3 Controller

Owners of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console have it rough. While all their Xbox 360-owning friends get to flap their arms around unencumbered to play games using their Kinect peripherals, PS3 owners are forced to use the PlayStation Move, which consists of remote controllers with Ping-Pong ball-esque orbs mounted on the ends. What's a player to do? Take matters into his own hands by getting the controllers out of them, that's what. Shantanu Goel has converted the motion data collected by the Kinect into the format normally used by a PS3 controller. While his hack is still in its infancy in terms of development, Mr. Goel has posted footage online showing his handiwork in action as he works his way through the popular, first-person shooter game "Killzone 3." "Killzone 3" was the first action game to take advantage of the PlayStation Move controllers, and this hack shows players that, with a little ingenuity, they don't need handheld controllers at all. Feel completely in the dark when it comes to action gaming? Perhaps the next hack will help you find your way.

Robotic Surgery Assistant

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to perform surgery? How about performing surgery without your sense of touch? Doctors do it every day with the use of robotic surgical tools. This Kinect hack adds a new level of precision to the robotics-assisted operating room. Graduate students at the University of Washington are developing a force-feedback device for surgeons performing procedures with robotic tools. While robotics-assisted surgeries are not a new concept, there has always been a problem: Doctors using the instruments don't receive tactile feedback from their equipment. During non-robotic surgeries, doctors employ their sense of touch to guide their movements; in the minimally invasive robotic procedures, they've always had to rely on cameras. This ingenious hack uses the Kinect to map virtual force fields around the vital organs of patients, preventing accidental incisions, adding a new layer of safety and providing surgeons with improved, real-time feedback as they work. In addition to advancing the field of robotic surgery, this enhancement also saves thousands of dollars, as other options are estimated to run around $50,000 [

Evil Genius Simulator

What better motivator for a hack than bringing fun to your fellow brainiacs? At Maker Faire UK 2011, a pub-hatched hack came to life rather quickly when Tom Wyatt and friends conceived of the idea to hook a Kinect up to a pair of Tesla coils [source: Frank]. In simple terms, a Tesla coil (named for its inventor, Nikola Tesla) is a transformer that produces extremely high-voltage, high-frequency electrical currents. When the electricity is discharged, sparks are emitted. You've probably seen this effect employed in movies. By using the Kinect's motion-tracking technology to correlate user movement to the frequency of the Tesla coils' current, this hack created the illusion of lightning shooting from the user's hands. Suddenly, even the most mild-mannered gent is transformed into Lord Palpatine.

Top 5 Kinect Hacks

Start the Countdown With the release of the Kinect for Xbox 360 (the first hands-free game controller) in November 2010, Microsoft was poised to completely transform the gaming industry. The Wii's motion-sensing controller had opened the door to the future of gaming when it was released; Kinect blew that door off its hinges. Gamers everywhere were thinking about the full-immersion possibilities of gaming's next step. But the real revolution stirred by the Kinect had nothing to do with gaming. Hackers immediately saw potential in the device far beyond its intended use as a gaming accessory. On Kinect's release date, Adafruit Industries, an open-source hardware development group, posted a $3,000 bounty for the first successful, open-source driver to make use of Kinect's motion-sensing technology outside of its Xbox 360 application [source: Adafruit]. The bounty was claimed by a hacker who didn't even own an Xbox and managed to create a Linux-based camera driver for the Kinect in about three hours. The contest is over, but independent developers continue to find new uses for the Kinect every day, some of which are pretty darned cool. Join the fun as we scope out five Kinect hacks that transcend the device's gaming roots. To see the hack that's on every world-domination-plotting villain's wish list, you must continue to the next page. Muahahahahahaha!

Callie Rogers Returned to Work as a Maid

In 2003, Callie Rogers was 16, living with foster parents in the U.K. and working as a shop clerk earning £3.60 an hour ($5.83 U.S.). And then she bought a lottery ticket. Rogers won a whopping £1.9 million ($3 million U.S.) in the National Lottery and, despite early insistence that she would continue to live frugally, bought four large homes, several new cars and had two breast augmentations. The suddenly wealthy teenager also developed a penchant for sharing her windfall with others. She purchased expensive gifts for a series of boyfriends. She even bought one boyfriend a car and paid him to act as her chauffer because at 16, she was too young to drive. It was another habit, however, that really led to Rogers financial ruin: cocaine. She estimates spending a quarter of a million pounds on the drug. After the dust settled, Rogers was left with little to show for her riches. She sold the homes she owned, divested the new cars and rented a modest townhouse, saving the seemingly paltry £40,000 ($64,000 U.S.) that remained of her winnings while picking up work as a maid. However, in April 2012, low on funds, pregnant with twins and with a new loving boyfriend at her side, Rogers said, "For the first time I feel like I have everything I need" [source: Dagnell, Hough]. Sadly, one of the twins died shortly after birth [source: Atkinson].

