How to Clean the Registry

by: Ray Geide
In the beginning Windows' registry consisted of two files totalling around 5mb in size. Today it consists of at least 12 files with the Software file itself being 30mb or bigger in size. As the size of the registry has exploded, so has the trash and clutter in it. It may seem like a daunting task, but cleaning the registry properly can fix system problems, speed your computer up, and make it run more efficiently.

I have spent many years developing and refining thousands of procedures to do just that. I could share these methods of hunting down the trash with you and let you find them and delete them by hand, but if you were to sit down at your computer right now and work nonstop, you would still be busy with them a week from now when the next issue of Ray's Computer Tips arrives. By then your registry would have new clutter and you would have to start all over again.

To make registry cleaning easier on everyone, I wrote a program called RegVac Registry Cleaner (http://regvac.com/regvac.htm) to perform those procedures. It has been so successful that several companies have asked me to model their registry cleaners after RegVac and even more have copied processes that first debutted in RegVac.

The first place RegVac cleans is the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section (the Classes Vac in RegVac does this). This section contains settings for the classes of Windows. Think of a huge box full of snakes and you will get an idea of how complicated and interwoven it is. It is so complicated that many registry cleaners bypass it or simply perform surface scans of it. RegVac uses over a hundred processes to follow each tentacle of each class deep into this area and make sure that they abide by the rules.

Next RegVac validates the entries in 22 lists with 7 different methods (the FilesList Vac does this). This is a minor part of RegVac but the bulk of most other registry cleaners even though they usually do not clean all 22 lists.

Another part of RegVac, the Software Vac, which is unique to RegVac, finds old software sections in the registry and provides a way to remove that software's entire branch. Other registry cleaners only remove a few entries in this area often leaving huge portions of the registry that do nothing but take up space and get in the way.

Even more trash can be discovered in hundreds of stashes used to store data you will never use. Most registry cleaners do not even touch these. The Stash Vac lists these stashes and lets you go through and select which ones to empty out. Please use caution when using the Stash Vac because some of the items listed there may be important. For example, one folder in the Stash Vac lists places where data for international keyboards are stored. You probably will never use the data for Bulgarian keyboards, so you can remove it, but if you live in the US you may experience problems after removing the United States 101 keyboard. The items that you can safely remove are usually obvious.

Last but not least, when cleaning the registry, you should look for broken links to files on the computer (this is what the Bad Link Vac does). If a file is referenced in the registry but it does not exist on your hard drive, that is a good indicator that something is wrong. Many programmers start out writing a registry cleaner thinking all it has to do is check for these broken links and remove them. In fact, that is all many registry cleaners do.

Even though that is all they do, they often don't do it correctly. If you check the results of such scans, you will find out that many of the broken links are really good links. I spent several months refining this part of RegVac so that as far as I know it is 100% accurate. Despite this, please realize that some software enter broken links in the registry and require them to be there in order for them to run. RegVac skips the ones it knows about, but you still need to be careful with this part of RegVac.

RegVac has six more tools that clean even more areas: the Add/Remove Editor, the System Config Utility, the OpenWith Editor, the AutoComplete Editor, the Junk Keys Editor, and Registry Backup, Pack, and Restore.

Many of you already use RegVac but if you don't, you can downloaded a free 30 day trial of RegVac at http://regvac.com/regvacz.exe. For more information about RegVac Registry Cleaner go to http://regvac.com/regvac.htm. If you like RegVac, you can purchase it for only $29.95. All future updates are free.

Keep the Windows registry clean and running smoothly with RegVac Registry Cleaner.

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Hamilton takes top MSA award

Lewis Hamilton has been awarded the prestigious Hawthorn Memorial Trophy at the Motor Sports Association's annual Night of Champions.

The McLaren Mercedes driver received the trophy from MSA chairman Alan Gow in front of 150 invited guests including former F1 champion Damon Hill and triple World Touring Car Championship title winner Andy Priaulx.

