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From Neowin.net & Bink.nu:

Windows XP SP3 is finally here for those that use Windows Update, and here is a direct link to the stand-alone version of SP3 for x86 XP systems (32 bit). Thanks Bink! Neowin reader WindowsNT says: “There won’t be a 64bit version until Windows Server 2003 hits SP3 since they share the same code base.”

Here is an interesting article regarding SP3 performance, ignoring the fact that Vista SP1 is still faster than XP SP2/SP3 users will enjoy a performance boost over SP2. When will people learn that Vista ain’t all bad!

Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system.

Links:

Download Direct: Stand-alone installer for Windows XP SP3 English, 32 Bit (316 MB)

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 for Chinese Traditional, 32 Bit Systems

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 for Spanish, 32 Bit Systems (308 MB)

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 for German, 32 Bit Systems (313 MB)

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 for Polish, 32 Bit Systems

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 for French, 32 Bit Systems

Or just use Microsoft Update: Service Pack 3 for Windows XP via Windows Update (Size varies)

Again, from Neowin:

Known issues:
On some hardware configurations, you may encounter the Windows XP SP3 BSoD Endless Reboot Loop with Stop c0000139 on GDI32.dll Error, follow this guide to repair your XP installation. Thanks daPhoenix for the tip!

Also, if you need the Uxtheme.dll, you can use my patch (it’s English Only):

Download Direct: Windows XP SP3 Modified Uxtheme.dll for English Systems

Have fun updating, everyone!

This last weekend Jess and I decided to visit the 1st Annual Omaha Health, Wellness, & Fitness Expo and I’m thinking the name should be changed to the Omaha Scam, Snake Oil, & Nonsense Expo. Really. First, here’s what the website had to say about it:

Over 10,000 attended the 1st Annual Omaha Health Expo. The Largest Health Expo in the Region expanded through both the Exhibition Hall and the Mancuso Cenvention Center with over 250 exhititors and 50 Seminars, 4 continous Seminar Rooms and 1 Keynote Speaker Stage where we heard from Experts on ways to improve our lifestyles, live longer, better, and happier. This Show again is positioned to kick off the Healthy Season next year on April 25th & 26th, 2009. Mark your Calandars to attend again and Participate in the Walk on Saturday and the Bikeride on Sunday.

Sounds pleasant, informative, and full of healthy stuff! So, what all did we see? Well… we had Crystal Healers:

Quantum Biofeedback:

Psychics (only $30 for a reading!):

Fortune Tellers (complete with crystal balls and tarot cards):

Aura Painting:

Hypno-Yoga (Yoga while Hypnotized, of course!):

Fairies (for some reason):

Homeopathic Remedies (of course that’d be here):

Cell phone “invisible radiation” protection through special “chips”:

And much more! Here’s just a small part of the expo floor… I took the liberty of highlighting the “non-scam” parts:

Can you make ‘em out? They are Avon, and American Family Insurance. Now, there were actual medial professionals there, but it was about 10 – 15 “non-traditional” healing booths for every one medical one. The worst part? Every booth that was sponsored by a hospital was empty, while the others promising everything from stress removal from conception (that’s what the Quantum Biofeedback people promised) to berries that cured all disease (I didn’t get a shot of that one) were packed.

I’ll have to go into some of these in more detail later (like I did with the whole Ion Cleanse thing), but I’m feeling wiped out at the moment. Let’s just say there was almost no health, wellness, or fitness here… it was very sad to see people in wheelchairs looking at some of these presentations with hope in their eyes. The people running the booths brought in quite a bit of money, and you just know they’re just feeding on the hope of the elderly and the sick. It was very sad to see, but what can you do about it? No matter what you tell them, hope will usually win out over facts and science. Oh well…

From WordPress.org:

Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly.

In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains many bug fixes. If you are interested only in the security fixes, you can download these corrected copies of wp-includes/pluggable.php, wp-admin/includes/media.php, and wp-admin/media.php. Replace your existing copies of these files with these new copies.

If you download the entire 2.5.1 release, you will be getting over 70 other fixes. 2.5.1 focuses on fixing the most annoying bugs and improving performance.

I’m downloading now and will be updating here shortly… I suggest you do, too!

UPDATE – WordPress 2.51 is installed and live… so far, no issues!  Whoo!

For those who have updated their system to Windows XP SP3 RTM and need the patched uxtheme.dll, here you go:

Uxtheme for Windows XP SP3 RTM (fixed Checksum)

I hacked it myself and it is indeed the RTM (v5512) file, not one of the Release Candidates. An easy way to patch it is using the program “Replacer“! As with most things, buyer beware… if this kills your PC, sorry! Here’s a screenshot of it doing just fine on my machine:

Enjoy!

UPDATE – Now with Checksum goodness!