10 Most Spectacular Lottery Burnouts

Walk into my kitchen while I'm fixing dinner any given weeknight and you'll hear "If I had a million dollars" blaring from the stereo. I've been known to chirp along to my favorite CD by Barenaked Ladies while shelling peas or blanching tomatoes: "If I had a million dollars ... I would buy you a house ... I'd build a tree fort in our yard ... I'd buy you a monkey ... If I had a million dollars ... "I'd be rich." While our lists might be different, we all have one, don't we? We've all dreamt of what we'd buy (or do) if we had sudden, overwhelming riches. We certainly wouldn't squander it like the lottery burnouts we've profiled for this article. Or would we? According to a study published by the University of Kentucky in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt University Law School, lottery winners declare bankruptcy at twice the rate of the general population. Why is this? The inability to squirrel away an unexpected windfall appears to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Money arriving by luck or circumstance is simply easier to spend than money earned through hard work. It's like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk and splurging at your favorite coffee shop. The researchers also found that lottery winners tended to have below-average education and income, which might translate into lower financial literacy than the average not-that-financially-savvy person. Here are profiles of 10 lottery winners who won big and fell hard.

Creating Indoor Clouds

In both "Nimbus" installations and 2012's "Cumulus," the science remained the same. The air in the space had to be kept just cool enough that water vapor (produced by, essentially, a fog machine) couldn't fully condense into rain, but warm enough that it would condense around dust particles in the air (just like naturally occurring clouds). Then too, the space had to be dry enough that the ambient moisture didn't condense the vapor, but moist enough that the vapor wouldn't diffuse out and fill the room (after all, that's what fog machines are built to do). Artistically, the emphasis is on the lighting and the environment of the installation to create perfect photographs, but the artist must rigorously monitor these temperature and moisture conditions while the art is being made. Each successive cloud, once it falls apart, adds to the total moisture of the room, so there's also a limited amount of time available for each installation to be photographed. What's true for the art pieces, then, is equally true for the layman: Indoor clouds are not meant to last, so your dreams of having a pet cloud are not yet reachable. However, a German design firm is working on a concept for an indoor cloud lamp which uses an Internet connection to predict and mimic weather right in your living room. Using liquid hydrogen, lamps and a high-suction vacuum system, the Nebula lamp reproduces conditions -- from warm yellow sunlight to stormy "rainclouds" -- in a way Berndnaut Smilde would probably approve. A hanging cloud, although created by slightly different means, reproduces and brings the signifiers of weather inside, making art of the everyday.

The Inspiration for the Indoor Cloud

Smilde's clouds are engineered through a painstaking process, building up just the right mixture of moisture and dust to create the environment over hours, so that the ephemeral clouds can be documented through photographs. His first installation, "Nimbus," was set in a simple, bright blue room that evoked a summer sky, with a red floor that underlined the surreal moment. The reference to Magritte's puffy-cloud blue paintings should be obvious, but it's the process that makes it interesting; such a great deal of work goes into creating momentary art which, through documentation, becomes no more or less real than Magritte's paintings -- or the classic Dutch landscapes which also provided inspiration. Again, you have here the idea of a painted image being brought out of a painting in a museum, only to be installed and photographed in the same museum space as a more interactive level of the art ... which is then restricted back to a simple image once the cloud fades. It's a democratization of the idea of "art" as something to be preserved, into simply equal imagery behind which lies serious effort and craftsmanship, using tools those classic Dutch artists could never imagine. In a way, it's the same train of thought that leads to street artists like Banksy or pop artists like Warhol, although perhaps in the opposite direction. But Smilde's interest in cloud imagery goes beyond the simple surrealism of that first installation: He is also interested in the more threatening, or portentous symbolism of the cloud as a cartoonish symbol of bad luck. For "Nimbus II," he used a cathedral space and even more evocative and dramatic lighting to create images that bring a negative power to the clever cuteness of the original "Nimbus." The cloud in "Nimbus II" seems almost trapped.

How Indoor Clouds Work

Berndnaut Smilde, an Amsterdam artist, has been making indoor clouds since 2010. They only last for a moment -- he preserves them in photographs -- which means that the artistic effort rests entirely in preparation for the event. While the pictures we see give the impression of a captive cloud, something you could perhaps buy tickets to see, it's an illusion: The photos are actually built up over the formation of several different clouds in a given space. While that may sound disappointing at first, it's actually right in line with Smilde's artistic ideals, as he is very interested in the way images are seen and used. For example, one of his biggest (non-cloud) pieces is a near-life-size picture of a barn -- he installed the photo outside Askeaton, in West County Limerick, Ireland -- and it perfectly encapsulates the artistic reasoning behind the clouds that have now become his biggest hit. The artist discovered that if you look up Askeaton on Google Street Maps, you'll be directed to a town called Askeaton in the U.S. He photographed the barn in North America and then installed the photo, life-size, outside the Irish city. The concept is that Google's photographing trucks might pick it up, putting the same building's image in both virtual locations. When viewed online, the same building would exist in both places, since you're only ever looking at an image.

