CrOsSaFFaIrS Tech Blog

X-MINI UNO -Miniscule speaker with a stylish design

2013-08-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

X-mini Uno

The X-mini Uno is a cylindrical portable speaker with a unique minuscule footprint . Measuring just 60x47mm, it looks cute. To make the speaker durable, the X-mini has a brushed aluminium base, this comes in myriad colours. The product’s design has already garnered it some prestigious awards, including the Red Dot and the IF.

Channelling the sound is a silicon cylinder which connects the base with the top. Weighing just 112g, the Uno is feather light and is easy to carry around. It is available in six vibrant colours including blue, green, gunmetal, red, orange and purple.

The X-MINI UNO blister pack,contains the speaker unit along with a hard copy manual, a cute sticker, a usb to 3.5mm cord and a silk bag for protecting the unit.All controls sit in a circle on the base of the unit, these include a 3.5mm port for connecting with a computer, a mini usb port to charge the internal battery, an on/off slider, a 3.5mm out, volume dial and a blue LED for indicating the status.Unfortunately, the unit doesn’t have a capability to connect to the source wirelessly.

Connecting the speaker with any mobile X-MINI UNO device or computer is easy using the 3.5mm in/out port. The Uno uses a ceramic tweeter for better clarity, according to designers, ceramic tweeters have several advantages including lower distortion, wider frequency and better mid and low level output compared to aluminium tweeters.

The speaker produces decent output at mid and low levels without losing details.But in highs, it clearly lacks enough bass. Though you should not expect great bass and treble from such a tiny device, but considering the price a little more punch was expected. The 500mAh internal battery gives a long playback time. In our test, it lasted for 17 hours. The unique design, great built and attractive colour makes it an ideal choice for customers who are bothered more about looks than quality.

Free Softwares and websites to spend time On

2011-07-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

There are many websites and softwares available on Internet who are not supported by any kind of fees or advertisements.Their only source of revenue is donations.

1. Donation wareSpybot

A malaware attack is every PC users worst nightmare. But many of us are often forced to forgo the protection because anti viruses are very costly.

However there is one alternative for users who wish to save their hard earned money, while doing something to protect the system from sudden attacks. The alternative is SpyBot ; However you can contribute to the cause by making small donations.

2. Socso

If you are deeply into music, then it is time that you had your own music server. Enter socso - the free Java based application , which will create a home based server for you in a matter of few steps only.After that your PC will become the medium through which music can be streamed , so that others around t5he world can happily tune in by using myriad web based technologies.The system also can prove beneficial when you have too many computer systems working at your home or office - you can have all the music files stored in one computer, while the other PC's and laptops can connect to it, when ever they7 need to groove to a tune.

That way you end up saving your valuable disc space. The system will support music files of the types -MP3 , OGG Vorbis, Flacand WMA.

3. Zemanta

For many of us blogging has now become a way of life. But coming up with coherent , informative posts and images turn out to be cumbersome chore. How about having your own assistant to help you with your blogging activities! Zemanta fulfils that.It is a software which is compatible with many of the blogging platforms such as Wordpress , Flickr , etc.

Once you have installed it, as a plug in to you favorite browser, Zemanta will work quietly in the background to ensure that you get easy access to relevant information pertaining to your blog post that you are creating.

4. Scratch

How about trying to create some animated cartoons , small video games or other interactive artworks! You can all do this even if you don't know a bit of flash and coding.

All you need to do is to visit this website :
http://scratch.mit.edu . Scratch has a Set of informative tools through which people without any computer programming skills can create animations. Just download the free software from the site and get started .

With its comprehensive menu based system , scratch is eminently easy to use.

You can either upload images from your own computer or you can use the ones that already exist In the scratch library.

5. Fast Stone

The advent of the digital age has surely made it easy for us to go on a image capturing spree.So how many of these images are really of good quality!You may not be able to shoot like a Pro, but there are other ways by which you can enhance the quality of you pictures.For instance , there is a software called FastStone which does do just about everything you would expect from an image viewer.

You can crop , resize, fix red eye, adjust image tone and do so much else.All this is available for free.

6. Project Gutenberg

This website is having over 33000 e book editions of the books.You even don't need to register in the website and just need to open it and you can start downloading the books which could be read on you PC , notebook, ipad , iPhone or any other portable device.

7. Internet archive

Ah Nostalgia! Reminiscing the good old days is such an enjoyable way of passing time. Hoe about reminiscing the websites as they were a decade ago or what did Google look like 10 years ago, a period of time when the i9Internet was still in its stone age era?

Only internet archive has the answer.The mission of internet archive is to back up the entire internet.As of now it has more than 3 petabytes of information in its servers, that's 85 billion web pages. A mind boggling number you will have to agree.

8. Kiva

This is one of those websites , which re dedicated to letting you pick up the role of a good Samaritan.Out here you can do some micro lending of your own and contribute to the cause of alleviating poverty.There are so many people around the world who are in need of sums as small as 25$. Kiva introduces you to them. As of now the website claims to have a default rate of less than 3%.In 97% of the cases, the lenders got their money back.Kiva is a charity and not a broker, so you don't get any interest on the money you have lent; What you do is get the feeling of having done something help a fellow human being.
Till now Kiva has facilitated a loans of more than $100 million.

9 . Moodturn
When you are totally stressed about the one thing or the other, a tryst with MoodTurn might go a long way helping you calm down.This is a website that promises to turn your mood by playing soothing music , which conjures visions of sublime nature , while visuals of nature scenes are playing on the screen. MoodTurn has already become a source o9f succour to thousands of employees.

10. Craigslist

The classifieds out here are divided into different categories.So if you are looking for a job in Bangalore , then you go to the Bangalore section of the website and there you have to browse though the jobs category.Much of the service that you get here is free of cost, and the website is not averse to receiving donations from users.

11. Zwaggle

The truth is that most of us own items which might not be of much use to us anymore .However, we have no idea how to donate these items to people who are in need . That is where websites like Zwaggle comes in. Out here you can log in and find ways of giving away your superfluous items to needy denizens of the world.

What is Google Analytics

2011-07-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew. It is the most widely used website statistics service

Google Analytics can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks,
e-mail marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents.

Google Analytics approach is to show high level dashboard-type data for the casual user, and more in-depth data further into the
report set. Through the use of Google Analytics analysis, poor performing pages can be identified using techniques such as funnel
visualization, where visitors came from (referrers), how long they stayed and their geographical position. It also
provides more advanced features, including custom visitor segmentation

High profile sites using Google Analytics
Google Analytics is used by 57% of the 10,000 most popular websites (as ranked by Alexa Internet) ordered by popularity, as reported by (now defunct) BackendBattles.com

* twitter.com
* myspace.com
* dailymotion.com
* answers.com

Google Analytics Usage TrendsGoogle Analytics offers a host of compelling features and benefits for everyone from
senior executives and advertising and marketing professionals to site owners and content developers.

This chart represents Google Analytics web usage trends over a historical time period on a large selection of website homepages queried by BuiltWith.

Google Analytics is a free service that offers users up to 5 million hits per month. If your site generates more than 5 million hits per month, you will need to link it to an active AdWords account in order to avoid interruption of your Google Analytics service.

Google Analytics currently defines an active AdWords account as an AdWords account that has at least one active and running Campaign, with a minimum budget of $1 per day (or the equivalent amount in a non-U.S.currency).

Power supply unit PSU Troubleshooting Tips

2011-07-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

The PC powers on after the second or third try

The mostly likely problem is that the power_ok (or power_good) signal is sent before the power supply has stabilised. Get a better quality PSU.

