After upgrading you phone to ICS or if you have a shiny new android phone you might not find WCDMA only option under network settings which is a painful thing when you have a lower 3G coverage and want to browse some websites or download some apps.

Here’s a simple workaround. Open up the dial pad and put below code. And you’ll get a window to change the modes.

*#*#4636#*#*

If typing the code is another pain download this app which will make life easier.

Download app here

Few months back Google released anonymous videos regarding one of its product “Google Glass“. Below is a video log opted from Google’s official YouTube channel.

And few days back Google has revealed the technical specifications for the “Google Glass” project. Cool isn’t it? Below is a link to see the specifications of the product.

Technical Specification: Google support ~ Glass

What is a Public IP address

Public IP Addresses (also known as Static IP Addresses) are IP addresses that are visible to the public.Because these ip addresses are public, they allow other people to know about and access your computer, like a Web server.In some cases, you do not want people to access your computer or you want to restrict certain individuals from accessing your computer or server. Basically if we want to access the internet we should need a public IP address.

What is a Private IP address

These addresses can be used on a private network, but they’re not routable through the public Internet. This not only creates a measure of much-needed security, but it also conveniently saves valuable IP address space. With a private address assainged to your pc you cannot access the internet.

Available Private Address

Class A – 10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255

Class B – 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255

Class C 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255

TIP – If your home or office pc is configured with a private IP address but still it might be able to connect to internet it is because NAT (Network Address translation) which is provided by the router.

What is an Illegal IP Address

Private networks that doesn’t have internet connections they can use any address they want,even public address. If  the organization later decides to connect to the Internet, its current address scheme might include addresses already assigned by the InterNIC (The Internet’s Network Information center) to other organizations. These addresses would be duplicate or conflicting addresses and are known as illegal addresses . Connectivity from illegal addresses to Internet locations is not possible.

Google has finally launched another service by the name “Google Keep” last Wednesday. Simply a service to add, create notes instead having it written on note books, sticky pads.. etc. It is indeed a very simple service and a convenient user friendly interface to navigate. Have a look at the video for more..

As per Google’s Official Blog:

Google Keep is available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you’ll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive.

Give it a go & experience it for yourselves..

My friend using Zimbra at his office asked me that if there’s any possibilities to keep all incoming and outgoing mails of all users in separate location where his boss can see the mails while users are unaware of it

After few Google searches I found the solution. It basically auto bcc all inbound and outbound emails to specified email account. Also this would support on all Postfix based email systems. Here’s how to do it.

Login to terminal and run these command as zimbra user

sudo su

su – zimbra

Edit postfox config file

nano /opt/zimbra/postfix/conf/main.cf

Below last line of the main.cf add the following line

always_bcc = inoutmails@example.com

Reload postfix

postfix reload

This is it. Now you can see all in and out emails copied to the inbox.

Further you can create a filter to separate outgoing mails to different folder. Go to Preferences -> Filters and create a new filter looks like figure below. Or you can do the same with an email client like Outlook & Thunderbird.

First of all, I must admit that I’m not a geek. I started to use FOSS in 2009 just because I didn’t wanted to use pirated softwares since that would be breaching the second precept of Buddhist Five Precepts.

However, recently I bought a mobile internet connection with a dongle from Etisalat. Before buying the dongle, I couldn’t do some Googling to check if it is working on Ubuntu or not. But I believed Etisalat agent’s word. First I tried it on my brother’s windows PC, it worked fine.

Then I connected it to my lap top which is using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) as the Operating System. I tried to connect internet in usual way with the ‘Network Connections Manager’. Even though Connections Manager is detecting the Dongle, it fails to connect. Then I thought the issue could be solve by unlocking the dongle. So I unlocked it, but still it is not connecting.

Then I did some googling about this dongle and found that there is an issue when using it on Linux. I tried various solutions on internet, but nothing worked for me. Finally I decided to ask for a help. One of my friends on twitter suggested me Irfad. Actually Irfad is the one who solved this and who should write this article.

Now let’s see how to create a connection for Prolink PHS300. In fact This article is not only for PHS300 users, I’m going to write this in a  broad view. You can use this method to create a connection for any Dongle which is not connecting with the ‘Network Connections Manager’.

First of all check your ‘Network Connections Manager’ follow the simple steps and try to connect. If it’s working, no need to worry about things I wrote below.

If it’s not working;

check if ‘Network Connections Manager’ is detecting your dongle.

 Newer versions of Ubuntu are detecting PHS300. If your dongle is detecting, go to PART B straightaway.