10 of the Biggest Lies in History

Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme When Bernie Madoff admitted that his investment firm was "just one big lie," it was an understatement [source: Esposito]. In 2008, he confessed to having conned about $50 billion from investors who trusted him with their savings. Madoff used the f­ormula of a Ponzi scheme to keep up the fraud for more than a decade. This classic lie is named after the notorious Charles Ponzi, who used the ploy in the early 20th century. It works like this: A schemer promises investors great returns, but instead of investing the money, he keeps some for himself and uses the funds from new investments to pay off earlier investors. Madoff may not have invented this lie, but he took it to new lengths. For one, he made a record amount of money from the scheme. But he was also able to keep it going much longer than most Ponzi schemers. Usually, the scam falls apart quickly because it requires the schemer to constantly find more and more investors. It was also an especially shocking lie because Madoff, as a former chairman of NASDAQ, had been an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field. Compare this to Chares Ponzi, who was a petty ex-con by the time he launched his scheme. Anna Anderson, Alias Anastasia With the onslaught of the Russian Revolution, the existence of a royal family was intolerabl­e to the Bolsheviks. In 1918, they massacred the royal Romanov family -- Czar Nicholas II, his wife, son and four daughters -- to ensure that no legitimate heir could later resurface and rally the public for support. Soon, rumors floated around that certain members of the royal family had escaped and survived. As one might expect, claimants came out of the woodwork. "Anna Anderson" was the most famous. In 1920, Anderson was admitted to a hospital after attempting suicide and confessed that she was Princess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the royal family. She stood out from other claimants because she held a certain resemblance to and surprising knowledge of the Russian family and life at court. Although a few relatives and acquaintances who'd known Anastasia believed Anderson, most didn't. By 1927, an alleged former roommate of Anderson claimed that her name was Franziska Schanzkowska, not Anna and certainly not Anastasia [source: Aron]. This didn't stop Anderson from indulging in celebrity and attempting to cash in on a royal inheritance. She ultimately lost her case in the legal proceedings that dragged on for decades, but she stuck to her story until her death in 1984. Years later, upon the discovery of what proved to be the remains of the royal family, DNA tests confirmed her to be a fake. In 2009, experts were able to finally confirm that all remains have been found and that no family member escaped execution in 1918 [source: CNN] Titus Oates and the Plot to Kill Charles II By the time he fabricated his notorious plot, Titus Oates already had a history of deception and ­general knavery. He'd been expelled from some of England's finest schools as well as the navy. Oates was even convicted of perjury and escaped imprisonment. But his biggest lie was still ahead of him. Raised Protestant by an Anabaptist preacher, Oates entered Cambridge as a young man to study for Anglican orders. After misconduct got him dismissed from his Anglican post, he started associating with Catholic circles and feigned conversion [source: Butler]. With the encouragement of fellow anti-Catholic Israel Tonge, Oates infiltrated enemy territory by entering a Catholic seminary. In fact, he entered two seminaries -- both of which expelled him. But it hardly mattered. By this time, he had gathered enough inside information and names to wreak enormous havoc. In 1678, Oates concocted and pretended to uncover a plot in which the Jesuits were planning to murder King Charles II. The idea was that they wanted to replace Charles with his Catholic brother, James. What ensued was a three-year panic that fueled anti-Catholic sentiment and resulted in the executions of about 35 people [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]. After Charles died in 1685, James became king and had Oates tried for perjury. Oates was convicted, pilloried and imprisoned. He only spent a few years in jail, however, as the Glorious Revolution swept through England in 1688. Without James in power, Oates got off with a pardon and a pension. Piltdown Man After ­Charles Darwin published his revolutionary "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, scientists scrambled to find fossil evidence of extinct human ancestors. They sought these so-called "missing links" to fill in the gaps on the timeline of human evolution. When archaeologist Charles Dawson unearthed what he thought was a missing link in 1910, what he really found was one of the biggest hoaxes in history. The discovery was the Piltdown man, pieces of a skull and jaw with molars located in the Piltdown quarry in Sussex, England. Dawson brought his discovery to prominent paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward, who touted its authenticity to his dying day. Although the discovery gained world renown, the lie behind Piltdown man slowly and steadily unraveled. In the ensuing decades, other major discoveries suggested Piltdown man didn't fit in the story of human evolution. By the 1950s, tests revealed that the skull was only 600 years old and the jaw came from an orangutan. Some knowledgeable person apparently manipulated these pieces, including filing down and staining the teeth. The scientific world had been duped. So who was behind the fraud? Many suspects have surfaced, including Dawson himself. Today, most signs point to Martin A. C. Hinton, a museum volunteer at the time of the discovery. A trunk bearing his initials contained bones that were stained in exactly the same way the Piltdown fossils were. Perhaps he was out to embarrass his boss, Arthur Smith Woodward, who refused to give him a weekly salary. The Dreyfus Affair Like t­he conspiracy invented by Titus Oates, this scandal was built on a lie that dramatically affected national politics and was perpetuated for years by hatred. Alfred Dreyfus was a Jewish officer in the French Army in the late 19th century when he was accused of a treasonous crime: selling military secrets to Germany. After his highly publicized trial, authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment on Devils Island, and anti-Semitic groups used him as an example of unpatriotic Jews. However, suspicions arose that the incriminating letters were in fact forged and that a Maj. Esterhazy was the real culprit. When French authorities suppressed these accusations, the novelist Emile Zola stepped up to accuse the army of a vast cover-up. The scandal exploded into a fight between so-called Dreyfusards, who wanted to see the case reopened, and anti-Dreyfusards, who didn't. On both sides, the debate became less about Dreyfus' innocence