In modern PCs, the power switch is a logic device that tells the PSU to supply full power to the motherboard. The power_ok signal tells the motherboard that the power supply is available and stable.

If the signal is sent too soon the motherboard does not recognize it and stays off to protect itself. This can happen in lowerquality PSUs. Booting more than once is not recommended, and you will be better off getting a better PSU.
The PC powers on but nothing happens after that (no beep)
1. This may be due to the addition of new hardware that is overtaxing the power supply. Remove the last hardware component installed and check again.
2. A defective hard disk or one that is not plugged in correctly: Check the power cable to the hard disk. Sometimes it may not be fully plugged in. Check the hard disk on another system.

The PC powers on, beeps and stops. No Power On Self Test (POST) messages.
This may be a motherboard problem and not related to the PSU.

The PC powers on and runs POST but there is no display
This may be a display card problem and not related to the PSU. Check the display section of this guide.

There is a squealing/whistling/whining noise when the PC starts
This could indicate either a problem with the fan, which has accumulated dirt over time, or one of the internal components of the PSU. Switch on the PC and listen carefully to confirm that it’s the PSU fan and not the CPU fan or the hard disk.

Usually, the noise will stop once the fan picks up speed, and you can ignore it temporarily. It’s a good idea, however, to clean out the dirt around the PSU fan using a PC vacuum.

This will increase the working life of the PSU fan as well as the PSU itself. If the fan stops working, the PSU will generate heat and cause more trouble.

So a little prevention will save you a lot of headaches later. If the sound is not from the fan but from within the PSU itself, then you may be able to service it.

A PSU has no ‘user-serviceable’ parts, and it’s best left to a competent technician, although in most cases of component failure, you will have to replace the PSU.

The PC freezes or reboots suddenly
1. This could indicate a failing PSU that is not supplying power correctly to the motherboard. You may be able to get the PSU serviced but in most cases you will be better off getting a new power supply.
2. This could be due to overheating of the PSU or CPU: If the PSU is overheating, the metal cabinet may be hot to touch or you might get a shock. Shut off immediately. Check if the PSU fan is working, clean or replace the fan if not working or spinning very slowly. If it’s a faulty PSU you may be able to service it. If the PSU seems normal it might be due to an overheating CPU.

Help !! The PC power doesn’t come on !!!! - Troubleshooting Power Supply Units

2011-07-24T07:23:00.001-07:00

Troubleshooting Power Supply Units -PSU's

1. No power from the wall socket: Use a live power outlet. In rare cases, the power cable may be defective and may require replacement. Check the power cable on another working PC. Plug in a lamp or any other electric device to see if you have a live outlet.

2. Incorrect voltage setting on the PSU: Select the proper voltage setting (220-240V) on the back of the PSU. WARNING: If you have switched on the PC with the voltage set to 110-120V and with a mains supply of 240V you may have blown your PSU beyond repair at worst or blown a fuse at best. Be careful!

3. The front panel power switch’s connector to the motherboard is not fixed correctly or has come off or is defective: Check the motherboard manual and fix the lead (wires) from the front panel switch to the motherboard correctly. If there is still no power, try a different lead.

4. The front panel power switch is defective: Replace the switch. In case you do not want to get a replacement, one option is to use the reset button. The only problem with this is that to cut the power to the system in case of system hangs etc., you will have to switch off the power from the mains wall outlet rather than from the front panel.

5. The power supply connections to the motherboard are not correct: Check the power connections from the PSU to the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual and identify the correct connection points.

6. Not identified; non-PSU related problem: After attempting all the above, if the system still doesn’t power up, it is time to look elsewhere.

Disconnect all the drives and see if it is powering up. (Note: Pull out the power cord when removing or disconnecting something.)

If the system is powering up, then start reconnecting the drives one by one to identify which is defective drive. If the system is not powering with all drives disconnected, remove the other adaptors one at a time and checking to see if it is powering up.

Leave the video adaptor for the last. If you are able to isolate the problem to one of the adaptor cards, verify that the slot and the adaptor cards are compatible. Then try plugging it into a different slot and see if the system powers up before discarding it and going for a new one.

If the system is still not powering up, then you either have a defective PSU or a defective motherboard. If there is a burnt smell, then most probably either one of them has been fried. Look for burn marks on the motherboard. Sometimes the PSU and motherboard may be incompatible. If the motherboard looks fine, replace the PSU, since it’s cheaper!

How To Create an Event on Facebook

2011-07-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Sending an invitation to your next party via Facebook is an easy way to invite some or all of your friends, and track who will or won’t be coming.

Step 1: Go to your Events page in Facebook
Log on to Facebook. Access your Events from your homepage, or search for events using the search function.

Step 2: Choose to Create an Event
Click on the icon that allows you to create an event.

Step 3: Create a name for your event; enter basic information
Create a name for your event. Add your location information, the start and end times, and any other invitation text you’d like to include.
If you list a complete street address, invitees will be able to view a map and directions to the event’s location by clicking “View Map” below the event’s location.

Step 4: Select a privacy setting
Select the privacy setting. Decide whether you want the event to be public, which means that anyone can see your event and RSVP. Then, choose whether the guest list will be visible on the event page.
If your event is public, you can still block people from seeing the invitation by selecting the “Block People” link from the guest list, entering the person’s name, and blocking their profile.

Step 5: Add a photo and description to your event information
Select guests, and add an image to the event page. Then save the event.

Step 6: Invite friends to the event
Add invitees after you’ve created the event by choosing “Select Guests,” or by editing the event.

Step 7: Add admins
As the creator of the event, you can add admins that can invite additional guests, appoint other admins, and edit the event invitation. To add an admin, edit your guest list, choose a guest who has already RSVPed yes, and press the Make Admin button.

Whoa ! You have created an event on Facebook

Import friends from facebook to google+

2011-07-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

You can transfer all your Facebook buddies to Google+ .You cannot do it directly but via their partnership with Yahoo from where you can get all of your friends list over to Google Plus.Lets get started:-

1. First Sign up for yahoo if you dont have an account .
2. Go to Yahoo Mail. Go to the contacts Tab.

3. Go to import Contacts.You will see Facebook Logo Next to it. Click on Import Conatcts and then click on Facebook Icon which implies that you want to share your contacts to Yahoo.

4. This would import all your contacts to Yahoo.After which you select them all and Go to Actions --> Export All . The contacts would be exported as Yahoo CSV file which would basically put all your contacts names and email addresses in a spreadsheet.

5. Now , switch over to Gmail and log in.

6. Go to Contacts Tab and then Go to New Groups and make a group called " Facebook". Then we would click on Facebook Label--> More Actions --> Import --> File --> "Choose the Yahoo File you just Exported"--> Select the Facebook Label in the Dropdown--> Click ok

You will find all your contacts would be displayed there.

7. Now you just have to login to google Plus account.

8. Go to the Circles tab and pick on your circles and Click on Friends and Invite.You will see all your friends lovely faces that are not on Google Plus as yet.

You can still add them to your circles and the google will send them an invitation mail and once they sign up for Circles you can follow up with them.

That is how to get all your facebook friends on to Google Plus.

How to use Google notebook - Firefox Extension

2011-07-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

This might seem pointless for some, but others might find it a mighty useful extension. It’s a little like bookmarking, but instead of keeping a tab on a URL, you keep a tab on any piece of content, including images.

Here’s how it works: once you’ve installed the extension (which involves not much more than clicking “install now” after clicking the link), you’ll see a space at the bottom right of Firefox that says “Open Notebook.”