If it’s not detecting,

PART A

Open terminal and type

lsusb -v | less

Press ‘Enter’ until it shows your dongle data.

Copy ‘idVendor’ and ‘idProduct’ to somewhere.

Ex : My idVendor is 0x19d2 and idProduct is 0×0151

Then type in a new terminal,

sudo rmmod usbserial ####removes usbserial module####

then,

sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0×0151

replace your vendor and product IDs.

now type,

sudo cp /etc/modules /etc/modules.bak ####For safety xD####

after that,

sudo echo “usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0×0151″ /etc/modules

and reboot,

sudo reboot

 Now go back to ‘Network Connections Manager’ and check if it’s detecting your dongle. Then create a connection and try to connect.

If you could connect, congratulations !

 If the dongle is detecting but you can’t connect, don’t worry. I had the same problem.

 PART B

Now, this is what you have to do.

Open a terminal and type

 wget http://darknet.co.za/wiki/uploads/Posts/sakis3g.tar.gz

 then,

tar -xvzf sakis3g.tar.gz

Now become Root by typing

sudo su

give your password

 now enter this line

 cp sakis3g /usr/local/bin/

 Then this line to complete the installation part, give the script a executable permissions

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/sakis3g

 Open a new terminal and type (as non-root user)

sakis3g

That will open the Sakis 3G software.

 Now select,

connect with 3G => USB device => Your Dongle

Then choose your APN if it is there. If not there, select Custom APN and enter your APN. [If you are living in Sri Lanka and you don't know your APN, just leave a comment stating your service provider.]

Then it’ll ask you a username and password. You can add anything for that.

 Complete the next few steps and reboot.

 Now your dongle must be working

 All credit must go to Irfad for solving this. And thanks to both Irfad and Azker for giving me this opportunity to write.

This script I’m using on my file server when mirroring the data from primary hard drive to backup and external hard drive. Which basically checks for the files which have been modified or deleted on primary by comparing backed up data on the backup drive and then move the unmodified and undeleted files from backup drive to a separate directory organized by date on every sync run.

i.e

1. File A,B,C on primary synced with backup drive
2. Modifying A and Delete B on primary. Unchanged files remain in the backup drive
3. When running sync, files A and B are moved to a new directory from backup drive

Rsync script

rsync -v -r –backup –delete –backup-dir=/data/version/`date +%Y.%m.%d` -a /data/source /media/backup

/data/version/`date +%Y.%m.%d` – Is the version folder and move and keep the files by date inside the directory

/data/source – Is the source

/media/backup -  Is destination

As usual I was just working and suddenly wanted to use Skype to call my friend. No big deal!! Because, anyone can do such a thing by logging out from the existing and signing in with the one you needed. But there are very few who may need both to be logged in within one computer, like me. : D

Well, in such cases either you have to use some kind of applications to the job on behalf us. In that way Multi Skype Launcher can do that.. well, I’ve never tried that software nor wanted to. I’m not discouraging you to use as software developers invest a lot of time and their brain to develop such softwares. You can use either the software (if you find it convenient for you) or the other way which I found simple to do that without installing any softwares. Enough! said.. we’ll try it and see… : D

How-To (The process)

If you’re good with command prompt simply go back to “C:\” by typing “cd\”, then enter. Afterwards, follow the steps which is showed below in the command prompt screen. But if you’re a newbie, simply read the steps, which is quit easy for anyone to do.

• First of all if you’re logged-in to skype, sign out & close it.
• Open the command prompt (for xp > START key + R, then type “CMD” & enter / for vista, 7 > hit START, type cmd, right click & run as admin)
• Below screen is for windows vista & 7 users.

• Once the command prompt is opened, use the commands to navigate to the Skype directory.
• Below captured command prompt screen is from a Windows 7 pc, but don’t be confused as the commands are same for all windows users.