The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy - named after Britain's first F1 champion Mike Hawthorn - is awarded annually to the most successful British or Commonwealth driver in the F1 World Championship, with Hamilton becoming the first driver to take the honour in his debut season.

"Lewis' arrival on the F1 scene last season made a huge impact, capturing the public's imagination not only in this country but around the world," Colin Hilton, chief executive of the Motor Sports Association said. "His performances have given us a great platform on which to raise the profile and develop the sport in this country. We were delighted that he was able to join us at the Night of Champions in order to receive the award.
"The British motor sport scene is still the best in the world as illustrated by the fact that no fewer than nine of last year's F1 grid cut their teeth in our championships. The MSA is committed to securing increased British representation at the highest level of motor sport and as a result we are continuing to invest substantial funds into both the Race Elite programme and its sister operation in rallying. We hope that in the coming years, many of these young drivers will graduate to F1 and race at the highest level."

Previous winners of the award include Sir Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and current F1 racers David Coulthard and Jenson Button.

Source:
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Hamilton to stay at McLaren to 2012

LONDON (Reuters) - Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton has agreed a new five-year deal keeping him at McLaren until the end of the 2012 season, the Formula One team said on Friday.

No financial details were given for a contract that is sure to transform the 23-year-old Briton into one of the best-paid drivers in the glamour sport, and potentially the highest earner of all time.

Formula One's first black driver had an astonishing debut season in 2007 when he won four races and finished runner-up by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after leading to the final race.

"Following our initial Formula One agreement with Lewis, which we announced in November 2006, he went on to exceed all expectations for a rookie in Formula One, even those of us in the team who have known him for over a decade," said team boss Ron Dennis in a statement.

"Given Lewis's performances over the course of the 2007 season, it is clear that improved financial terms were fully deserved.

"Today's announcement will take the length of our relationship with Lewis to a total of 15 years, which we believe is among the longest running associations between a sportsman and a team in the history of sport, particularly motorsport."

Hamilton, who has been backed by McLaren from karting through various junior series over the past decade, said the new deal was fantastic news.

"Whilst last year was my first year with the team in Formula One, I have been connected to McLaren and Mercedes-Benz since 1998 and feel that I could easily drive for this team for the whole of my Formula One career," he said.

RIGHT TEAM

"I am with the right team to compete for race wins and both the drivers' and constructors' World Championships in the future," added Hamilton.

"We will have a lot of challenges ahead, but I am 100 percent positive that I am with the people to take them on."

The new season starts in Australia on March 16 and Hamilton will be a favourite for the title after racking up nine podium finishes in a row in his first nine races last year.

The youngster also has a new team mate in Finland's Heikki Kovalainen after the departure of double world champion Fernando Alonso back to Renault.

Hamilton's father Anthony said the new contract was a testament to McLaren's early faith in his son and the driver's belief in the team.

"It is an amazing thing to have been signed by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz back in 1998 at the age of 13 and to be given an opportunity to achieve a better life than one would ever have dreamed could happen," he said.

"It is also a fantastic feeling to have put all our faith and belief into the team and here we are today in a great partnership and our relationship even stronger."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Trevor Huggins)

Source:
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Pedrosa pulls out of US weekend

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will not ride in tomorrow's US GP. The Spaniard decided to withdraw from the event this morning, suffering excruciating pain from the left hand and wrist injuries he suffered in a high-speed crash during last Sunday's German GP.

Pedrosa fractured his left index finger and the big bone of his left wrist, as well as suffering a badly sprained right ankle, in the fall. Following a consultation with his specialist Dr Xavier Mir in Barcelona, Pedrosa bravely elected to travel to California to attempt to race and score some points. Going into the German GP he had been leading the World Championship.

Yesterday morning Pedrosa took painkilling pills before the first session but the pain was so bad that he could only complete 21 laps at a reduced pace. Before the afternoon outing he had an anti-pain infiltration and was able to do 28 laps, ending the day 15th fastest. However, the two sessions had aggravated his injuries, the difficulties compounded by the fact that Laguna is an immensely physical anti-clockwise circuit that places immense demands on the left hand, arm and wrist.