Open it, and you’ll see a little box with a list of your “notes” (which is initially blank).

Now, say you come across something interesting—some text and an image. You select the whole thing and right-click. In the context menu will be an item called “Note this (Google Notebook).”
Click that.
The selection will get added to your Notebook, and you’ll get an indicator in that little box that lists out the first few words of what you noted, along with the URL.

When you want to view all your notes together—reap the harvest of your browsing session, so to speak—maximise the Notebook. You’ll be taken to a Gmail-like page that lists all your Notes, with the images in place.
Note that you can always create a note, whether in the little box or in the maximised view, by typing something out.

The fun part—if you can call it that—is that you can share your Notebooks (yes, you can have more than one Notebook—one for, say, each day, or one for “Work” and one for “Fun,” or whatever).

When you share a Notebook, you enter e-mail addresses (which need to be Gmail addresses; if they’re not, Google will send a kind invitation to the address(es) to create a Google ID) that will be allowed to collaborate on the Notebook. These people will be able to view and edit the Notes. You can also choose to create a permanent URL for the Notebook, which you can send out to your friends.

So, essentially, what the Firefox extension does is add an item to the context menu that lets you mark something as a Note.

Why you’d want to use this feature, and whether it’s a useful thing, is up to you to decide! For your own purposes, it’s better than bookmarking if only a certain portion—say a paragraph—of a page is of interest.

And for collaborative purposes, you can imagine a wide range of scenarios: if you’re a student, for example, you might actually take down notes from the Web this way, and your friends could see what you’ve taken down, adding their comments on each Note.

Using google alerts

2011-07-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Google Alerts refers to automatically-generated e-mail alerts,based on search terms, which show results in five categories:-

News: the latest top 10 news article search results based on the given search terms

Web: the latest top 20 Web search results based on the given search terms

Blogs: the latest top ten blogs search results based on the given search terms

Groups: the latest top 50 posts in Google Groups search results based on the given search terms

Comprehensive: the latest search results for the given search terms from multiple sources for maximum coverage

Typically, people create alerts for things like:

a) Tracking a news story as it unfolds

b) Keeping up to date on competitors and industry

c) Monitoring medical advances

d) Tracking celebrity news and gossip

You can set up Google Alerts by signing in with your Google account and going to the alerts home page at www.google.com/alerts.

To create an alert:

1. Type in the search terms on which you wish to base your search results. This can be a simple string of keywords. (eg. Crossaffairs)

Click on "Preview Results" to see how the results look.

2. Select what type of search it is, based on the five possible variants ("Everything", "News", "Blog", "Video", "Discussions")

3. Select at what frequency you want to be alerted—once a day, as it- happens, or once a week. Determining the alert frequency will depend on the search topic.

Fast moving topics should generally be set to once a week, or you will be drowning in alerts! For slow moving topics like a specific scientific or medical breakthrough, an as-it-happens alert will be better.

4. Click on “Create Alert” to finish.

Once the alert is created, you can sit back and wait to be updated according to the specified frequency.

The Edit and Delete next to each alert link enables you to edit the alert—changing the search terms, the type and frequency, and deleting the alert when it is no longer relevant.

You can also specify whether the alert should be in HTML or plain text.

Setup pop3 email on android

2011-07-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Although Gmail is a great application, people have other email accounts as well.You ll be glad to know that you can hook up to any POP3 or IMAP4 mail server. The setup is quick and easy, and you can add several other email accounts with ease.

1. Tap the Application Tab, and then tap Email.

2. .Press the Menu button , and then tap accounts.

3. Enter the email address and password for your account. Tap Next.

4. Your Phone attempts to retrieve the settings for your email account.If this fails , Tap the button for the account type you want to add.

5. Enter your incoming email server settings.You need to obtain these from your email provider.

6. Tap Next.Your Phone validates your incoming email settings.

7. Enter you outgoing server settings and tap Next.

8. When your account is validated you would be asked for some basic information such as how often you would like your phone to check for email and whether you want to be notified when you receive new messages. Tap Nest and you are done.

9. Enter the name of your account if you 'd like.You don't need to enter the name , but it can be helpful if you have multiple accounts.

10. Enter your name . This is the name that is displayed whenever someone else reads your email.Tap Save, and you are done.

You can now send and receive email messages on your phone . You can create multiple accounts from different providers.

My Cell Phone is Slow - android

2011-07-17T03:01:00.000-07:00

If you have been using your phone for a while , you might notice that tapping an icon or pressing a button doesn't work as well as it used to.

You might tap the browser picture and have to wait a full minute for the browser to open. Or you might press the home button while browsing the Internet and have to wait for what seems forever to return to the home screen.

The most common reason is that program on your phone is not releasing the resources properly. Your phone has a limited amount of memory.

Every time you use a program like Gmail , the program occupies some space in memory and uses them to do things such as display text on the screen. Usually when you close a program it releases all the memory back into the pool.

However sometimes the program holds on to the memory. and if you have too many programs holding up the memory the memory pool will eventually become empty and if that happens no new program would be able to grab enough memory to run well.

The solution to this problem is reboot your phone.

If rebooting does not able to solve your problem , a recently installed program is causing your phone to run slowly. start with the last application you installed and uninstall it.

After you uninstall one application , reboot your phone and see if the phone performs faster.

If not uninstall the next most recently installed application, reboot and try again. If after uninstalling a handful of applications , your phone is still not performing well you need to completely reset the phone.

Dropped mobile phone in Water?

2011-07-17T02:07:00.001-07:00

Take a random poll of your friends.Chances are that , at least one of them
has dropped his or her phone into some kind of liquid. Hopefully , the liquid
was clean water , but there are some peaople who have dropped their
phone in rather unmentionable places.

So what do you do if you phone comes in contact with water? ( If you
dropped your phone into some other liquid like a glass of coke , its
almost surely dead.)

1. Immediately remove your phone's back cover and battery and your sim
card.

2. Set the phone, battery, and cover on a dry lint free towel.

3. Do not touch the phone for next three days.

4. Has it been three days ? No? do not touch the phone really.
Put the Battery back in phone , replace the cover, and try to power on the
phone.

If the phone doesn't turn on , or behaves oddly, you can remove the battery
again and leave the phone for another two days.

If after full five days the phone does not work , it probably never will.

Unless your phone shorts out when it is dropped in water, it is possible
that after the phone and all of its internal components dry completely, the
phone will work just fine!

Amit in his blog Labnol , recommends covering your phone in a bowl of rice( to soak up the water) to let it dry for at least 24 hours and do not charge the device.

The ultimate goal is to dry your phone completely first and then put it into
use.

How to use Epic Browser

2011-07-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hidden Reflex has released the world’s first web Browser for India. – named Epic Browser.

The Browser itself is based on the Mozilla platform . It is compatible with Linux, Macintosh, and windows Operating systems . Roughly 3 weeks after launch the browser crossed four lac downloads - an impressive feat.

Main Features

. 1. Sidebar Apps –It gives the users the ability to multitask. The Sidebar has a long scrolling list of icons or apps that expand when you click on any of them.

Apps include a word processor, file backup, file browser, video picture in picture, email, chat , games and 1500+ user installable applications in the Epics App store which are all free to add.

The video picture in picture player app allows users to dock videos from sites such as YouTube into sidebar, which means you can have the video playing on the side while users can continue to navigate and browse around.

The app can also create playlists to which you can keep adding videos that you can keep adding videos that you wish to view next.

