Genious PC

Top 5 Free Photoshop Alternatives

2014-10-04T21:20:00.000+05:30

Photoshop is the one and only phenomena software when it comes to editing photos, adding special effects or for any professional designing project. Even though Photoshop is costly and even though it requires a lot of practise and learning to get expertise in it, I would say there are no possible alternatives to Photoshop that can match its power.

Wait. Why did I say so even though the title says it’s about 5 Photoshop alternatives?

Well, it was a kind of personal disclaimer. Now let’s come to main part. Here, I am going to write about 5 of the best free photo editing software that can replace Photoshop if you can’t afford it or if you feel it’s just too difficult to understand. So let’s start with the alternatives.

1. GIMP

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a totally free of cost powerful software that is cross-platform i.e. it is available for not only Windows but also Linux and OS X. It is also power packed with a large set of tools and functions which make me admit that GIMP is one of the real competitors of Photoshop.

I used GIMP for the first time when a few years ago I used Linux as my OS. GIMP is easier to understand compared to Photoshop and has basically the same set of functions though Photoshop may be more powerful and complex. But GIMP is enough to do some serious; as the name says; image manipulation.

2. Paint.net

Paint.net is another well known free image editing software that is available only for Windows users. It is also a bit less complex than GIMP and definitely easier and simpler than Photoshop but at the same time it’s much easier to understand the functions of Paint.net than even GIMP.

3. Inkscape

What makes Inkscape enter this top 5 list of Photoshop alternatives is its capacity to deal with vector graphics. Yes Inkscape is capable of implementing vector graphics which makes it stand out compared to the other free alternatives. And yes, it’s also free.

4. Pixlr Editor (Web based)

Pixlr is one of the few web apps which are strong enough to support basic as well as intermediate editing features. Though its nothing as advanced to GIMP or Paint.net but it’s still an easy to use software that allows not only the most basic editing features like rotate, crop, resizing but also a lot of advanced features that make it stand out compared to other web apps.

5. Pixia

Pixia is a Windows only software that has originated in Japan. Pixia is the English version of a Japanese image editing software. Once again, Pixia isn’t all advanced, its a simple tool with a lot of basic editing features which are pretty cool for a free tool.

Final Verdict

Frankly speaking, Adobe has really done a lot of professional work with Photoshop which really makes it worth the cost. But if you are looking for a free Photoshop alternative and you are looking for something powerful you can go with GIMP or Paint.net. If you are looking for something that is easy to handle and still has a lot of features packed into it, there are the other 3 from this post.

Now, it’s your turn to comment about any software that you have used before. Or how’s your experience with it? Just don’t talk about MS Paint here! Do comment and share your words.

Get The Best Discounts on Product Ranges With DealGuru

2014-08-24T21:03:00.001+05:30

With the onset of e-commerce site and netbanking facilities, online purchases have gone up by a huge margin. Today we can find a lot of product brands for products of a wide range having set up their online bases. In this world of e-commerce there is one more thing that makes the use of e-commerce even more interesting and lures you to shop online. And that thing is 'discount'.

We can find exclusive discounts on e-commerce sites which are not available on the same product in offline stores. So ultimately for a modern common man, its way better to shop online.

To make your world of discount even more interesting and to provide you the best discounts on a large range of products, here comes DealGuru, a segment launched by AskMeBazaar.

What is DealGuru about?

DealGuru is NOT a discount coupon site. Instead, its a full fledged e-commerce site where sellers actually place deals for their excess inventory products. No, that doesn't mean the products are defective! It just means the company has stopped manufacturing these products now.

So you can find some old and valuable things at great prices as well as some new products at great discounts. And I would like to add the point that the products are NOT second hand or anything (just to clarify you understood my meaning with 'old' and 'new' and not confuse it with old being second hand!).

Also as I said DealGuru is an e-commerce site, you'll get to place your order and get a confirmation for the same too.

And if you are looking for a place to launch your product, you can try DealGuru too. You just need to pay a small charge to get started.