Taking everything into consideration he decided that it would be impossible for him to finish the gruelling 32 lap race. Pedrosa will now devote all his energies to recuperating during MotoGP's traditional summer break to return to action at the Czech Grand Prix on August 15/16/17.

Pedrosa last missed a race at the end of the 2003 season, shortly after he had secured that year's 125 World Championship, his first world title. He missed the Australian and Valencia GPs after breaking both ankles during practice for the Australian round. The Repsol Honda Team's lone representative in tomorrow's US GP, round 11 of this year's 18 race series, will be Pedrosa's team-mate Nicky Hayden.

"This has been a very difficult decision to take, but there really is no alternative," said Pedrosa. "Yesterday I struggled a lot. I rode in the morning using only painkilling pills and the pain was incredible, so I had an anti-pain infiltration before the afternoon session. Despite that, I still had a lot of pain. I did a nine lap run and it felt like 40 laps. When I woke this morning I had a lot of pain and the fingers were very swollen. I knew that I couldn't finish the race in these conditions. To face 32 laps would have been impossible, especially since this track is very physically demanding, with many uphill and downhill sections and many left-handers which demand a lot of effort from the left hand and arm. At least I tried - if I had stayed at home I would never have known if I could have ridden. Now I have three weeks to recover and do all the necessary rehabilitation to be ready to race in Brno in the best-possible condition."

Source:
http://moto.gpupdate.net

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Pedrosa struggles in qualifying

The Spaniard was 12th quickest in this afternoon's qualifying session, run on a rain-soaked racetrack. This morning's practice session was also run in the wet, though the rain was heavier this afternoon and intensified as the session went on, the track waterlogged in several places by the time the chequered flag came out. Like most riders, Pedrosa rode his fastest lap in the earlier stages when there was less surface water.

Pedrosa, still suffering from the broken left wrist and index finger he sustained at last month's German GP, was cautious in the treacherous conditions, determined not to risk a fall that might exacerbate his injuries. His team-mate Nicky Hayden is missing this race due to a foot injury sustained during an X Games Supermoto event in Los Angeles two weeks ago.

"I wore a heavier strapping on my left hand today, for better support, but anyway the cold weather gave me more pain," said Pedrosa. "The track was very wet this afternoon. I tried to improve my lap time, even though the rain got heavier, but I couldn't improve, so I will start the race from the fourth row. Of course, I'm not happy about starting from there, because it won't help us in the race. If the race is run in the dry I hope we will have a dry warm-up so that we can work on our suspension set-up and tyre choice. If it is dry in the morning we will work hard to make improvements so we can have the best-possible race."

Source:
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Yamaha and Valentino Rossi continue their partnership for two more years

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd is delighted to announce that it has signed a new two-year agreement with Valentino Rossi. The seven-time world champion will continue to race with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team for the 2009 and 2010 MotoGP World Championships.

The 29-year-old Italian joined Yamaha in 2004 and since then he has won two world championships, 32 races and taken 20 pole positions for the Japanese factory. He is currently leading the 2008 rider championship, having taken three wins and a further five podiums in the first ten races this year. Rossi will continue to race alongside Spanish youngster Jorge Lorenzo in 2009.

Rossi and Masao Furusawa, Executive Officer, Engineering Operations of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, signed the contract today at the Laguna Seca circuit and made the public announcement at Yamaha US’s traditional Laguna Seca party at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this evening.

Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis commented, “We are obviously delighted to have secured Valentino for a further two years. I think this news will be very welcome for MotoGP fans and for Yamaha fans around the world. Valentino is an icon in this sport and he is on top form right now as he challenges to win his eighth world championship and his third title together with Yamaha. This signing confirms Yamaha’s four-rider line-up for 2009 so now we can concentrate our full efforts on bike development and team organization to make sure that we are in the best possible shape for next year.

“In the meantime we have many races to go this season and I hope that Valentino can win in Laguna Seca for the first time this Sunday to extend his championship lead before the well-deserved summer break – Forza Vale!”