2. Indian languages support – Epic is the first browser that enable non English speaking Indians to come online and share their thoughts and ideas.

Epic’s India language support is built on Firefox add on Google Transliteration , based on Google Indic Transliteration API. At present the browser supports 12 Indian language.

3. Antivirus Suite – In built anti virus includes on demand anti virus scanning which can scan your whole computer systems for viruses and malware as well as automated scanning of downloaded files. Epic also warns users when they are about to visit a potentially dangerous website.

4. Private data deletion – Epic has a one click private data deletion button which also deletes long lived Flash Cookies – the only browser that does so.

5. Private data browsing -It also offers the private data browsing according to which you are accessing the data in an private or in the invisible mode that means offline browsing

6. Performance – The browser is pretty fast but does require 10.5 sec to start. There after it is comparable to any other browser of today.

Download the Epic Browser here

What is Most Visited Websites Box?

Epic displays you with the list of top 10 websites which you have visited, based upon your visit counts just like Google Chrome and other Browsers. You can Click on the + button on the top right of this box and add any of your favorite website under this list

How can I type in Indic or Indian Languages?

The feature of writing in Indian native languages is provided in this Browser which is built on Firefox add on Google Transliteration , based on Google Indic Transliteration API.

A separate Indic text box would be displayed to you in the browser where you need to initially select the language you would like to use and then under the box you should start typing.

You can select the option of Save and Copy to copy the written content and paste it anywhere say your email or web pages. Another option is save and paste into Epic Write which would open a complete new window with numerous options allowing you to use the complete language transalation options.

How to Enable Antivirus support in Browser?

In order to activate this feature you will have to download any file from the browser ,following which under the ‘Epic Downloads’ section you will find a message asking you to ‘Activate Scanning this download?’ If you activate this the browser will start downloading Virus definitions of around 25MB in size.

How to change the Browser look?

You can find the themes or skins as the Epic calls them under the Skins option on the sidebar. You can choose different theme styles under People, Culture, Regional, Sports, Films, Art, Music, Religious, Politics & Nature.

Click on any of these and you will get sub categories where there would be a list of different skins available which can be applied in the form of a theme and wallpaper or else both.

Once you click on the + Both option the selected skin would be applied instantly without the need for restarting the browser.

How to use writing editor in Epic?

The inbuilt Write feature in epic could be used for writing any kind of information . There is an “Auto Save” feature in it under the Write section where all the content you type in it is automatically saved .

Also, the same data is saved in the form on .html file on your desktop to make sure that you don’t loose your content.

How to access hard drive files from Browser?

You could access the computer files from the Epic Browser directly through the “My computer “ icon on the Sidebar. You could perform different actions like moving stuff, deleting or viewing hidden files using this option.

What are the other features available in this browser?

Travel Icon – Click to get direct access to Travel booking websites like Indian Railways and Yatra.com

Jobs option - Search jobs directly from sites like naukri.com

Backup section – You can place your files in this section to be used online from any computer as they would be uploaded in you gmail Account

Apps function – Search any app you like and install it by clicking on ‘Add to Epic’.

NERO 8 - Do you know Everything about it?

2011-07-16T02:50:00.000-07:00

Nero isn’t just about the Burning ROM software—it’s also about all the extras that come with it.

Move The Cache Folder

Nero uses a location on the hard drive when it needs to cache files before burning them. If you’re running short on space in your main partition, you would want to change it to one with more free space. Go to File > Options > Cache and click on Browse to choose a new location.

Sounds For Events

Nero has support for sounds but they are disabled by default. Go to File > Options > Sounds tab to set sounds for events. The sounds that come with Nero are in the default locations, but you can select the ones you want by clicking the Browse button.

Nero BurnRights

Nero BurnRights is an application that comes with Nero; It allows you to define which users on your system can burn CDs and DVDs.

Go to Start > All Programs > Nero 8 > Nero Toolkit > Nero BurnRights.

Select the type of users that you want to give permission to and click OK.

Do Not Eject The Drive

Every CD burnt is immediately ejected from the drive by default in Nero. To keep the CD or DVD in the drive once it’s done, go to File > Options > Expert Features. Check the box against Do not eject the disc after the burn is complete and click OK.

Retro Nero

We all miss the Nero Burning ROM from the past years when it was a compact little CD / DVD burning software and not a complete suite with modules we never use.

It’s reached a point where there are tiny, hacked, illegal releases of Nero Burning ROM made available on the Internet which take a fraction of the space of the entire suite. If you have the nasty habit of blindly clicking “Next” during the Nero 8 installation, you’ll most probably have skipped the screen where you choose the Custom installation mode.

Uninstall your current copy of Nero if you have it installed. Start the installation till you reach the window where you can choose between Typical and Custom installation. Select the Custom install option and click Next.

You’ll soon see a window with the list of all the Nero components selected. Click on each one of them and select . Do the same for everything and continue with the installation. At the end, you’ll have completed your own clean compact Nero Burning ROM installation the way it used to be.

Searching For Specific Formats

To look for a particular file using wildcards, right-click on the folder in the left pane of the browser window. Click on Select pattern. Enter wildcards with semicolons as separators and click OK. For example, entering *Crossaffairs*;*.PDF as the pattern will select all files with “Crossaffairs” in their names and PDFs as well.

Encode Audio Files

Nero Burning ROM comes with an in-built audio encoder: go to Extras > Encode Files, click on Add and select the files you want to encode.Using the drop-down menu for Output file format, select which format you want to encode to and click on the Settings button to set parameters for the encoder. Finally, click on the Browse button to select where you want to store the encoded files once encoded. Click Go to start encoding!

Better Compatibility

One of the issues with media and the way they are burned is that is that they’re not always compatible on all DVD players.

There are a few things that can be done to solve this:

one of them is to set the high-compatibility mode on for your drive.

Step 1 Click on the Choose Recorder button to the right of the drop-down menu for selecting the drive.

Step 2 Select your drive and click on Options.

Step 3 Check the box against DVD High Compatibility Mode.

This will make sure that at least a gigabyte of data is written on the media even if you don’t have that much data.

Another thing you can do is to use the Book Type settings—this is basically is to tell the drive that you have inserted a DVD-ROM (for example) not a DVD-RW or any other kind of DVD.

This way, there are better chances of the drive reading your media.
Use the drop down menu for Book Type settings in the drive properties window and select DVD-ROM, as it generally gives better compatibility.

Easter Egg!
Nero Burning ROM still has the Easter Egg which you can find in most of its earlier versions.
Go to Help > About to see the credits. Double-click in this window and you’ll see the credits text flowing with different kind of effects. If you hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift] together and then double-click, the effects and scrolling will speed up.

Thirteen Android Widgets You Can Not Live Without

2011-07-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest advantages of Android over iphone are widgets. Android has them, iPhone does not. Widgets are valuable because they can provide at-a-glance look at lots of different kinds of information and quick access to valuable apps and configuration settings.

Note: A couple things to keep in mind with widgets

1.) They can sometimes hog resources, Bandwidth and battery life so you should make sure you’re using a task killer to regularly refresh your apps

2.) Widgets can take up a lot of screen real estate and so you need to use an alternate home screen launcher, such as launcher pro, to give yourself some extra space.

1 Analytics Widget

If you use Google Analytics to track Web site, this little widget makes easy to get a quick glance at your traffic metrics. It takes up the same amount of space as an app icon and you can set up multiple widgets to track multiple metrics.

2 Last Call

This widget provides a glance at your last call which makes it easy to redial or to call back a missed call .You can also click on the widget to go to your call log.