Our Verdict

DealGuru is a new, awesome concept and truly worth it. One can get huge discounts of upto 90% on products that are equally good in quality. Electronics, Fashion, Furniture, Footwear, Jewellery, Mobiles, Watches and almost all other category of products are available at DealGuru.

In short, DealGuru is worth trying out for any online shopper.

DealGuru site: http://dealguru.askmebazaar.com/

AskMe App Review: Ask Anything From Your Smartphone

2014-08-06T22:18:00.000+05:30

AskMe is the new app in town, which is based on the concept of finding nearby services around your locality.

You can search stuff online, buy-sell things, find nearby services and much more.

About AskMe

AskMe is an Android exclusive app developed by 'Getit Infoservices Pvt Ltd.' and is just their 3rd app. Yet the app has managed to get a lot of positive feedback. Below are some of the important features of AskMe app:

Find local restaurants
Find the best deals on stuff
Read, write and share reviews.
Get classified ads on various services and products
Look for company phone numbers and contact details/addresses.
Look for company details

Download AskMe App

AskMe app is available for Android users on the Google Playstore here. The app is compatible to Android versions 2.2 and above.

Screenshots

You can also place your ad and a deal for free. Overall, this app is easy to use, you can find the best services near you, get deals for your stuff and buy stuff at the best price.

The AskMe tagline which says 'All in one app' is really satisfied with its services.

Xiaomi Tablet Mi Pad

2014-07-18T20:23:00.000+05:30

There are so many ways you can spend and enjoy yours summer and yours phone can suits to every second of it. The sun is shining for so long and makes your skin tanned so you can look like a film star and show your friends yours beauty through instant photos in yours favorite social network. Golden warm sand is runs through your fingers and you hear the sound of refreshing water. While you are drinking a cold cocktail and taking a sunbath. It seems to me I can spend the whole life on seaside while reading a new information on on a favorite blog, or listen to a new summer hit by lovely talented singer or group, immerse yourself in to a book or watch a film about summer romance or started yours own holiday romance. Or peace and quiet all around you, big green trees and a giant field it makes me feel free as a wind. You can make a party near the bonfire and roast marshmallows and tell the horror stories. Or you prefer to cook some sausage with a beer? To spend night under the starry sky in a sleeping bag or in a tent it is a dream of allot of us. You may do skinny dipping in a dark, like in a Katy Perry song. All this will be perfect if yours Xiaomi tablet will be with you.

First, when high quality Chinese company Xiaomi announced Mi Pad critics said that it would not be popular. But it was a great mistake!

The first batch of Xiaomi devices was fifty thousand Mi Pad and it was sold for only three minutes and fifty-nine seconds. It is a great result even for such giants as iPad. Mi Pad is first Xiaomi tablet, previous Xiaomi devices was primarily phones. Company already have some devoted fans. Company have so good sales not only because of fans, also company are well known for their original ideas in every new Xiaomi devices and high quality materials. A lot of compliments Xiaomi receives fir its software. Xiaomi is young but extremely strong company. It was opened in 2010 in Pekin by Lin Bin, who always compared with the president of the company. Apple. The name of the company Xiaomi has a beautiful meaning, it means 'a little rise'.

The first Xiaomi devices was smartphones it is always based on the best, latest versions of Android. After Xiaomi presented and sold to the public first devices critics said a lot of good words about this company. The quality of devices is good not only for Chines and even for well known all over the world companies. It is so much good that first batch was sold so quickly that people was waiting for the next one to buy Mi Pad Xiaomi.

The main competitor of Mi Pad Xiaomi is iPad mini. And there is a lot of reasons why. First of all the president of this company always compares with the famous Steve Jobs because they both have unreal talent.

First of all First of all Xiaomi have higher processor clock speed. If Apple has only 2 x 1.3 GHz Xiaomi has 4 x 2.2 GHz. It is make work with touchscreen better. Also very important is that Xiaomi has more random access memory! If compare camera only blind could not catch sight of better quality of Xiaomi photo. This is not all things that makes Xiaomi better than iPad. And also is very important is price. Apple is not better but much more expensive.