Valentino Rossi added, “After so many years spent in racing, fortunately with so many victories, I needed a special motivation to take the decision to sign for two more years. The best place to find this motivation is Yamaha, since I have a great relationship with Yamaha’s directors, which comes from a mutual trust and loyalty. In our team there is a special atmosphere and with this new deal I can continue to work with my crew, where I am part of the project and part of the development of my M1. I had other opportunities but due to Yamaha’s efforts to give me the best bike in the best environment, I have decided to stay with Yamaha for two more years. This contract means that Yamaha is the manufacturer I will have spent most of my career with. This means more than a thousand words”

Source:
http://www.rossifiles.com

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Tattooing Among Japan's Ainu People

by: Lars Krutak

The indigenous people of northern Japan call themselves “Ainu,” meaning “people” or “humans” in their language. Recent DNA evidence suggests that the Ainu are the direct descendents of the ancient Jomon people who inhabited Japan as early as 12,000 years ago. Astonishingly, the Jomon culture existed in Japan for some 10,000 years, and today many artistic traditions of the Ainu seem to have evolved from the ancestral Jomon. As such, this artistic continuum represents one of the oldest ongoing cultural traditions in the world spanning at least ten millennia.

Jomon culture, like that of the Ainu, was based on a hunting-and-gathering economy. Exploiting natural resources from riverine, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems, the Jomon achieved stasis through active and continual engagement with their surrounding environments. Archaeological evidence in the form of ceramic sculpture supports this view, but it also suggests that particular animals (bears, whales, owls) were highly revered and possibly worshipped as deities. Among the Ainu, all natural phenomena (including flora, fauna, and even inanimate objects) are believed to have a spiritual essence, and particular animals (e.g., brown bears, killer whales, horned owls) continue to be honored in ceremony and ritual as “spirit deities” called kamuy.

Apart from zoomorphic sculpture, Jomon artisans also created anthropomorphic figurines (dogū) that were probably used by individual families for protection against illness, infertility, and the dangers associated with childbirth. Markings on the faces of many of these dogū likely indicate body painting, scarification, or tattooing, and similar figures carved more recently as rock art or into masks by indigenous people of the lower Amur River basin of the Russian Maritime Region suggest an ancient and unbroken tradition of personal adornment and ritual practice.
Ainu Tattooing

Until very recently (the last fully tattooed Ainu woman died in 1998), Ainu women retained a tradition of facial tattooing lending support to the argument that the ancient Jomon employed the custom in the distant past. For the Ainu, tattooing was exclusive to females, as was the profession of tattooist. According to mythological accounts, tattoo was brought to earth by the “ancestral mother” of the Ainu Okikurumi Turesh Machi who was the younger sister of the creator god Okikurumi.

Because tattooing represented an ancestral custom derived from one common female ancestress, it was continued down through the centuries in the matrilineal line. Viewing tattoo practices through the lens of kinship, it is not surprising that the position of tattoo artist was customarily performed by grandmothers or maternal aunts who were called “Tattoo Aunts” or simply “Tattoo Women”.

At various times in history, Japanese authorities prohibited the use of tattoos by the Ainu (and other ethnic peoples under their authority like the indigenous peoples of Taiwan) in attempts to dislocate them from their traditional cultural practices and prepare them for the subsequent process of Japanization. As early as 1799, during the Edo Period, the Ezo Shogunate issued a ban on tattoos: “Regarding the rumored tattoos, those already done cannot be helped, but those still unborn are prohibited from being tattooed”. In 1871, the Hokkaido Development Mission proclaimed, “those born after this day are strictly prohibited from being tattooed” because the custom “was too cruel”. And according to one Western observer, the Japanese attitude towards tattooing was necessarily disapproving since in their own cultural system, “tattooing was associated with crime and punishment whereas the practice itself was regarded as a form of body mutilation, which, in case of voluntary inflictment, was completely averse to the prevalent notions of Confucian filial conduct”.