3 Flight view

For travellers, the flight view widget is very handy. Rather can digging through apps or web pages to get a flight status update, you can enter your airline and flight number into this app and it will track it for u.

4 Score Board

This is Google widget that let you keep track of the scores from a favourite sports team. It shows the last game and the next game (or current game).

5 3G Watch Dog

As most people are aware, Unlimited Bandwidths data plans are not unlimited. Most of them have the limit of 2 GB that means people are going to be more conscious of band with usage. The 3G watch dog is a Widget that can track it for you.

6 System Info

This widget provides a great little system monitoring function for battery life, overheating, memory and storage.

7 Pure Calendar

There is built in widget that can provide quick glance at your calendar but pure calendar is far more detailed and customizable.

8 Pure Messengers

The cousin of Pure calendar is pure messenger, which can provide a quick glance at your inbox. It can even integrate SMS Messages, Twitter DM’s and Facebook mail.

9 Extended Controls

Android comes with a "power control" widget that lets you quickly toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Brightness and more. The "Extended controls" widget, allows you to create a customized version of power control with lot more toggle options

10 Battery watcher

This widget visually indicates battery percentage.

11 Picture Dial

This is a smart phone speed dial at allows you to setup your most important and most frequently dialled people or numbers based on photos .You see the two sides of the widget , one with two numbers and one with four .You can also stack multiple widget on the same page. The default configuration is that you select a contact and then phone, text or email to the speed dial button .

12 BuzzBox

BuzzBox offers a no frills widget for quickly glancing at the news. There are a bunch of pre-configured RSS sources (including some good ones for tech) and you can easily add your own.

13 SMS Unread count

The basic premise here is that this widget replaces your messaging (sms) icon with a widget that looks like a icon but includes a little red circle in the upper right corner with the number of unread messages you have (mirroring the iphone UI) The App can also do this for Gmail and Phone ( missed calls).

Must Have Symbian Mobile Apps on your Cellphone

2011-07-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

If you travel a lot, your mobile and laptop are quite likely your most important possessions.

VITO AudioNotes

One of the coolest pieces of software out there for your phone, VITO AudioNotes allows you to record audio (in WAV or MP3 format) from your phone’s microphone.

What this means is that you don’t have to scramble for pen and paper whenever someone dictates something to you. What’s more, it can record incoming and outgoing calls automatically— perfect for those sting operations! At its highest recording quality of 96 Kbps, a 10-second WAV file takes up approximately 1 MB of space, while an MP3 of similar length takes up 135 KB—very nifty. While recording notes, you can also adjust the sensitivity of the mic with the Mic. Auto Gain option.

The automatic call record function does just that—on a Windows Mobile device, selecting this option will record all calls even when the program is not running in the background. Once recorded, the calls and notes can be saved on either the phone memory or the memory card.

Another interesting function of the software is that it allows you to append new recordings to previously-recorded notes or calls; for example, if you have a recording of an outgoing call, you can append your own summary of the call to the end of it and save it all as one recording.

Platform: Symbian S60, Windows Mobile

OfficeSuite 4

OfficeSuite works on any Symbian Series 60 phone and allows you to make and edit Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents right on the phone. Though you won’t be able to make Pivot Tables or define custom style sheets, it should get the job done for a file that has to be sent urgently. When you make a new document, it will allow you to save it on the phone or on external memory. Office- Suite gives you nearly all the f o r m a t t i n g tools you get with MS Office, including the red underlines for misspelled words. When you make a workbook, you can hide, freeze, or insert rows and columns, and you can use functions too.

AI RoboForm

This interestingly-named software is a password manager and automatic form filler with some serious artificial

intelligence. Why is it in this list, you ask? Simple: you don’t want to be carrying slips of paper with passwords written all over them while travelling; AI RoboForm is a much better alternative.

After installing the program, you’ll be asked to enter your details on an exhaustive Web form, which is stored onthe computer. Thereon, it’s all smooth sailing. When you need to fill out a form on theWeb—when registering on a Web site, for example—just click “Fill Forms” and all the fields will be automatically filled with the necessary information.

The real beauty of the software is that it is encrypts all your passwords with 3-DES technology, so there is no way your passwords will be compromised. The software works even on AJAXbased pop-up login windows (like those on Facebook).

It can also generate random, secure passwords for use on Web sites, which it automatically saves for later use. There is also an option to print all the passwords stored with AI RoboForm, but that defeats the purpose of using the software! You can also password-protect your identity in AI RoboForm to prevent others from logging into your account on Web sites.

Platform: Windows (All)

Free SMTP Server

Picture this: you’re on the move, and you need to send an important e-mail to a client. Your office mail server is down, or taking excessively long to send e-mails. Haven’t many of us been through this situation? Fret not; you can now use software for exactly this situation. Free SMTP Server creates an SMTP server right on your PC. It can be used with any mail client— all you need to do is change the outgoing SMTP server to localhost in the mail client.

When it’s launched, the program will automatically detect the DNS server and port number through which to send e-mail. If you want the mail to go through a specific DNS server address or port, you can configure that, too.

Be aware that that some ISPs close the SMTP port 25, forcing you to use only their SMTP server, so make sure the port is unblocked before using the program. The only drawback of the software is that if any other service is already using the specified SMTP port, it gives you an error instead of adding the request to the queue. Free SMTP Server has no frills, but that’s what makes it so fast and efficient.

Platform: Windows (All)

Virtual Network Computing

Let’s face it—in spite of having all the cool tools to help you when you’re on the road, there’s nothing better than accessing your computer at the end of the day. Ultr@VNC is a virtual network computing (VNC) program that allows you to do just that from absolutely anywhere. The Ultr@VNC software consists of two

parts— VNC Server and VNC Viewer. You need to install VNC Server on the host computer (at home, for example), and use VNC Viewer to browse the contents of the host machine over the Internet. The greatest advantage of using Ultr@VNC is that it has an option called JavaViewer, which allows you to access a remote host even without having the VNC Viewer installed.

All you have to do is use a Web browser with Java installed and connect to http://[ip_address]: 5800, where ip_address is your home PC’s IP address.

MojoPac

The biggest problem while using a computer that’s not yours is that you don’t know if it’s infected, or if your activities are being logged. Of course, there are ways to find out, but you’d rather be doing something more important with your time.

Enter stage left, MojoPac. The idea behind the software is simple: it installs itself on any portable media device, from MP3 players to USB sticks, and creates a virtual environment for you to install and run applications. While most virtualisation software require you to purchase a separate licence for Windows to install on your portable media, MojoPac uses essential files from the machine that it is connected to—the host machine—to run a protected environment.

When in this virtualised mode, MojoPac places a toolbar at the top of the Desktop, which allows you to switch back to the host when required. The computing tasks you carry out in the virtualised mode stay there, and no traces of those are replicated on the host machine.

However , In the virtualised mode, you don’t have access to the drives on the host machine, and any file transfer you want to do between your MojoPac USB stick to the host machine has to be done outside of MojoPac. The software works fine with USB 2.0 devices, but on older devices it can get sluggish; and finally, MojoPac runs only on Windows XP host machines. In spite of its few drawbacks, MojoPac is a wonderful tool for professionals on the move who don’t carry a laptop.

Platform: Windows XP only

Blacklist

Have you ever been nagged by pesky telemarketers who won’t take No for an answer? Or how about those times when you want some peace and quiet and your phone just won’t stop ringing? Epocware Handy’s Blacklist could be your saviour. True to its name, the application blocks callers from calling you.