and more about the principle. During the dramatic 12-year controversy, many violent anti-Semitic riots broke out and political allegiances shifted as Dreyfusards called for reform. After Maj. Hubert Joseph Henry admitted to forging key documents and committed suicide, a newly elected Cabinet finally reopened the case. The court found Dreyfus guilty again; however, he soon received a pardon from the president. A few years later, a civilian court of appeals found Dreyfus innocent, and he went on to have a distinguished army career and fought with honor in World War I. Meanwhile, the scandal had changed the face of politics in France. Clinton/Lewinsky Affair In January 1998, citizen journalist Matt Drudge reported a sensational story tha­t turned out to be true. The president of the United States, Bill Clinton, had an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. As suspicions mounted, Clinton publicly denied the allegations. As if this lie weren't big enough, it turned out that Clinton had lied under oath about the affair as well -- which was perjury and grounds for impeachment. Here's how the truth came out. Paula Jones was an Arkansas state employee when then-governor Clinton allegedly propositioned her. She later sued him for sexual harassment. In an effort to prove that Clinton had a pattern of such behavior, lawyers set out to expose his sexual affairs. They found Linda Tripp, a former White House secretary and confidant of Lewinsky. Tripp recorded telephone conversations in which Lewinsky talked of her affair with Clinton. Lawyers then probed Clinton with specific questions and cornered him into denying the affair under oath. During the highly publicized scandal, prosecutor Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton, who finally admitted to the relationship. Based on Starr's report, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton for not only perjury but obstruction of justice. Despite the scandal, Clinton maintained relatively high approval ratings from the American public, and the Senate acquitted him of the charges. However, in the eyes of many Americans, his legacy remained tarnished. Watergate Two decades before the Clinton scandal, another U.S. president was caught in a web of lies, and the controversy had devastating effects on the country as a whole. In the summer before President Richard Nixon's successful re-election to a second term, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, housed in the Watergate Hotel. As details emerged over the next year, it became clear that officials close to Nixon gave the orders to the burglars, perhaps to plant wiretaps on the phones there. The question soon became about whether Nixon knew of, covered up or even ordered the break-in. In response to mounting suspicions, Nixon denied allegations that he knew anything. In front of 400 Associated Press editors, famously proclaimed, "I am not a crook." He was talking about whether he had ever profited from public service, but that one quote came to represent his entire political career. It was a lie that came back to haunt him. When it was revealed that private White House conversations about the matter were recorded, the investigative committee subpoenaed the tapes. Nixon's refusal on the basis of "executive privilege" brought the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that he had to relinquish the tapes. The tapes were exactly the smoking gun needed to implicate Nixon in the cover-up of the scandal. They revealed that he obviously knew more about the matter than he claimed. Upon the initiation of impeachment proceedings, Nixon gave up and resigned from office. The scandal left a lasting scar on the American political scene and helped usher Washington outsider Jimmy Carter into the presidency a few years later. The Big Lie: Nazi Propaganda By the time Nazism arose in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Semitism was nothing new -- not by a long shot. The J­ewish people had suffered a long history of prejudice and persecution. And although Nazis perpetuated centuries-old lies, this time those lies would have their most devastating effects. Like never before, anti-Semitism was manifested in a sweeping national policy known as "the Final Solution," which sought to eliminate Jews from the face of the Earth. To accomplish this, Adolf Hitler and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, launched a massive campaign to convince the German people that the Jews were their enemies. Having taken over the press, they spread lies blaming Jews for all of Germany's problems, including the loss of World War I. One outrageous lie dating back to the Middle Ages claimed that Jews engaged in the ritual killings of Christian children and used their blood in the unleavened bread eaten at Passover [source: Landau]. Using Jews as the scapegoat, Hitler and his cronies orchestrated what they called "the big lie." This theory states that no matter how big the lie is (or more precisely, because it's so big), people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies [source: Hoffer]. Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it. This theory helps us understand so many of the lies throughout history. Although we've barely scratched the surface of all those lies that deserve (dis)honorable mentions, you can satiate your historical curiosity by browsing the lists on the next page.By the time Nazism arose in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Semitism was nothing new -- not by a long shot. The J­ewish people had suffered a long history of prejudice and persecution. And although Nazis perpetuated centuries-old lies, this time those lies would have their most devastating effects. Like never before, anti-Semitism was manifested in a sweeping national policy known as "the Final Solution," which sought to eliminate Jews from the face of the Earth. To accomplish this, Adolf Hitler and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, launched a massive campaign to convince the German people that the Jews were their enemies. Having taken over the press, they spread lies blaming Jews for all of Germany's problems, including the loss of World War I. One outrageous lie dating back to the Middle Ages claimed that Jews engaged in the ritual killings of Christian children and used their blood in the unleavened bread eaten at Passover [source: Landau]. Using Jews as the scapegoat, Hitler and his cronies orchestrated what they called "the big lie." This theory states that no matter how big the lie is (or more precisely, because it's so big), people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies [source: Hoffer]. Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it. This theory helps us understand so many of the lies throughout history. Although we've barely scratched the surface of all those lies that deserve (dis)honorable mentions, you can satiate your historical curiosity by browsing the lists on the next page.