Of course, the Ainu vehemently evaded these laws because tattoos were traditionally a prerequisite to marriage and to the afterlife. One report from the 1880s describes that the Ainu were very much grieved and tormented by the prohibition of tattooing: “They say the gods will be angry, and that the women can’t marry unless they are tattooed. They are less apathetic on this than on any subject, and repeat frequently, ‘It’s part of our religion.’” One Ainu woman stated in the 1970s, “I was twenty-one years old before I had this little tattoo put on my lips. After it was done, my mother hid me from the Japanese police for five days. I wish we could have retained at least this one custom!”

The modern Ainu term for tattooing is nuye meaning “to carve” and hence “to tattoo” and “to write”, or more literally, sinuye “to carve oneself”. The old term for tattoo was anchi-piri (anchi, “obsidian”; piri, “cut”).

Traditional Ainu tattooing instruments called makiri were knife-like in form, and sometimes the sheaths and handles of these tools were intricately carved with zoomorphic and apotropaic motifs. Before the advent of steel tipped makiri, razor sharp obsidian points were used that were wound with fiber allowing only the tip of the point to protrude so as to control the depth of the incisions. As the cutting intensified, the blood was wiped away with a cloth saturated in a hot ash wood or spindlewood antiseptic called nire. Soot taken with the fingers from the bottom of a kettle was rubbed into the incisions, and the tattooist would then sing a yukar or portion of an epic poem that said: “Even without it, she’s so beautiful. The tattoo around her lips, how brilliant it is. It can only be wondered at.” Afterward, the tattooist recited a kind of spell or magic formula as more pigment was laid into the skin: “pas ci-yay, roski, roski, pas ren-ren”, meaning “soot enclosed remain, soot sink in, sink in”.

While this invocation may not seem important at first glance, it was symbolically significant nonetheless. Every Ainu home was constructed according to plan with reference to the central hearth and a sacred window facing a stream. Within the hearth was kindled fire, and within the fire was the home of an important deity who served as mediator between all Ainu gods – Fuchi. The fire goddess Fuchi was invoked prior to all ceremonials because communication with other kamuy (deities and spirits) was impossible without her divine intervention. Fuchi guarded over families and lent her spiritual support in times of trouble and illness or at times of birth and death. In this respect, the central hearth was a living microcosm of the Ainu mythological universe, because as a ritual space, it replicated and provided a means from which to actively intervene in the cosmos. However, it was also a space where Ainu and the gods grew wary of one another, especially if the fire was not burning at all times.
Ainu Tattoos, Girdles, and Symbolic Embroidery


According to Romyn Hitchcock, an ethnologist working for the Smithsonian Institution in the late 19th century, Ainu tattoo was laid upon the skin at specific intervals, the process sometimes extending over several years: “The faces of the women are disfigured by tattooing around the mouth, the style of which varies with locality. Young maidens of six or seven have a little spot on the upper lip. As they grow older, this is gradually extended until a more or less broad band surrounds the mouth and extends into a tapering curve on both cheeks towards the ears.”

Of course, the tattooist encouraged her client to remain still throughout the painful ordeal, since it was believed that the ritual would prepare the girl for childbirth once she had become a bride. It the pain was too great, one or more assistants held the client down so that the tattooist could continue her work.

After the mouth tattooing, the lips would feel like burning embers. The client became feverish and the pain and swelling would keep her from getting much sleep. Food became an afterthought and when the tattoo client became thirsty a piece of cotton grass was dipped in water and placed against the lips for the client to suck on.

The completed lip tattoos of women were significant in regards to Ainu perceptions of life experience. First, these tattoos were believed to repel evil spirits from entering the body (mouth) and causing sickness or misfortune. Secondly, the lip tattoos indicated that a woman had reached maturity and was ready for marriage. And finally, lip tattoos assured the woman life after death in the place of her deceased ancestors.

Apart from lip tattoos, however, Ainu women wore several other tattoo marks on their arms and hands usually consisting of curvilinear and geometric designs. These motifs, which were begun as early as the fifth or sixth year, were intended to protect young girls from evil spirits. One motif, the braidform pattern, consisting of two rectilinear stripes braided side by side linked to a special motif, represents a kind of band also used for tying the dead for burial. Other marks were placed on various parts of the body as charms against diseases like painful rheumatism.

