Comptalks

IIT Kharagpur TNP Extension for Google Chrome

kage — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:41:29 +0000

Its a nifty extension I developed for Google Chrome that allows one to check the most Recent updates on the TNP Notice Board of IIT Kharagpur.

The primary goal was to make the information available in a more presentable format compared to the outdated TNP website design and also have it accessible easily. Also, it is immensely useful during the placement/internship season.

Its a small icon that resides conspicuously beside the address bar, sporting the IIT Kharagpur Logo. Currently it has very basic features but I plan to extend it in the future if I get substantial requests for new features.

Install the IIT Kharagpur TNP Extension from Here .

Note: The extension works only when the TNP website is accessible by your web browser normally. That would normally require you to be within the Institute LAN. Its a limitation since the website is not accessible from outside the LAN.

IIT Kharagpur TNP Extension for Google Chrome is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

How to turn off Google Instant feature

Bishwajeet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:40:45 +0000

Google launched a new feature for its search engine Google Instant . Google Instant is a real time search in which whenever you type any word it not only gives you suggestion to complete the word ,it also shows you the search results when you take the mouse over that search term. However some people might not want this service due to connection problems.

Here’s the solution to disable Google Instant Search.You can disable the Google Instant service by two ways. You can either click on Off button near the search button in the search pages like this.

Or, you can also disable it by going to http://www.google.com/preferences and changing the settings out there.

How to turn off Google Instant feature is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

Try out a non-conventional window manager – Awesome.

Gaurab Paul — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:30:41 +0000

What is it all about ?

Most of us are habituated to the default interface of Windows/ Apple OS featuring floating windows overlapping each other. Even the most popular linux window managers – Gnome and KDE are both modelled after this stacked windows concept. The problem with such window managers ( which most of us do not even realize) that a lot of time is wasted in resizing windows and switching from one to another.

On large screen monitors it often becomes desirable to have multiple windows placed side-by-side. For example a programmer might want to keep open related documentation in one half of the screen while he is editing the code in an editor in another half. Or while browsing the web in one portion in the screen one may want to keep an eye on the music playlist/lyrics or some performance monitor in another. We see, that such cases are very common and in traditional window management system, repeatedly resizing or switching between windows soon becomes rather inconvenient.

It is this very problems that tiling window managers try to solve. There are several tiling window managers available out there for linux, the most popular of them being Awesome, Xmonad, Dwm, Ratpoison, etc.

So we know about tiling … Now lets check out Awesome

In this post we review awesome, one of the most popular tiling window manager that encorporates most of the features that other window managers have to offer. It provides a fast, unobstructive and highly configurable interface that can be entirely controlled with key-strokes and yet is mouse friendly at the same time. A quick listing of features is here :

Very stable, fast and small codebase and footprint;
First window manager using asynchronous XCB library instead of the old synchronous Xlib: make awesome less subject to latency than many window managers;
Very well documented source code and API;
No mouse needed: everything can be performed with keyboard;
Real multihead support (XRandR, Xinerama or Zaphod mode) with per screen desktops (tags);
Implement many Freedesktop standards: EWMH, XDG Base Directory, XEmbed, Desktop Notification,System Tray;
Doesn’t distinguish between layers: there is no floating or tiled layer;
Use tags instead of workspaces: allow to place clients on several tags, and display several tags at the same time;
A lot of Lua extensions to add features: dynamic tagging, widget feeding, tabs, layouts …;
D-Bus support;
And more.

Installation

Installation is a breeze. Awesome is available from the package managers of most of the popular linux distributions and users have the option to build from source as well. Detailed instructions for doing so are available here . Once installed user has to configure his environment for using Awesome as the window manager instead of the default window manager (which in case of Gnome is metacity and in case of KDE is kwin). Detailed instructions are available here.

Configurability .

Once installed the user may dive into configurations , awesome has a lot to offer. The main configuration file (written in lua language, which easy to understand and much more user friendly than languages like haskel and lisp which many other window managers use for configuration) offers users options to adjust the number of desktops available, backgrounds,theme, title bar visibility and much more. More details can be found here.