Biggest Lies in History Han van Meegeren's Vermeer Forgeries

This lie re­sulted from a classic case of wanting to please the critics. Han van Meegeren was an artist who felt underappreciated and thought he could trick art experts into admitting his genius. In the early 20th century, scholars were squabbling about whether the great Vermeer had painted a series of works depicting biblical scenes. Van Meegeren pounced on this opportunity and set to work carefully forging one such disputed work, "The Disciples at Emmaus." With tireless attention to detail, he faked the cracks and aged hardness of a centuries-old painting. He intentionally played on the confirmation bias of critics who wanted to believe that Vermeer painted these scenes. It worked: Experts hailed the painting as authentic, and van Meegeren made out like a bandit producing and selling more fake Vermeers. Greed apparently overcame his desire for praise, as he decided not to out himself. However, van Meegeren, who was working in the 1930s and '40s, made one major mistake. He sold a painting to a prominent member of the Nazi party in Germany. After the war, Allies considered him a conspirator for selling a "national treasure" to the enemy [source: Wilson]. In a curious change of events, van Meegeren had to paint for his freedom. In order to help prove that the painting was no national treasure, he forged another in the presence of authorities. He escaped with a light sentence of one year in prison, but van Meegeren died of a heart attack two months after his trial.

Biggest Lies in History

If all is fair in love and ­war, this might be the most forgivable of the big lies. When the Trojan Paris absconded with Helen, wife of the Spartan king, war exploded. It had been raging for 10 long years when the Trojans believed they had finally overcome the Greeks. Little did they know, the Greeks had another trick up their sleeves. In a stroke of genius, the Greeks built an enormous wooden horse with a hollow belly in which men could hide. After the Greeks convinced their foes that this structure was a peace offering, the Trojans happily accepted it and brought the horse within their fortified city. That night, as the Trojans slept, Greeks hidden inside snuck out the trap door. Then, they proceeded to slaughter and decisively defeat the Trojans. This was unquestionably one of the biggest and most successful tricks known to history -- that is, if it's true. Homer mentions the occurrence in "The Iliad," and Virgil extrapolates the story in "The Aeneid." Evidence suggests that Troy itself existed, giving some validity to Homer's tales, and scholars have long been investigating how historically accurate these details are. One theory behind the Trojan horse comes from historian Michael Wood, who proposes that it was merely a battering ram in the shape of a horse that infiltrated the city [source: Haughton]. In any case, the story has won a permanent place in the Western imagination as a warning to beware of enemies bearing gifts.

Biggest Lies in History

According to myth, a young George Washington confessed to cutting down a cherry tree by proclaiming, "I cannot tell a lie." The story is testament to how much respect Americans have for their cherished first president and honesty in general. Unfortunately, in the annals of history it seems there are 10 dishonest scoundrels for every honorable hero like Washington. Supposedly, the truth can set you free. But for many, deceit holds the key to money, fame, revenge or power, and these prove all too tempting. In history, this has often resulted in elaborate hoaxes, perjuries, and forgeries that had enormous ripple effects. In the following pages, we'll go over some of the most colossal and significant lies in history. Although such a list can't be comprehensive, we sought to include a variety of lies that influenced politics, science and even art. As a result of these, lives were lost, life-savings destroyed, legitimate research hampered and -- most of all -- faith in our fellow man shattered. Without further ado, let's delve into one of the oldest and most successful lies on record.