When you run Blacklist for the first time, a dialog box appears, which allows you to block callers. From here, you can choose if you want to block numbers from recent calls, private numbers, unknown numbers, and your contact list; if you want to enter the number manually, you have that option too.

The Settings menu allows you to automatically add rejected numbers to the blacklist and keep a log of all blocked numbers for up to 60 days. Unlike other monitoring software, Blacklist starts automatically with your phone. The only downside of the application that we found was that it did not display an alert every time it blocked a number, so you’d never know until you checked the logs.

Platform: Symbian S60

Handy Zip

E-mail attachments are normally sent as zipped files, and unfortunately, there are very few phones that natively support zipped files. Every mobile professional who checks e-mail on the phone dreads these, but if you have Handy Zip, you’ll be fine.

This little application allows you to access and create zipped archives on the phone. When you start the application, it searches for any zipped archives on the phone and displays them. Just click on the relevant archive to go into it.

When you want to create an archive, go to Select New Archive. Then, browse to the file or folder you want to archive and select it.The application allows you to choose betweenfive levels of compression—from None to Maximum.You can also choose to archive sub-folders\ and sort archives by name or size in ascending or descending order.

Google Plus

2011-07-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

Google Circles

Circles makes it easy to put your friends from Saturday night in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself - just like real life. You have to click and drag people into circles.

Google Hangouts

Google Plus has an exciting feature called “Hangouts”. With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time.

It lets specific buddies (or entire circles) know you’re hanging out and then see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat.

Instant Upload

Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone is pretty much the opposite of fun.

With Google+ Instant Upload, your photos and videos upload themselves automatically, to a private album on Google+. All you have to do is decide who to share them with.

Google Sparks

Google Plus boasts of a feature called Sparks, where you can get the stuff that you like , streamed to you automatically so that you always have something nice and cool to watch read or share.

You just need to tell it once whatever you like and Spark would feed you with it.

Google Huddle

Texting is great, but not when you’re trying to get six different people to decide on a movie.

Huddle turns all those different conversations into one simple group chat, so everyone gets on the same page all at once. Your thumbs will thank you.

So if you are making Group Plans you can turn multiple conversations into one single group chat.

Tips for Using Multiple Sign-in with Google Accounts

2011-07-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

Google offers a handy multiple sign-in feature to help users toggle between their different accounts in the same browser without having to go through the sign-in / sign-out cycle. The facility is available in regular Google Accounts (that have @gmail.com address) as well as Google Apps accounts.

You may use multiple-signs with Gmail, Google Docs, Reader, Google Calendar, Web Search and couple of other Google products.

A: How to Switch Between Different Google Accounts?

Let’s say are signed into two separate Gmail accounts, using multiple sign-in, and would like to switch from one account to another? How do you do this?

The popular option is that you click your email address on the Google bar (see the screenshot above) and choose “Switch Account” from the drop-down menu to sign-in to your other Google / Gmail account.

There’s however a second option as well that is a lot quicker. Go to your browser address bar and simply change a digit in the URL. When you use multiple sign-in, Google appends a number to your Gmail URLs and you just have to change this number to switch accounts.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/ - Default account (n=0)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/ - Second account (n=1)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/2/ - Third account (n=2)

Alternatively, you may add the above URLs to your bookmarks bar to directly access the different mail account with the click without using that drop-down.

B: Set any Google Account as your Default Sign-in

When your open any of the Google websites that are enabled for multiple sign-in, like Gmail or Google Docs, it will automatically sign-in using your default account.

In some cases, this “default account” set by Google may not be your primary account and thus you have to switch to another account every time you open a Google service. Is there are workaround?

If you have multiple accounts, you can actually set the order on your own so that your main Google Accounts becomes the default (n=0), the next account you frequently use becomes the second account in the sign-in order (n=1) and so on. Here’s how:

Step 1. Open google.com/accounts/Logout to sign-out of all your Google accounts.

Step 2. Next go to google.com/accounts/b/0/MultipleSessions and sign-in using the Google Account that you want to set as default.

Step 3. Now go to google.com/accounts/AddSession and sign-in to your other Google account. Repeat this step until you are signed-in to all your other Google accounts.

That’s it. You have now set a custom signing order for all your Google Accounts and that should save you some time.

The photo sharing site - Panoramio by Google

2011-07-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

When was it you last saw a scenic photo and wondered where it was taken? Well, we all have wondered at one time or other and never quite got where the photo was taken. The photo sharing site Panoramio seems to address this problem.

Like any other photo sharing site this one allows the users to upload images and share them. But then this site is for those who want to share photos of their surrounding and not themselves.What keeps Panoramio out of the crowd is that this is a location aware photo sharing site. This means that the photos here have references to the location on Google map.

Since Panoramio is all about photos of places if you upload images of pets, car and yourself they do not get associated to Google map. This is because images of objects and people don’t tell anything about the place. Despite rejections Panoramio boasts more than a million photos and 3,00,000 registered users. To upload photos you need to signup.

The size of an image can be of maximum of 5MB and mapping of the photo needs to be done to the location and not over the subject of the photo. I took some images of locations from Goa and uploaded them. Once photo was uploaded I was prompted to type the title of the image. Now you can exit at this point without mapping the photo to the map or click on the link ‘Map this photo’. Clicking on ‘Map this photo’ another text box pops up asking for the name of the place or city.

If there is more than only place with the same name then Panoramio show which country these places are located in.I was astonished to see that there were 16 places in different countries called “Goa”. Selecting the India we proceeded. A small window containing the satellite images and maps from the Google Earth showed us the location of Goa.

You can now zoom into this satellite image and pinpoint the location of the picture with the help of a red balloon. I felt at this point that the satellite image could have been bigger to help us locate the place easily. Location based photos helps you to have a glimpse of the surroundings before keeping a foot at that place. After placing the images at a location in Goa I saw some other photos around that place making me realize that I hadn’t visited them.

At Panoramio you can find photos of beaches, buildings, hills, and photos of one’s surroundings.There are no paid services as of now and you can upload upto 2 GB of photos.

The uploaded photos are not updated in real time on Google map and takes couple of weeks to see them on Google Earth, provide they satisfy certain conditions like—photo is of a place, images are not small in size and is ideally more that 4 megapixel, images are not blurred and they do not contain obstructive copyright notices. Once the image was uploaded the image was represented as a blue compass on Google Earth and they are shown up in every computer with Google Earth.

If you find a wrongly located photo on the map posted by someone else and you know the correct location then you can use the link ‘Suggest new location’. Once the owner finds that the location of his photo needs correction he may change the location to the suggested location. However, if you have placed the image wrongly on the map and want to correct it you can do so by clicking ‘change position’ button located under the two maps and drag the read bubble to correct location.

Unlike in Flickr one could download the original file (image) and not worry about resolution being downgraded, a plus point in Panoramio. Tagging like in Flickr allows easy organization of uploaded photos. ‘Favorites’ represented (symbolized) as stars allows you to track new photos uploaded by that user. Though the site has well balanced features we felt it lacks prettiness which is necessary for a Web site. No complaints in terms of functionality wise.

Panoramio is the only site that shares location awareness photos and with the services of site is bound to expand and become better.