Because of big popularity it is hard to buy Mi Pad but you can do it on Flosmall.com, sales started from 10 of July. Xiaomi smartphones and tablets especial Mi Pad is the good choice not only in summer time but for all seasons of yours life.

What do you say about it? Comment below.

How to Boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8 - The Easy Way

2014-07-03T16:21:00.000+05:30

The first thing that any geek will try while troubleshooting a PC or laptop is to boot into its safe mode to check for problems. For older versions of Windows; i.e. till Windows 7; the option to boot to safe mode was easily available by pressing F8 during boot, before the Windows logo appear.

But with Windows 8, this scenario had changed. Now pressing the F8 key will load the automatic repair setup in most of the computers. Though some people are still getting the option to boot to safe mode in their Windows 8 laptops by hitting the F8 key but its because of the company that pre-configured it. For others, its not that easy.

But, there are still a lot of ways to enable safe mode in Windows 8 and I am going to share 2 of the methods here. As the title says 'the easy way', the 1st method is going to be the easier one. And I'm also going to share a lengthier procedure that will explain how some people can get the option to boot to safe mode by pressing F8.

1. The Easy Method to Boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8

If you have been troubleshooting your PC yourself since some time, then you would know about 'msconfig'. Its a utility that allows you to check which programs and services run automatically on startup. Msconfig also has the option to set your boot method as safe mode.

Open 'Run'.

Now enter 'msconfig' and hit the enter key.

Now goto the 'Boot' tab and check the 'Safe Boot' box. There are 4 radio buttons as you can see in the screenshot. You can leave it to minimal for a basic safe mode, alternate shell for a safe mode with command prompt, active directory repair is for restoring a server that is the domain controller for your network, network is for safe mode with networking.

After that just click OK and restart your PC on prompt. Your Windows 8 PC will now start in safe mode.

Important Note: It will always boot into safe mode unless you go back to msconfig and deselect the safe mode checkbox. So once your work with safe mode is done, repeat the process and uncheck the safe mode box.

2. The Lengthier Procedure To Enable Safe Mode Booting Options

You would say, why to read this method if the previous one works perfectly? My answer would be - Because I know you are curious to know the method. And it will help you get more knowledge of the advanced boot and repair options by Windows 8.

Also the previous method won't work if you are unable to even boot into your PC. And that's the most prominent reason for anyone to opt for safe mode in the first place.

Restart your PC and while keeping your 'Shit' key pressed, keep hitting the F8 key. So basically you need to press Shift+F8 in this case. If you are successful, you will reach this recovery tool:

Here, click on 'See advanced repair options' > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options

Now click on 'Windows Startup Settings'.

Bravo! Now just click on Restart and you will get to see the old screen just like Windows 7 with the option to boot to safe mode.

Any problem booting your Windows 8 PC into safe mode? Do comment and let me know. I will be more than happy to help.

Acer Present 4K Monitors With NVIDIA Gaming Technologies

2014-06-18T10:00:00.000+05:30

It has been about 8 months since NVIDIA G-Sync technology was introduced to the world. Acer one PC manufacturers have added this hyper performance display technology into their new widescreen monitor.

Unmitigated, the monitor coded "XB280HK" Acer output has a 28-inch screen with a resolution of 3840X2160 pixels which also brings Ultra HD 4K technology was indeed intended for game lovers, Ubergizmo (3/6).

As the main star, there are features of the NVIDIA G-Sync famous ace to produce images at a rate of up to 144Hz per frame per second. Remarkably, the G-Sync is able to maximize the frame rate equal to the frame rate XB280HK game is being played.

As a result, gamers will be spoiled with a clear visual display without fault and lag that often interfere when playing game with high-speed image frames such as Need For Speed: Rivals for the PS4 console.

As a complement, the exterior XB280HK which has been coupled with an anti-glare coating to produce sharper images and do not dazzle.