How Valentine's Day Works

Esther Howland, the woman who produced the first commercial American valentines in the 1840s, sold a then mind-boggling $5,000 in cards during her first year of business. The valentine industry in the United States has been booming ever since. Today, over 1 billion valentine cards are sent in this country each year -- second in number only to Christmas cards, according to the Greeting Card Association. (The happy day is also celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.) Around 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to cards, there are millions of boxes of chocolates and bouquets of roses purchased (mostly by men) for the February 14 holiday. When did the Valentine's Day frenzy begin? Scholars tell slightly different versions of the history of this popular holiday. In this article, we'll look at that history, with its Roman and Christian roots, as well as holiday traditions that have developed over the years. We'll also check out some old valentines and some new ones. Launch Video Discovery News: The Skinny on Smooching

History of Electronics

The early history of electronics is closely tied to experimentation with the Crookes tube, a type of vacuum tube developed by Sir William Crookes, an English physicist and chemist. While performing experiments with a Crookes tube, Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, a German physicist, discovered X rays in 1895. In 1897, Ferdinand Braun, another Germany physicist modified the Crookes tube to make the first oscilloscope, an instrument that produces a visual image of an electric signal. Interest in improving the reception of radio waves led to the invention of the vacuum-tube diode in 1904 by Sir John Fleming, an English electrical engineer, and to the invention of the vacuum-tube triode in 1907 by Lee De Forest, a United States inventor. The invention of the triode was a key event in the history of electronics, since it was the first electronic amplifier. During World War I there was an increased interest in developing radio and electronics, and by 1920 the development of vacuum tubes and circuits employing them had advanced to the point where their superiority over all other devices used in radio transmitters and receivers was apparent. Regular commercial radio broadcasting in the United States began in 1920, and the demand for household receivers soon made electronics an important industry. Certain technical limitations in the operation of electron tubes were overcome with the development of the pentode in 1929. The advances being made at this time helped lead to the development of television; the first regular television broadcasting began in 1936, in London. During World War II, emphasis was placed on the development of electronics for military use. Radar was greatly improved and in 1944 the first large electronic digital computer, ENIAC, was built. The main purpose of the computer was to speed up the calculation of tables of data for aiming artillery. The electronics industry emerged from the war as a major industry. Its growth following the war continued as television manufacturing entered a boom period and military programs demanded more advanced electronic technology. In 1948 William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter H. Brattain of Bell Telephone Laboratories developed the first transistor, a forerunner of the bipolar junction transistor. During the early 1950's the technology was developed to mass-produce transistors. The advantage of semiconductor devices over electron tubes created a demand for techniques to further reduce the amount of space required for electronic components. An important step toward miniaturizing electronic components was the introduction of the integrated circuit in the early 1960's. The techniques necessary to fabricate such circuits were pioneered by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments in 1959. During the 1970's and 1980's the size of the components of integrated circuits continued to be reduced and the number of components that could be produced on each chip grew rapidly. With increasing miniaturization, the capabilities of the electronic circuits and the speed at which they could perform their functions greatly increased. Each advance helped reduce the cost of producing electronic products. Through the 1980's and into the 1990's, the variety of products being built with electronic components increased, and the use of electronic control devices led to greater automation. Microelectronics led to the development of new technologies, such as digital audio recording; to the introduction of new products, such as personal computers; and to the reduction in the size of portable telephones and many other electronic products.

