As you can see from the screen capture above it would seem that the five character limit isn’t etched in stone. The button expanded to accept the text I entered with no problem. I’ve been using the system for a few weeks now with no adverse effects. That’s not to say I won’t discover something down the road a bit, but for now I feel comfortable with the changes. If you’d like to try the procedure I used, the instructions follow.

Step 1 – Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource Hacker^TM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems. Navigate http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/ to download Resource Hacker.

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe as shown in Fig. 01.

Fig. 01

The category we are going to be using is String Table. Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable as shown in Fig. 02. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

Fig. 02

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used krishna as shown in Fig. 03.

Fig. 03

Compare the screen captures in Fig. 02 and Fig. 03 and you’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out in Fig. 02 is now active in Fig. 03. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. See Fig. 04. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Fig. 04

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open: field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

Fig. 05

In the right pane (Fig. 05), double click the Shell entry to open the Edit String dialog box as shown in Fig. 06. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Fig. 06

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.

earthquake

At least 529 people are now known to have died in a powerful quake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, the government says.

Rescuers struggled on Thursday to find survivors in the rubble of hundreds of collapsed buildings.

More than 400 people have been seriously injured, and the death toll is expected to rise, officials say.

The 7.6-magnitude quake struck close to the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.

The earthquake brought down hospitals, schools and shopping malls, cut power lines and triggered landslides.

The social affairs ministry gave the latest confirmed death toll of 529, but Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry’s disaster centre in Jakarta, said: “Our prediction is that thousands have died.”

A second quake of 6.8 struck close to Padang at 0852 local time (0152 GMT) on Thursday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Heavy machinery

The first earthquake struck at 1716 local time (1016 GMT) on Wednesday, some 85km (55 miles) under the sea, north-west of Padang, the US Geological Survey said.

One of the worst disasters appeared to be the collapse of a school in Padang.

One mother, Andriana, told AFP news agency she had been at the school since the first quake occurred, hoping for news of her 14-year-old daughter.

“I haven’t been home yet and keep praying to God my daughter is alive.”

Police said nine children had been found alive but that eight bodies had also been pulled from the rubble so far.

David Lange, a doctor with Surfaid International, told the BBC one of the hospitals was “completely destroyed”.

“They are trying to operate in the parking lot, in a tent, in the mud.”

Earlier Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Agency, said more than 500 houses and buildings had collapsed.

The quake brought down telephone lines, severely affecting communications with the region and making it difficult to assess the scale of the damage.

Health ministry teams and Indonesian soldiers have arrived in Padang to aid the search for survivors. A shortage of heavy machinery remains a problem.

The first flights carrying food, medicine and body bags have started to arrive. Tents and blankets were also on their way to help the homeless, the health ministry said.

Padang’s main hospital received a stream of ambulances bringing in victims. Relatives searched through lists of names pinned on windows.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had called on his officials to “flood” Padang with aid.

Burning buildings

Witnesses to the first quake said residents ran out of buildings in Padang – which has a population of 900,000 – and surrounding cities.

An American in Padang, Greg Hunt, told Reuters this was the worst earthquake he had experienced.

“It’s getting nasty in town. It’s chaos. There’s no fuel, people are looting. It’s getting worse because people have no food, no money.

“There’s thousands trying to leave town, the roads are blocked.”

Australia has offered to send emergency assistance to Indonesia if needed.

“They are very close friends and neighbours. They know that we are here and available to help. They just have to ask,” said Aid Minister Bob McMullan.

Indonesian officials have said the quake was one of the biggest in Indonesia in recent years and could have been more powerful than the 2006 Yogyakarta quake that killed more then 5,000 people.

Wednesday’s quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

That quake struck roughly 600km north-west of Padang.

Geologists have long warned that Padang could one day be completely destroyed by an earthquake because of its location.

Western Sumatra is a mainly rural area with dense tropical forest.

It has several national parks and many of its beaches are popular with surfers.

After gaining worldwide acclaim and recognition for discovery of water molecules by PSLV’s Indian moon craft, Chandrayaan-1, India is now planning the next lunar mission.

It will be called as Chandrayaan-2, a joint Indo-Russian mission. The expected date for the launch is 2013 and the goal of the mission is to obtain more details about water on moon.

Chandrayaan-1 had number of supporting instruments. These will be used for finding our more data and further confirm the presence of water molecules. This whole process is expected to take three to six months. Apparently water on the moon was found in the Polar Regions.

Results from NASA’s LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft that will crash land at Cabeus, a crater near the moon’s south pole, on October 9 are eagerly awaited. It is expected to search for water ice.

ISRO’s next mission is to launch the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle by end of December. The rocket will carry the GSat-4 communication satellite that will have an indigenous cryogenic engine.

NEW DELHI – Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday scoffed at Pakistan for terming as “half-baked” India’s evidence of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeeds role in the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem.

“They are welcome to bake it fully. All the baking ingredients are in Pakistan. All the evidence is available on Pakistani soil, Chidambaram told reporters.

All the Indian evidence has been shared with them. The remaining evidence is on Pakistani soil, said Chidambaram, responding to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshis remarks over the weekend that he could not take a half-baked case to court.

The home minister earlier had expressed his skepticism when Pakistan filed police cases against the alleged 26/11 mastermind, saying he would welcome the step only when the trial began as there were flip-flops in the past.

When it starts, I will say it is a positive step, he said to a question on Pakistans declaration that the trial would begin Oct 3.

Chidambaram said a date for starting the trial was set in the past by a Pakistan court but only to be told later that the judge concerned was on leave.

So, when it starts it is a positive step, he said.

“Even without the economic shock, cars have to change dramatically with the rise in environmental consciousness,” Honda President Takanobu Ito told the Japanese Times.

Thus, Honda expects to make “huge resource investments” into clean technologies, such as hybrid cars.

Next year, Honda will launch the Honda CRZ hybrid and a Fit hybrid as well and Ito claims, “I have no doubt that (some form of) a hybrid system will eventually be installed in all cars.”

Recipe from my own kitchen experiments.
Serves: 2 individuals

Ingredients:
Paneer (pre-fried) – 8-15 pieces
Shan BBQ Tikka Masala – 2 tablespoons (Red Food color + Garam Masala)
Yogurt – 2 tablespoon
Red Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala (optional) – 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Oil – For frying
Coriander leaves (chopped – for garnishing) – 3-4 sprigs
Lime juice (optional) – 1 teaspoon
Salt – As per taste

Method:
Make a marinade paste of Yogurt, Shan Masala, Red Chilli powder, Garam Masala and Pepper powder. Thaw the Paneer for around 4 minutes in microwave if its frozen. Once its soft enough, mix in with the marinade and set aside for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in saucepan, place the Paneer cubes one by one and cook them till they are charred and well done. Alternately is using BBQ, grill them till they are done and charred on all sides for around 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and lime juice. Serve hot