Opera Browser Keyboard Shortcuts

2011-07-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tab

Open a new tab [Ctrl] + [T]
Close a tab [Ctrl] + [W]
Cycle between tabs [Alt] + [Page Down] or [Ctrl] + [Tab]

Scrolling
One line up [Up Arrow]
One line down [Down Arrow]
One character to the left [Left Arrow]
One character to the right [Right Arrow]
One screen up [Shift] + [Space] or [Page Up]
One screen down [Space] or [Page Down]
One screen to the left [Ctrl] + [Page Up]
One screen to the right [Ctrl] + [Page Down]
Go to top [Home]
Go to bottom [End]

Navigation
Next link up [Shift] + [Up Arrow]
Next link down [Shift] + [Down Arrow]
Next link to the left [Shift] + [Left Arrow]
Next link to the right [Shift] + [Right Arrow]
Activate link [Enter]
Activate link in new tab [Shift] + [Enter]

History
Previous page in history [Z] or [Ctrl] + [Left Arrow] or [Alt] + [Left Arrow]
Next page in history [X] or [Ctrl] + [Right Arrow] or [Alt] + [Right Arrow]
Reload the current page [F5] or [Ctrl] + [R]
Rewind [Shift] + [Z]
Fast forward [Shift] + [X]
Show entire backward history [Alt] + [Z]
Show entire forward history [Alt] + [X]

Find
Find text in page [Ctrl] + [F] or [.], or [/]
Find next instance of text [Ctrl] + [G]
Find previous instance of text [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [G]
Find text in links in page [,] or [Shift] + [/]

Display
Use entire screen for viewing page [F11]
Pretend to be small-screen device [Shift] + [F11]
Zooming
Zoom in 10% [+] or [0]
Zoom out 10% [-] or [9]
Zoom in 100% [Ctrl] + [+] or [8]
Zoom out 100% [Ctrl] + [-] or [7]
Restore zoom to 100% [6]

System keys
Open file [Ctrl] + [O]
Save copy of page [Ctrl] + [S]
Print preview (toggle) [Shift] + [P]
Print page [Ctrl] + [P]
Close Opera [Ctrl] + [Q]
E-mail keys

Basics
Check e-mail [Ctrl] + [K]
Write new message [Ctrl] + [E]
Save message draft (continue later) [Ctrl] + [S]
Send composed message [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [S]

Navigation
Go to next e-mail [J]
Go to previous e-mail [U]
Go to next unread e-mail [H] or [Shift] + [J]
Go to previous unread e-mail [Y] or [Shift] + [U]
Scroll up in mail body (even when focus in mail list) [Alt] + [Up]
Scroll down in mail body (even when focus in mail list) [Alt] + [Down]
Toggle view: message list/message body/list and body [I]

Threads
Expand current thread [Right Arrow]
Close current thread [Left Arrow]
Expand all threads [Shift] + [Right Arrow]
Close all threads [Shift] + [Left Arrow]

Marking
Mark selected e-mail as read [K]
Mark selected e-mail as read, and go to next unread e-mail [G]
Mark selected e-mail as read, and go to previous unread e-mail [T]
Mark selected e-mail as unread [Shift] + [K]
Mark all e-mail in active view as read [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [A]

Responding
Reply to message [R]
Reply to all recipients of message, including sender [Shift] + [R]
Forward e-mail [F]
Redirect e-mail [D]

Firefox Shortcuts

2011-07-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Command Shortcuts

Help [F1]

Add Bookmark [Ctrl] + [D]

Bookmarks Sidebar (toggle) [Ctrl]+[B]

[Ctrl] + [I]

Browsing History (toggle) [Ctrl] + [H]

Download History [Ctrl] + [J]

Clear Private Data [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Del]

Full Screen (toggle) [F11]

Increase Text Size [Ctrl] + [+] [Ctrl] + Scroll down

Decrease Text Size [Ctrl] + [-],[Ctrl] + Scroll up

Restore Text Size [Ctrl] + [0]

Print [Ctrl] + [P]

Reload Page [F5], [Ctrl] + [R]

Force Reload Page (override cache) [Ctrl] + [F5],[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [R]

Stop Loading [Esc]

Save Page As [Ctrl] + [S] ,[Alt] + Left-click

Page Source [Ctrl] + [U]

DOM Inspector [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [I]

Go Down One Line [Down Arrow]

[Alt] + Scroll down

Go Up One Line [Up Arrow]

[Alt] + Scroll up

Go Down One Screen [PageDown],[Spacebar]

Go Up One Screen [PageUp],[Shift] + [Spacebar]

Go to Bottom of Page [End]

Go to Top of Page [Home]

Move to Next Frame [F6]

Move to Previous Frame [Shift] + [F6]

Move Focus to Next Actionable Item [Tab]

Move Focus to Previous Actionable Item [Shift] + [Tab]

Open Home Page [Alt] +Home

Back one Page [Alt] + [Left Arrow],[Ctrl] + [, [Shift] + Scroll down

[Backspace]

Forward one Page [Alt] + [Right Arrow]

[Ctrl] + []]

[Shift] + Scroll up

[Shift] + [Backspace]

Open Link [Enter]

Left-click

Open Link (in new Background Tab)2 [Ctrl] + [Enter]

[Ctrl] + Left-click

Middle-click

Open Link (in new Foreground Tab)2 [Ctrl] + [Shift] + Left-click

[Shift] + Middle-click

WEB BROWSERS III

Open Link in New Window [Shift] + [Enter]

[Shift] + Left-click

Save Link Target As [Alt] + [Enter]

Caret Browsing [F7]

Open New Tab [Ctrl] + [T]

Double-Click on Tab Bar

Close Tab [Ctrl] + [W]

(close Window if only one tab) [Ctrl] + [F4]

Middle-click on Tab

Undo Close Tab [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [T]

Next Tab [Ctrl] + [Tab]

[Ctrl] + [PageDown]

Previous Tab [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Tab]

[Ctrl] + [PageUp]

Select Tab [1 to 9] [Ctrl] + [1…9]

Open New Window [Ctrl] + [N]

Close Window [Ctrl] +[Shift] + [W]

[Alt] + [F4]

Select Location Bar [Ctrl] + [L]

[Alt] + [D]

Complete .com Address 1 [Ctrl] + [Enter]

Complete .net Address 1 [Shift] + [Enter]

Complete .org Address 1 [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Enter]

Open Address in New Tab 1 [Alt] + [Enter]

Open File [Ctrl] + [O]

Select Search Bar [Ctrl] + [K]

Select Next Search Engine in Search Bar [Ctrl] + []]

Select Previous Search Engine in Search Bar [Ctrl] + [Up Arrow]

Open List of Search Engines in Search Bar Alt+ [Down Arrow]

Alt+ [Up Arrow]

Select Next Entry [Down Arrow]

Select Previous Entry [Up Arrow]

Toggle Checkbox [Spacebar]

Select Next Auto-Complete Entry [Down Arrow]

Select Previous Auto-Complete Entry [Up Arrow]

Delete Individual Auto-Complete Entry [Shift] + [Del]

Select All [Ctrl] + [A]

Find in This Page [Ctrl] + [F]

Find Again [Ctrl] + [G]

[F3]

Find Previous [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [G]

[Shift] + [F3]

Quick Find Text [/]

Quick Find Link [‘]

Yahoo! Mobile (http://in.wap.yahoo.com)

2011-07-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

The Yahoo! Mobile Service has been one of the first few Web based
portals to launch a WAP service.

In doing so, Yahoo! enabled its services
to be accessed to be accessed from any device on the move. The
Yahoo! WAP site currently supports the ability to read e-mails from
the inbox and also compose new mails. Apart from the other download
services, it also supports the ability to check your yahoo messenger
contacts on the move.

Though this service is in no way user
friendly, since you have to keep re-loading the page to check if the
other person has replied, it still is a step in the right direction.

