Windows 7 themes: candlelight, snowflakes, and new dynamic themes

If you checked the Windows Personalization Gallery last week you might have noticed the quiet arrival of a lovely new Windows 7 theme: Candlelight. This theme brings the serene illumination of candles year-round to your desktop, with images not only of lighted tapers reflected in frosted windowpanes, but also of flickering candles amongst springtime cherry blossoms and in a lush summer forest scene.

clip_image001

Speaking of frosted windowpanes, our next theme – Snowflakes and Frost – zooms in on the delicate perfection of ice crystals.

clip_image002

In early October I announced the launch of our open call for art and photography. Since then we’ve received at least 2,000 submissions from the community, and published several new Windows 7 themes and desktop wallpapers featuring some of the best images we received. And now we’re kicking off two new themes to showcase gorgeous nature and landscape photos – Flora and Terra.

blogpostpics12-1

Flora will focus on close-ups of plants, flowers, and foliage; whereas Terra will celebrate the beauty of planet Earth with wider landscape shots, including beaches, forests, waterfalls, cityscapes, sunsets, and more. Best of all, since these are dynamic themes, they will update via an RSS feed with new photos every week.

blogpostpics12-1b

Five Tips to Help You Stay Safer on the Web

1. Keep your computer up to date and install anti-virus.

2. Make sure you’re running a modern browser like Internet Explorer 9

3. Look for the lock in the address bar of your browser for online shops

4. Look for the warning signs from your browser.

5. If you’re doing all of your shopping on a few sites, just pin them to your Windows 7 taskbar.

Examples of Database Queries Using SQL and Script

Delete a record from a table

The following command line deletes the record having the primary key RED from the Feature table of the Test.msi database.

Cscript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “DELETE FROM `Feature` WHERE `Feature`.`Feature`=’RED’”

Add a table to a database

The following command line adds the Directory table to the Test.msi database.

CScript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “CREATE TABLE `Directory` (`Directory` CHAR(72) NOT NULL, `Directory_Parent` CHAR(72), `DefaultDir` CHAR(255) NOT NULL LOCALIZABLE PRIMARY KEY `Directory`)”

Remove a table from a database

The following command line removes the Feature table from the Test.msi database.

Cscript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “DROP TABLE `Feature`”

Add a new column to a table

The following command line adds the Test column to the CustomAction table of the Test.msi database.

CScript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “ALTER TABLE `CustomAction` ADD `Test` INTEGER”

Insert a new record into a table

The following command line inserts a new record into the Feature table of the Test.msi database.

Cscript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “INSERT INTO `Feature` (`Feature`.`Feature`,`Feature`.`Feature_Parent`,`Feature`.`Title`,`Feature`.`Description`, `Feature`.`Display`,`Feature`.`Level`,`Feature`.`Directory_`,`Feature`.`Attributes`) VALUES (‘Tennis’,'Sport’,'Tennis’,'Tournament’,25,3,’SPORTDIR’,2)”

This inserts the following record into the Feature table of Test.msi.

Feature Table

Feature
Feature_Parent
Title
Description
Display
Level
Directory_
Attributes

Tennis
Sport
Tennis
Tournament
25
3
SPORTDIR
2

Note that binary data cannot be inserted into a table directly using the INSERT INTO or UPDATE SQL queries. For information see Adding Binary Data to a Table Using SQL.

Modify an existing record in a table

The following command line changes the existing value in the Title field to “Performances.” The updated record has “Arts” as its primary key and is in the Feature table of the Test.msi database.

Cscript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “UPDATE `Feature` SET `Feature`.`Title`=’Performances’ WHERE `Feature`.`Feature`=’Arts’”

Select a group of records

The following command line selects the name and type of all controls that belong to the ErrorDialog in the Test.msi database.

CScript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “SELECT `Control`, `Type` FROM `Control` WHERE `Dialog_`=’ErrorDialog’ “

Hold a table in memory

The following command line locks the Component table of the Test.msi database in memory.

CScript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “ALTER TABLE `Component` HOLD”

Free a table in memory

The following command line frees the Component table of the Test.msi database from memory.

CScript WiRunSQL.vbs Test.msi “ALTER TABLE `Component` FREE”