Thanks to technology "Comfyview", flicker of the monitor backlight can be decreased drastically, so it does not make the eyes tired while playing the game. Users can get more screen viewing angle up to 170 degrees wide.

Acer is also known to bury four USB 3.0 ports located on the sides and bottom of the monitor to connect it with keyboard, mouse, or a mobile device to obtain maximum data transfer speed of 625 MBps.

Unfortunately, the monitor XB280HK will greet market sometime in July. Acer also seems to still want to keep the price a secret. For comparison with the ASUS monitors with similar features, this monitor by Acer is rumored to be worth around USD 650.

About the guest author: Muchsinul Khuluq is a 21 year old tech writer and blogger who actively writes on his site zhivotech.com which it under "ZhivoCompany". You can contact him on Facebook.

Recover Lost Data From Your Android Device With Wondershare Dr. Fone

2014-06-15T14:50:00.000+05:30

Whether you lose all your contacts from your Android based smartphone, whether you accidentally deleted your messages or if you lost a lot of data from your phone's SD card due to crashes, there is one software that can help you out with the recovery.

The software in review this week is Wondershare Dr.Fone.

Wondershare Dr.Fone is capable of recovering deleted contacts, messages, pictures, videos and other data from your Android based smartphone. It can also help recover files that got corrupted due to faulty updates or ROM flashing.

The software is Windows based, that is you need to download and install the software on a Windows computer and connect your device to your computer to recover data from it.

Also read: Top 5 Data Backup Software For Windows

Important Features

Recover deleted contacts.
Recover deleted messages.
Recover Photos, Images, Videos and data.
Supported File Formats - jpg, gif, png, xml, csv, html, vcf, mp3, mp4, docx, doc, etc.

Supported Devices

The most important thing to look for before trying out the software is whether it supports your device or not. Agree? Dr.Fone supports most of the popular models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony, Motorola, Huawei and a lot of other companies.

You can check whether Dr.Fone supports your device or from this list: http://www.wondershare.com/data-recovery/android-data-recovery-reference.html

Dr.Fone supports a lot of smartphone models and so there is a little chance that your device will be left out.

System Requirements & How To Use

The system requirements for Wondershare Dr.Fone are low enough to support all Windows versions above and including XP. A 1Ghz processor is enough and a minimum of 256MB RAM is required.

Here is how to use Dr.Fone to recover files from your Android smartphone.

Install Dr.Fone software.
Connect your device. You can connect it via USB cable. In some cases, you might need to enable USB debugging from your smartphone's settings. To do so, go to Settings > Developer Options > USB debugging and check the box.

Start a scan for lost files from your device. Before starting make sure your battery is more than 20%.

Preview and recover files and data. You can select the files that you want to recover at random and recover only selected files or you can also choose to recover every file. Messages can be saved in CSV or HTML format, contacts can be saved in CSV, HTML or vCard formats. Other files such as audio, video and image file are saved it their original formats in their original form.

Conclusion

Dr. Fone is an easy to use software that lets you recover your lost files from your Android smartphone and its SD card. Its simple, highly efficient and supports a lot of devices and a lot of file formats when it comes to recovery. It also comes with a 30 day money back guarantee if you don't feel satisfied.

Price: $49.95

Free Trial Version: Yes

Rating: 4/5

Visit the official product page here: http://www.wondershare.com/data-recovery/android-data-recovery.html

Free Ebook Stuff From The Internet

2014-06-10T16:30:00.001+05:30

Today I was doing my usual thing, just browsing my social media sites and all of that great stuff, looking for something to make my day. I have a unique interest pertaining to design, so I figured that I could find some useful tips and tricks in the field of design somewhere, little did I know where I was going to find myself! I’m always up for a read, so when it comes to books or anything readable that relates to design I’m all for it, it seems as if I may have found my brand new addiction.

E-books are electronic books that can be easily downloaded from the internet, it’s almost like having a library at the tip of your fingers!