Integration with other desktop ecosystems

Awesome works well out-of-the-box independently or alongside Gnome or KDE. However the KDE integration, as I observed, is not very seamless and panel notifications and kickoff menu get tiled along-side other windows,thus disturbing the entire layout. KDE users might want to check out the tiling features available in KDE 4.5.

The flipside

Like everything else in the world, we have cons here as well. Many programs(eg. GIMP) have been designed keeping in mind floating window management and tiling of windows makes using such programs inconvenient. Luckily awesome gives you the ability to selectively float windows or tell awesome to permanently remember which applications should always be floating. Also Awesome has minor issues with Java based applications but these have workarounds .

So while we do not expect Awesome to suit everybody, it might offer a productivity boost to some people, particularly programmers,sysadmins and other multi-taskers, specially those who are equipped with large screen monitors. Its definitely worth giving a try… check it out and tell us if it suits your needs.

Try out a non-conventional window manager – Awesome. is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Game Review – The most awaited game of 2010

Bishwajeet — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:09:51 +0000

Release Date: November 19^th, 2010

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is a third person action adventure game in development by Ubisoft Montreal. This is a sequel of Assassin’s Creed 2 including many newly added characters, enemies, attack & kill combos, weapons and more sophisticated graphic interface. This release portrays EzioAuditore, the main protagonist in Assassin’s Creed 2 as the main character. This is the first game in the series featuring multiplayer mode, along with 15 hours of single player game. Players should also note that this is NOT Assassin’s Creed 3, but a continuation of the life of the assassin, Ezio.

Plot:

The game begins shortly after the events of Assassin’s Creed II in the year 1499 AD. Monterriggioni, Ezio’s place is attacked by the Borgia forces led by Cesare Borgia, the son of Assassin’s Creed 2 main antagonist Rodrigo Borgia. During the battle, Ezio’s uncle Mario is killed and the Apple of Eden is taken by Cesare. The game then starts at the year 1503 AD where Ezio, now a Master Assassin, seeks revenge and heads to Rome.

This could be understood by watching these videos.

Game Overview Single Player:

The player once again controls EzioAuditore through the DNA Memory of Desmond Miles using the Animus 2.0, designed by the Assassins.Ezio will have to reorganize his Brotherhood in Rome to fight against the Templars. The player can recruit new members into the Brotherhood by completing missions around the city, send them to assignments around the continent or call them for support during battles. The player will be able to customize their appearance, skills and weapon training by spending the skill points they’ve earned, by completing missions. Similar to Creed 2, Ezio will have to reconstruct Roma, which has fallen into ruins due to the corrupt officials of the Borgia.

And also the combat mode has been changed. Unlike Creed 2 where the player has to wait for the enemy to attack to counter it, offensive attacks are most useful in Brotherhood. It is also shown that multiple enemies attack at once unlike the preceding parts where single enemies attack even in a group, thus making counter attacks ineffective.It is announced that only Rome or Roma is fully explorable consisting of five different districts.

Game Overview Multiplayer:

Multiplayer features many game modes. One of them is Wanted mode featuring both the Templars and Assassins in which each player could choose a character of his/her choice to play with. They would be given a target to kill in a given period of time. At the same time he/she could be the target of other players as well. The main objective is to kill your target and at the same time escape from the assassins after you.

For more details please view this video. :

Screenshots:

Watch some of the Game Trailers:

Computer Talks verdict : Its going to be massive hit among the gamers.

Suggested Reading : Top 10 Role playing games of 2010

Top Free Christmas games to play

Dragon Age Origins

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Game Review – The most awaited game of 2010 is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

Remove Facebook Spam Hilarious! Girl accidentally sends dad SMS about her FIRST TIME and he REPLIES BACK!

Bishwajeet — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:15:56 +0000

You might have seen this new spam going around Facebook “Hilarious! Girl accidentally sends dad SMS about her FIRST TIME and he REPLIES BACK! ” . In which you like the page http://www.daddysms.us/ which is a spam website as it posts the message on your wall.

Something like this appears on your wall:

Content from that site :

See How HILARIOUS It Is

You wont believe what you SEE

Click Continue below to view what she sent.

Something like this will appear on your Facebook profile page :

Unfortunately the most important part of this spam is that you can remove it from your wall so that no one sees it,but it remains there in your liked pages. When you click on that page it sends you to http://www.daddysms.us/
where you don’t see any Facebook button to unlike that page so that you can remove that page from your pages.