Basic Electronic Components

Some basic components of electronic circuits are active components; they can increase the power of an electrical signal because they are powered by a source of electricity separate from the electrical signal. Transistors and oscillators are examples of active components. Other components are passive components; they help give a circuit its electrical characteristics, but do not require a separate source of electric power for their operation. Passive components include resistors, inductors, and capacitors. Resistors are important in controlling the voltage in different parts of a circuit. Capacitors temporarily store electric charge and help oppose voltage changes in a circuit. Inductors store energy in magnetic fields and help oppose changes of current. Active components in turn are divided into two fundamental groups: (1) semiconductor, or solid-state, devices; and (2) electron tubes. The operation of semiconductor devices depends on the behavior of electrons in a semiconductor, a material whose ability to conduct electricity is between that of a conductor and that of an insulator. Most electronic devices in use today are semiconductor devices. The operation of electron tubes depends on the behavior of electrons moving through a vacuum or gas inside a closed container. The most common semiconducting material used in electronics is silicon to which small amounts of certain other chemical elements have been added. The addition of these elements, a process called doping, improves the degree to which a semiconductor's ability to conduct electricity can be controlled. Doping is used to produce either of two types of semiconductors: n-type or p-type semiconductors. An n-type semiconductor contains a large number of electrons that are free to move through it. A p-type semiconductor contains a large number of holes, sites into which an electron can move. When an electron from a nearby atom moves into a hole, it leaves a hole at its former position; this action is the same as if the hole moved from one point to another. (When a free electron moves into a hole, the electron ceases to be free and the hole ceases to exist.) Both free electrons and holes are charge carriers—that is, under the influence of a voltage, they give rise to a flow of electric charge. The operation of most semiconductor devices depends on the electrical properties of a pn junction, the boundary between an n-type semiconductor and a p-type semiconductor. The electrical properties of a pn junction are discussed later in this section under the subtitle Semiconductor Diodes. Various kinds of protective cases are used to house semiconductor devices. These cases are made of metal, plastic, or a ceramic material. Wires or pins that project from the case provide electrical connections to other parts of an electric circuit. An electron tube is essentially a sealed hollow enclosure in which the movement of electrons can be carefully controlled. The enclosure is typically made of glass and contains various metal parts called electrodes for producing and regulating a beam of electrons. An electron tube from which all gases have been removed is called a vacuum tube. In most types of vacuum tubes, one of the electrodes must be heated to emit electrons. (This emission is called thermionic emission.) The most important types of vacuum tubes are the cathode-ray tube and the X-ray tube. Such vacuum tubes as the triode, the pentode, and the vacuum-tube diode were once important, but they have been almost entirely replaced by comparable semiconductor devices that are smaller and more durable. In addition, vacuum tubes consume much more electric energy than semiconductor devices because they require electrical heating for thermionic emission. In some electron tubes, the enclosure is filled with a gas such as mercury vapor or neon. Such gas tubes are important sources of light. They include fluorescent lamps, neon lamps, and electronic flashtubes.

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Pro 2011 Keys Till 2018 8MEH-RXYFD-JUV72-8922R-FTDO8-Q­EMBR-ACED 8MEH-RS47Y-82HT8-GONVA-BCCCZ-D­EMBR-ACED 8MEH-RGM33-K474L-6FGRR-8QEFN-U­EMBR-ACED 8MEH-R6BFE-HWUHF-DPNDA-VFUWX-2­EMBR-ACED Nero 10.5 All products keys Serials Plugins Serials > DTS Plug-In: KK00-5195-199K-254K-132E-9056-XC07 DTS Plug-in: 9K00-40E3-8E80-57C0-5058-2410-44A2 mp3PRO Plug-In: KC00-203X-1886-2446-051E-54C2-XC60 mp3PRO plug-in: 1C00-8014-9880-2000-408M-M5K3-M12E Gracenote Plug-in: 9M0C-0194-WHXE-0EL6-CXK9-L81P-61C6-47X1 Nero Move it Plug-in: 9X11-00AK-W57M-MWHT-WP1C-M79W-WA1X-07W2 Nero Blu-ray Disc Playback Plug-in: 9X12-008A-M8PK-M1AU-0944-AM34-T88E-087A Nero Multimedia Suite 10.5 Platinum HD serial > Nero Multimedia Suite 10.5 or Nero Multimedia Suite 10.5 Platinum HD 9X03-014M-337H-H1CZ-L2KK-229X-1ZUX-LPHA Winamp Pro 5.58 Build 2975 serial 3MMW8-ZFCNO-C9ETR-N6U97 TrustPort USB Antivirus 2011 v11.0.0.4615 TP-NFRx-ZTC2-MJEX-MJY1-H6GZ14DJ TP-NFRx-MZRH-NG9W-MMVK-BVZ4AKXT -->

windows 8

Start 8 One of the things about not having a Start button on the desktop that is so frustrating to many early adopters is that the very first public test release of Windows 8 actually had one! It still re-directed you to the Start Screen that we see today, but the button was there for anyone who wanted to use it. Start 8 took that one step further, and implemented an experience that gently blends the Windows 8 Start Screen and the UI that every Windows user is already familiar with. Apps, using the same icons that are generated in the Start Screen, populate the Start 8 menu. Everything about the UI meshes very well with the rest of the Desktop UI, right down to the use of flat colors and simple animation. It also offers all of the same functionality that was available on the Start menu in Windows 7, including the Control Panel and shut down functions. In my opinion, Start 8 is what traditional Windows PC users would expect from the next version of Windows. Start 8 has a free 30 day trial, but is available for $4.99 on the Stardock website. ViStart When Windows Vista came pre-loaded on PC’s, there were several companies that offered the ability to downgrade back to XP almost as an apology for including the OS on their products. ViStart looks and feels almost exactly like that for Windows 8, only it’s designed to work as far back as XP. Everything about the UI looks like the classic style Aero Glass experience out of the box, with open theme tools available so third parties can release custom UI’s for the program. If you were to install ViStart on a Windows 8 system before handing it to them, the user would have a difficult time telling you that they were using Windows 8. Unfortunately, even on a high end system, there were points in which ViStart lagged out or crashed altogether. At one point, a complete reboot was required in order to restore ViStart to a functional state. ViStart is completely free, but the quality is not great. To make matters worse, their installer includes a lot of pre-selected options to install unrelated third party software that many users would likely glaze over during installation. Pokki If you’re going to re-invent the wheel and bring back the Start menu, you might as well do it with some style and make sure yours stands out, right? Pokki is more than an unusual name, it’s a completely fresh take on a Start Menu. Pokki’s UI creates a self contained user experience that allows you to be as simple or as complex as you like. Your Start Menu can be just an application launcher, it or can be the launchpad for your twitter feed, the portal for your email, and a quick launch dock for your favorite apps. Pokki takes the Desktop experience and adds notifications, just like you would expect in your mobile experience. As a Start button replacement it is a cool animated tool, but it is also designed to work well with touch. It takes all of the features of Windows 8 and bundles them up in a tool that is much easier for someone who has never seen Windows 8 to understand. Of course, if you’re just looking for a Start replacement, Pokki serves as a quick and pleasant to use menu that grants access to shut down as well as file management and Control Panel. I would have expected to pay for Pokki, and was surprised to see that it was not only free, but requires the least effort to install and use out of the batch of Start replacements that were tested. These options should be more than enough to quench your thirst for a Start menu in Windows 8. And, don’t forget, some PC vendors are including Start menu-like tools with their Windows 8 systems in an effort to differentiate their offerings and satisfy users who miss the operating system’s most prominent feature.