Logging In
Getting into the site is similar to doing it on the web. You enter
your username and password on the front page and that takes you
to another page where you can choose from E-mail, Messenger and
other services of Yahoo!. If you do not have a Yahoo! id then you
can only create it off the Yahoo! Web site.

Messenger
On signing on, the messenger function of the Yahoo! WAP site displays
all the groups that you have created. You have to go into each
group, which loads a separate page every time, to see which of
your buddies are online.

If you want to chat with your buddies, all
you need to do is click on their name and that will bring up a very
arcane user interface to enter the text to your friend.

Once the instant message (IM) is sent, there is no way to know
if your friend has replied or not, unless you reload the page. This
can be very frustrating and annoying.
In Parting
We feel that the messenger client on the WAP site should be
improved upon by Yahoo! if they want to make better in-roads into
the mobile social networking scene. The system that exists right
now was cutting edge way back in 1997.

Choosing An Internet Service Provider

2011-06-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most dicey part of accessing the Internet is finding the right ISP. The first decision you need to make is whether to go with a dialup ISP or a broadband ISP such as a DSL provider or satellite or cable Internet service. We thought it would help if you could have an overview of the differences between dialup and broadband services, and so, here’s a table:

Whichever you opt for, when you’re choosing an ISP there are few fundamentals you should consider:

1. Local phone number: ISPs typically need you to dial a number that your computer must contact to connect to the Internet. If this number is not local but a long-distance one, you could
spend a lot more than you intend to.

2. Cost: Costs that you will incur in using an ISP’s services vary from one provider to another, and is usually the factor that will most influence your choice. Each ISP gives a certain number of hours per month which you can use. Charges differ according to the kinds of service you need and the quantum of data you give or receive. Off-peak hours are sometimes free, while extra charges are applied for every extra hour (or MB) you use. Some ISPs charge a one-time fee for setup and then a monthly rental. We advise you to first determine the kind of usage you have in mind. If you are an occasional user and don’t think you’ll need the Net much, just settle
for good old dialup. But if you need to send or receive a lot of data, you could choose from the variety of schemes that are offered by ISPs that let you connect through cable or DSL.

3. Mailboxes: ISPs often allow you to have multiple e-mail addresses for your Internet account. This is sometimes free and can be availed of.

4. Software: ISPs usually provide a CD-ROM with software that you must use to connect to and use the Internet. This disc already has the software you need.

5. Technical support: It would be ideal if you could opt for an ISP that gives you a helpline number that you could call 24 x 7 if you encounter any glitches (and believe us, there could be plenty).
Often, these help-lines take ages to actually reach an operator on the other end and however unimportant that seems, think it out—or better, call the number and try it out even before you
actually subscribe to the service.

6. Bandwidth and speed: How many channels does your ISP claim to manage simultaneously over a single line? How much data do they claim to be able to transmit per second and how much, in reality does get transported?

7. Accessibility: if you’re using a modem, the busy signal is possibly going to be one of your daily hindrances in attempting to access the Internet. You could waste a lot of time dialling and redialling. The best way to check this out would be to ask the Internet users in the same area whether they face difficulties in getting connected to the ISP you are intending to subscribe to.

8. Latency: It would be to your benefit if you could get an idea of the latency (delay in data transmission) problems that occur if you use a particular ISP. Latency is basically the amount of time a packet of data needs to reach from one point in the network to another.

Identifying ISPs In Your Area Or City:

1. Ask friends. Actually, even ask your enemies. There’s nothing like getting the low-down straight from the horse’s mouth. People who already use the Internet would be ideal to tell you
about their experiences with particular ISPs and help you to work out a comparative evaluation of the most optimal one in your area.

2. Check out their Web sites. These same people who already use the Internet, or the cyber-cafes in your vicinity would be more than willing to give you a few minutes to access the Web sites of popular ISPs. Most ISPs have their tariffs and schemes detailed on their sites. Here are some of the URLs that would be of help:
http://airtel-broadband.com/
http://broadband.sify.com/
http://mumbai.mtnl.Net.in/Internetservices/index.html
www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone.htm
http://www.tataindicombroadband.com/
www.rcom.co.in/Webapp/Communications/rcom/Netconnect/rm_netconnect.jsp

3. Look for the ads of the ISPs and read them carefully. If possible, visit their local offices and get hold of a brochure of their services. Keep the list of questions regarding basics of choosing ISPs As discussed above in mind and ask where necessary.Each ISP usually offers separate time-based (a certain numberof hours), volume-based (a limited available MB of space), or unlimited plans according to volume.

Features of Windows 7

2011-06-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 is the latest release of Microsoft Windows; a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, net books, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009.

Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista was already compatible. Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Super bar, a home networking system called Home Group, and performance improvements. Some standard applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7 most are instead offered separately at no charge as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.

User experience
• Biggest end user changes are in the UI...
– Personalization with Aero Themes and slideshows.
– Major changes to the Taskbar – Pinning, Jump Lists, Live Previews, and more.
– Notification area clean-up.
– Libraries and Windows Explorer.
– Windows Aero desktop effects: Aero Peek, Aero Snaps, Aero Shake.
– Bundled apps
– Calculator
– Paint
– WordPad
– Sticky Notes, etc.
– Missing apps
– Windows Live Essentials fills the gaps
– You can also remove more apps than in Vista.

Security
• Vista already got this mostly right.
• UAC has been overhauled, user gets fine-grained control.
• Windows 7 still doesn’t ship with an AV solution.
• The good news: Microsoft’s Security Essentials is free and appears to be decent.

Certain capabilities and programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionalities. These include the classic Start Menu user interface, some taskbar features, Windows Explorer features, Windows Media Player features, Windows Ultimate Extras and Ink Ball. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7, but applications with close functionality are instead available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials which can be downloaded on the Microsoft website.

Although Windows Ultimate Extras was removed, many of the extras can be installed separately. Most popular extras were Microsoft Texas Hold 'em, Microsoft Tinker, and Windows Dream Scene. Ink Ball may also be installed into Windows 7.

How to Upload Files to Multiple Hosts

2011-01-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

If you have a file that you need to share with others, or if you would like to create an online backup of a file, you can accomplish both of these things at once by uploading the file to multiple hosts. Uploading to multiple hosts gives those that you want to share the file with options on where to download the file, and also provides a more secure online backup. If you want to upload your files to multiple hosts, several services are available that allow you to upload the files simultaneously.

Use the Gazup! Uploading service. To upload on Gazup!, click the "Choose File" button on the main page, and remove the checkmarks by any of the hosts that you do not want to upload the file onto, or leave all of the hosts checked to upload to Rapid Share, FileFactory, Badongo and other hosts. Then, click the "upload file!" button. The file uploads to all of the selected hosts and a download link appears on the page that you can send to other people to download the file.
Check out the UploadBud site. Click the "Choose File" button to upload the file. Check the sites where you want the file to upload, such as MegaUpload and Easy-Share, enter your email address and click "Start File Upload." A download link is provided on the page and sent to you by email.
Upload with the QOOY uploading system. Click the "Browse" button to add the file that you want to upload. Click the "Enter Email" link if you would like to receive a copy of the link by email, and choose any six of the upload sites listed. Once you have your six sites selected and click the "Upload" button, the files are uploaded to the selected sites and you are provided a download link.
Go to the UploadJockey website. Like the other sites, UploadJockey has a simple, one-screen uploading system. Click "Choose File," select the file that you want to upload to multiple hosts, enter a description for your uploaded file, uncheck any of the hosts that you don't want to upload your file to and click "Upload" to upload the file to the selected sites.