To Remove Hilarious! Girl accidentally sends dad SMS about her FIRST TIME and he REPLIES BACK!
page from your Facebook page do the following :

Go to the Edit profile page and look for Likes and Interests tab .You can directly go to that page from here .
Now click on show other pages .

Something like will appear here:

Here ,you will find the option to remove that page from your liked pages.
Remove that page and enjoy.
Share this information with your friends to save them from clicking this spam message .

Some more suggested readings:

Remove Facebook Spam Hilarious! Girl accidentally sends dad SMS about her FIRST TIME and he REPLIES BACK! is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

Teach Kids programming with Small Basic from Microsoft

Bishwajeet — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:39:54 +0000

If you want to teach your younger brothers/sisters(in the age group 10-16) programming then you should consider Microsoft Small Basic which is a wonderful language for kids in that age group .

Microsoft Small Basic is a simplified variant of the BASIC programming language introduced by Microsoft in October 2008. With a bare minimum of concepts, Microsoft touts this as an easy programming language for beginners to grasp. The language itself has only 14 keywords, and the environment is beginner friendly with a straight-forward interface.

Microsoft Small basic works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 and you need to have Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 .

You can download Small Basic from here and you can download the manual from here .

Teach Kids programming with Small Basic from Microsoft is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

7 Free Word Processing Softwares

Bishwajeet — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:48:54 +0000

Most of you might have been using word processing softwares like MS Word and Open Office suite, but there are lots of word processing softwares which are available for free and are quite useful in nature.Word processing softwares help you in doing your writing work quite easy and most of the free ones do have some great word processing features and you will be amazed by the features.

Continuing with our Top list in which we are providing our users the best list to choose from, today we are going to present Top 7 word processing software which are free in nature and you don’t need to pay a single dime to use them.

Top 7 Free Word Processing Softwares:

Openoffice is the first software which comes into your mind when you think of Microsoft Office’s replacement in your computer; I use it while I am using any Linux version and it works great out there. Even in Windows its works superb. So, if you don’t want to pay Microsoft then you must consider this office suite.
AbiWord allows you to collaborate with multiple people on one document at the same time. It is tightly integrated with the AbiCollab.net web service, which lets you store documents online, allows easy document sharing with your friends, and performs format conversions on the fly.

Jarte: A free word processor based on the Microsoft WordPad word processing engine built into Windows. Fast starting, easy to use word processor that expands well beyond the WordPad feature set. A small, portable word processor whose documents are fully compatible with Word and WordPad.

SSuite Office :It is only 12 MB in size. Nice and small. Their software also don’t need to run on Java or .NET, like so many open source software, so it makes their software very small and efficient.

EasyOffice: EasyOffice+PDF Filter is an office suite compatible with Microsoft Word and Excel and Adobe PDF files. The download also includes EasyAntiVirus, which you can install if you don’t have an anti-virus program. Unlimited anti-virus updates are offered at no extra charge.

IBM Lotus Symphony is a suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations and other documents, and is currently distributed as freeware. First released in 2007, the suite has a name similar to the 1980s DOS suite Lotus Symphony, but the two programs are otherwise unrelated.

Hopefully, you will like this list of softwares. Enjoy!!

7 Free Word Processing Softwares is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

5 Ways to Speed Up Your Internet Connection

Kip — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:05:19 +0000

At some point in time, everyone experiences a slow or dragging Internet connection. It can be extremely frustrating when browsing the information superhighway at a slow stagger. Rest assured, there are actions that you can take to prevent your Internet connection from slowing down. These elements are standard maintenance and should be performed regularly for the best results. So, I have tried to list down the points which could help you speed up your internet connection .

1. Check Your Connection: It may sound simple, but most Internet slow downs are caused by an incorrect connection to your network or Internet Service Provider. The poor souls who are stuck using dial-up Internet can try to use a different access number that has fewer people trying to connect. Most of the time, using a different access number will speed you up especially during peak Internet traffic hours. If you are using a broadband connection, be sure which network you are using. Many times, your computer will latch on to any available network in your area. You can be connected to the network of your neighbor and not even know it. You could be receiving low signal strength that can really slow down your connection.