Windows 8 tips: How to get your Start menu back

Easily the most dramatic change made to the latest version of Windows was the decision to remove the Start button from the bottom left corner of the operating system’s Desktop view. While the change makes a lot more sense on a touch screen device, the choice to just flat out remove a staple of the OS has caused some coping issues with long time Windows users. . If you’re using a mouse and keyboard, and are somehow unfamiliar with the Windows key on your keyboard, reaching the Start screen from the Desktop is a two step process. And then when you get to the new Metro-ified Start screen, it might not be what you want — those live tiles are great for new and social, but those aren’t always what you are looking for. Fortunately, there are no shortage of software developers that have stepped up to the task of rescuing the Start button and it’s menu options from the depths of Windows 8. Power 8 Because the Start Menu itself has changed quite a bit over the years, there’s a lot of flexibility to be had when developing a replacement for it. Power 8 is specifically designed for Windows 8, making sure to offer the Start button with tools and features that play well with the rest of the new OS. The first thing you see when you open Power 8 is a list of programs, with the ability to pin them quickly to your taskbar. Over time, you would probably be less likely to use the Power 8 button for everything, since your applications would all be pinned to the taskbar for rapid access. There’s also a file manager UI baked into Power 8 that does a good job of letting you quickly navigate your file system without having to double click through a bunch of folders to get what you want. This would appeal to anyone who stores a lot of content locally and wanted a fast way of accessing things that were buried deep within other folders. Power 8 also includes one click access to things like the shutdown, hibernate, and lock screen functions, which aren’t quite so accessible in the stock configuration of Windows 8 with a mouse and keyboard. Power 8 is available for free, with the source code available to anyone who contributes to the project. Start Menu 8 If we were handing out awards for the neatest looking Start button icon replacement, Start Menu 8 would win it. The software is designed to be as flexible as you need when setting up your own personalized start menu. You could almost use Start Menu 8 as a complete fullscreen replacement for the desktop, though that is certainly not the intended purpose. Start Menu 8 includes a somewhat unique feature, in that it allows the computer to boot straight to the desktop to give the whole experience a feel that is much more like “traditional” Windows experiences. The design is such that you should never feel the need to use the Windows 8 Start screen at all. Your programs, settings, and folder system are all accessible here, as well as all the Control Panel features and screen controls. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from using the Windows 8 Start screen and switching between the two experiences is pretty simple. Pressing the Windows key on the keyboard will still return you to the new Windows 8 Start, which neatly allows yout o contain both experiences. Start Menu 8 is available for free, but there are no shortage of hooks in the program to try and get you to upgrade to the pro version. Classic Shell Some users have been unhappy with the Start Menu for a lot longer than others. The team at Classic Shell have been implementing their own version of the Start Menu since Windows Vista. With that much time comes a lot more in the way of enhanced features and stability when faced with unique situations. It’s also translated in 35 different languages and offers a wealth of documentation for using the advanced features. Everything about the UI for Classic Shell can be modified. The default UI reminds me of early Windows XP, even Windows 2000 in some areas. Every part can be skinned, themed, and altered to look however you like. The settings for this start menu are incredibly granular and even allows for control over the animations as you move from menu to menu. For Windows 8, you can do away with the Modern UI entirely with Classic Shell and come about as close as possible to completely reverting to a Windows 7 or earlier workflow. Of course, if you still wanted to take advantage of things like Windows Store and the apps that go along with it, Classic Shell makes that easy. Classic Shell is free, and from what I can tell by browsing their website, very well supported by the community should you encounter any problems.