• As you can see the “Administrator” which displays on top of the above command prompt image (windows 7 / vista).
• In the command prompt just type “cd\” & enter, which will directly take you to “C:\” (doesn’t matter wherever you are, just type what I said).
• You’ll prompted with “C:\” where you have to type  ”cd Program Files” or “cd Program Files (x86)“ which depends with your system (Please read the yellow color comment for more)
• Assuming you’ve typed “cd Program Files”, then again type “cd Skype” if you’re installed it within the directory (note you’ve to go through the correct path where the skype is intalled).
• Once you’re in Skype directory, type “dir” (if you need to check whether the next directory exists) or simple “cd Phone” to the directory.
• Finally, the prompt should display as “C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone>“, which means you’re in the right path and next is to run the skype.
• Before you run the next command, simply open-up your Skype by double-clicking the icon on the desktop, keep it open without signing in.
• At last, type this in the command box which shown above as the last command; “Skype.ext /secondary” & enter. You should see another window popping-up & you’re good to go.
• Sign in with your ID’s one by one on each. : )

Command line Definitions (Just for your knowledge)

• cd\ > change directory to the root of what you are (it will simply bring down to root of the disk letter from wherever you are)
• cd > change directory (it simply jumps to the directory which mention as seen above)
• dir > to check the directories residing within the last shown folder (not the file but the folder[s])

Geek Opinion:  I found this really helpful rather than installing applications, making a mess on my PC. It is indeed a convenient method to use as most of us need Skype Multi-login for some needs but not always. Please hit on comment or use our HelpLine for further assistance.

As I marked in read above, I tend to write this article for those who’re facing issues with PayPal (receiving money). And this is specially dedicated to any Sri-lankan fellows who’ve been seeking for  an alternative payment solution like myself. Well, there are anonymous payment solutions such are 2CO (two-check-out), WMZ (web-money), Payza.. etc. But, I’m composing this article based on what I went through & how I succeeded receiving money. Nevertheless, this has nothing to do with the usual money transfer who’re western-union, moneygram… etc. This is about e-money (cashing out your money using an online payment system such as Paypal).

I’ve been searching for a solution to receive money to Sri-lanka via an online system that supports cash-out to bank accounts directly. That is because the very famous Paypal had option but didn’t support receiving money to Sri-Lanka. Well, that’s not their fault but it is because of our government. You may say that we know these, but I’m sharing this for those who still searching for solutions/alternatives. Anyhow, suddenly one of my friend who resides in Bangladesh told me about MoneyBookers which later became one of my favorite online service. After, I started to search more information & found two of my colleagues (Hamid Afzal & Aqeel) who knows about the service. Both of them said it is possible to receive money & they’ve done it so. I’m really thankful to those who helped me in this & I finally managed to receive money to my bank account (It actually was a test that I did to see whether it’s really working for me or not).

This is what I did (pretty much simple)

• Visited MoneyBookers website & sign-up for an account (users can either select personal or business account as per their requirement).
• Once registered you have to verify your account at Moneybookers (verification methods are available similar to paypaly but more option at moneybookers such as address verification) though it is a must to lift your limits & do transactions (for each successful verification, the limit will be increased & that’s a plus point).
• I used Card option, bank account verification (using the bank’s swift key) & address verification (a letter with a secret code which will be delivered to your home address or the address you specify).
• Also note that when you verify your account using debit/credit cards, they’ll charge you an amount & will ask you for the exact rate charged (the rate must be in USD, EURO or whatever as what the user select as his/her transaction currency). If you by any-chance entered an incorrect amount, your account will be locked for next 24 hours. Therefore, keep in touch with your bank and request for the exact amount that you’ve been charged. : )
• Please note that in order to withdraw money to your bank account directly; your bank should be within the SWIFT network (Srilankans may refer this link to check your respective bank & other try this).
• The very first bank account you add will be considered as your primary account. But you can more than one bank accounts to withdraw (Note: always try to withdraw your payments using the primary bank account since the charging rate may go higher to the alternative accounts you add.
• Depending on the bank fee & the account balance you have.. the process will automatically alert you on the minimum charges when you try to withdraw.

Further, Please comment below if you have any queries & please do consider reading the FAQ‘s given at Moneybookers website itself.

Screens to prove that I receive money from MoneyBookers to my bank account

Your own data, your own cloud. ownCloud is a full featured Dropbox alternative server application run on your own server.

Owncloud can be setup and running with minimal configuration. The basic requirement is a working LAMP server. Like Dropbox and Google Drive Images music files can be accessible from web interface without need to download. Also it has cross platform client application to keep your data on sync.

And another cool feature is to integrate GDrive and Dropbox into ownCloud where you can manage them in one place.

Following are the key features of ownCloud

Versioning

Older version of files can be reverted in case of wrong modifications or accidental deletion.

Encryption

By enabling encryption data will be encrypted with user’s password.

Drag & Drop

Simply drag and drop files to web file manager

Backup Server

You can keep a backup server in place synchronizing all user accounts anddata across the servers for high availability.

Task & Calendar

This enables user to keep and track their tasks and calendar appointments.

Visit ownCloud.org for installation instructions and more info.