2. Secure Your Network: Internet users who make the jump from dial-up to broadband are in such a hurry that they do not think to secure their network router from outside access. Anyone can access an unsecured network if their computer is in range of it by using Wi-Fi. This network sharing method steals your available bandwidth without you ever knowing it. Your router could be giving away free IP addresses to anyone that makes requests. In your router configuration settings, disable network sharing and secure your network with a password or passphrase. This way, anyone who attempts to connect to your network must enter your secret password. If they do not know the password, they cannot steal your connection. This will greatly improve your Internet speed.

3. Clear Your DNS Cache: Each time that your computer makes a request to visit a website, it secretly traces the IP address from the host name. This IP trace may be requested by thousands of users at the same time. Therefore, your local computer creates its own log file for IP address information known as DNS cache. This may not sound like a big deal, but you can easily visit hundreds of websites in a short time. This log data is used by your computer when trying to access a website. Instead of relying on third party DNS servers, your computer searches its own log file. This log file can hold large amounts of data or even become corrupted. Clearing this file often will speed up your Internet connection and keep the log file from becoming a problem.

4. Delete Temporary Files: Your computer stores every byte of information from each website that you visit. This information is stored in temporary data files on your computer for faster access to the websites in the future. The theory is that this method makes pages load faster since the information has already been stored on your computer. While this is true, it can also slow down your Internet connection if you do not delete the files you do not need. Regularly deleting unused temporary files will speed up your Internet connection and save valued storage space on your hard drive.

5. Turn Off Virus Protection [Potentially Harmful]: Modern virus scanning software constantly operates in the background. Most do a fantastic job of scanning files and folders for possible attacks. However, it also is using your bandwidth to send and receive data updates from the software company web server. By simply disabling your virus software while browsing the Internet, your bandwidth will increase and your Internet connection will be faster. When you need a virus protection scan in the future, enable the program for scanning.

Learning how your Internet connection can be misused is the first step to making it faster. Adhering to these tips will keep your Internet connection safe and fast.

This is a guest Post by Kip, if you want to guest post for us let us know.

5 Ways to Speed Up Your Internet Connection is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

How to track your Google Adsense Cheque in India

Bishwajeet — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:00:22 +0000

If you are an Indian Blogger or webmaster then you must have been using Google Adsense on your website/blog. And if you are generating good amount of traffic then sometimes you might even crossed the 100$ threshold for payment and you might have got the check from Google released. While from the last 2 years I have getting checks in due time ,and never had any problem with them . This time however there was a delay and I thought that the courier company might have delivered it to somebody else in my college.So, I check with bluedart courier service and found that I was scheduled to get the check on 6th of this month . However got the check today morning.

So, how to check your Google Adsense cheque’s arrival time?

Here are the simple steps to follow to know to Google Adsense arrival time:

Log into your Google Adsense account.
Then go to the payment history section by clicking on My Account -> Payment History .
Now click on this month’s payment payment issued link .

Now you will get the details of the Google Adsense cheque you are being issued .

Now copy the Payment number without the initial zero, for example if you have payment number as 051112478 copy only the 51112478 part .
Now go to the Bluedart .
Enter your payment number in the Tracking service checker and select Ref. No from the radio button.

So, you got your details now enjoy. I got the delivery way before the Expected date of delivery .

If you have any other queries, you can shoot me a question here or through our Computer Forum

How to track your Google Adsense Cheque in India is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum

HCL Technologies to develop the 35$ laptop

Bishwajeet — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:36:32 +0000

Few days back ,we wrote about the 35$ Laptop which is going to be the cheapest laptop in the world .Well, this exactly isn’t a laptop its more of a tablet . In a recent development , HCL Technologies got the contract for developing the 35$ tablet.

The product will be tested in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rajasthan and all the research work regarding the tablet will be done out there. It is expected to be launched in the second half of the next year to the graduate and under graduate students of India.

If you haven’t seen the prototype of the 35$ Laptop watch this hand’s on review by NDTV :

According to NDTV, it is a Android based device and works quite well till now.

HCL Technologies to develop the 35$ laptop is a post from: Computer Help . Find solutions to your problems in Computer Forum