As with burial cords, the braid-like weave structure of women’s plaited girdles called upsor-kut were embodied with a similarly powerful supernatural “magic” symbolizing not only a woman’s virtue, but her “soul strength”. First discussed by the Western physician Neil Gordon Munro, who with his Japanese wife operated a free clinic in Hokkaido in the 1930s, upsor-kut (“bosom girdles”) were objects worn underneath the woman’s outer garment (attush) and kept “secret” from Ainu men. They were made of woven flax or native hemp varying in length and width and in the number of strands. Composed of either three, five, or seven plaited cords (sometimes alternating with intersecting or overlapping lozenges or chevrons), they closely resemble the tattoo motifs that appear on the arms of Ainu women.

Interestingly, girdles were received upon completion of a girl’s lip tattooing just before or on the occasion of marriage. The design specifications of the girdle were passed down by the girl’s mother; she instructed her daughter how to make the girdle and warned that if it was ever exposed to any male, great misfortune would come to her and the family.

Dr. Munro recorded at least eight types of upsor with each form related to a different line of matrilineal pedigree and associated with several animal and spirit deities (kamuy), such as the killer whale, bear, and wolf crests. Thus aristocratic women, especially the daughters of chiefs (kotan), wore more powerfully charged girdles than common women, because their ancestry connected them more closely to the kamuy. Munro also observed that the daughters of Ainu chiefs were tattooed on the arms before any other women in the village, suggesting that these types of tattoos conferred prestige and social status to the wearer. In this sense, tattoos and girdles appear to be functionally related.

However, tattoos and girdles were connected on yet another, more metaphysical level. The Ainu believed that the fire goddess Fuchi provided Ainu women with the original plans for constructing the sacred upsor girdles. As noted earlier, Fuchi was also symbolized by the soot used in tattooing practice thereby linking the traditions of tattooing and girdling to Ainu mythological thought. And because each type of girdle was associated with a particular kamuy, it can be suggested that particular tattoos were perhaps associated with specific deities: “the wives of the deities were tattooed in a similar fashion as the Ainu women, so that when evil demons would see it, they would mistake the women for deities and therefore stay away”.

But the symbolic fortification of the body did not end with tattoos and girdles. It also extended to clothing. For example, Ainu embroidery seems to have had a related functional efficacy. Women embroidered simple double-stranded braid-like brackets around the neck, front openings, sleeves, and hem on the earliest

Ainu salmon skin and elm bark attush garments to keep evil spirits from entering the apertures of the body. The original designs, resembling braided rope, were nothing more than a solid color, usually dark blue similar to the color of tattoo pigment.

Among the indigenous peoples of the lower Amur River Basin (with whom the Ainu traded), similar design conventions embroidered and appliquéd onto traditional fish skin garments provided the wearer protection from evil spirits. Design motifs were placed on the borders around every opening in traditional robes (neck, arms, legs, front closure, and hem) and all borders had symbolic referents. For instance, the upper borders represented the Upper World and the patterns placed there offered protection in that direction; the hem represented the underworld or underwater world; and the middle parts stood for the world inhabited by humans. On one old indigenous Nanai fish skin robe I have seen in Vladivostok, avian designs represent the Upper World, fish patterns symbolize the lower realms and a Chinese inspired dragon completed the center.
Literature

Batchelor, John. (1901). The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore. London: The Religious Tract Society.
–(1907). Ainu Life and Lore: Echoes of a Departing Race. Tokyo: Kyobunkan.

Fitzhugh, William W. and Chisato O. Dubreuil (eds.). (1999). Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Hitchcock, Romyn. (1891). “The Ainos of Yezo, Japan.” Pp. 428-502 in Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1889-1890. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Munro, Neil Gordon. (1963). Ainu Creed and Cult. New York: Columbia University Press.

Source:
http://www.larskrutak.com
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