Things are getting bigger and bigger in this crazy little world we live in, so of course there are going to be some crazy technological advancements to go along with it. The e-books that I stumbled across were not only useful, but they were completely free. I didn’t have to pay a single penny, I got everything I needed to expand my horizons absolutely free! If that isn’t making somebodies day, then I’m just not sure what is. It’s somewhat weird, only because I had found Longman English Interactive pdf during my search, which was absolutely perfect.

The e-books themselves are of the highest quality, there weren’t any grammatical errors or any of the other things that I’ve seen on other .PDF e-book sites. When it comes to the right place to be when you’re looking for an e-book, I would have to say that it’s www.freedownloadsff.com, it definitely helped me out when I needed it the most. Not only can you find specific .PDF and .DOC files that you might like, there is a search engine implemented within it that allows you to easily go through the list of e-books. No more staring at your screen as your scroll down a huge list of .PDF’s, this site makes it a lot easier than it usually is! On top of that, I also noticed that there were things that weren’t actually e-books on the site, such as a pricing sheet pertaining to design clients. This helped me set a base price for my business, which also helped me price out other services and such in the long run.

This site most definitely isn’t a one trick pony, if you’re looking to find some useful information that you could use within your next project then look no further; this has got to be one of the best finds I’ve ever had on the internet so far. If you don’t have the site bookmarked yet I suggest you double check your priorities, seeing as you’re already reading this blog post I’m sure you’ve got time to learn a new thing or two. What have you got to lose? I didn’t even try to find the site and I’m praising it, so that’s got to speak volumes to the kind of content they’re offering on there!

MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition Review & Giveaway

2014-06-04T16:30:00.002+05:30

When working with a brand new HDD or when thinking of making some quick adjustments to its partition, there is one tool you can rely on for all your partition management needs - MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition

Recently I got a chance to test the software and I would say the results were totally satisfactory. There are a lot of features covered by this partition wizard tool by MiniTool which lets you perform advanced customization to your partitions and that too very easily.

Here are some of the key features of this tool:

Merge Partition
Resize Partition
Move Partition
Merge Partition
Extend Partition
Split Partition
Copy Partition
Copy Disk
Create, Delete and Format partitions
Convert and Explore partitions
Hide and Unhide partitions
Recover accidentally deleted partitions
Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk and much more to add.

You can read more about the tool from here: http://partitionwizard.com/

Here is my experience with some of the features of MiniToo Partition Wizard:

1. Interface

The interface is easy to use. As shown in the screenshot you can select the disc partition you want to perform a task on, then from the left sidebar you can choose whatever task you want to perform.

Its a good thing that the interface shows hidden partitions by default, eg. those partitions created for backup purposes by laptop manufacturers which are kept hidden.

2. Split Partition

The split partition wizard can be used to create a new partition from unused space of a previous partition. The screenshot explains how easy it is.

3. Extend Partition

This wizard moves unused space from one partition to another. i.e. extends a partition by adding free space from some other partition.

4. Recover Partition

Though I didn't delete any partition for experimental purposes, I would include this wizard too. The recover partition option can be used to try to recover any partition that was accidentally deleted. This feature makes MiniTool Partition Wizard stand out of other tools.

5. Copy Partition

You can easily copy partitions to create data backup.

Apart from these, there are a lot of other features too which makes this Partition Wizard by MiniTool stand out of other tools. MiniTool Parition Wizard Pro edition is priced at $39 (single PC).

To conclude with the review, I would rate this tool 4.5/5 stars.

You can read more about the tool here: http://partitionwizard.com/

15 License Keys Giveaway

Now, that's not it. MiniTool is generous enough to provide 15 license keys to the readers of GeniousPC.com. Yes that's right. So here comes a giveaway too.

Rules

Participate using email or Facebook, perform as many tasks in the Punchtab widget below as you can to gain maximum points. 15 lucky participants will be awarded a free license key for MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition.

Participate Here

Participate using the below widget.

The winners will be announced on 19th June. Share your Punchtab link as much as you can to increase your winning chances!

All the best and do subscribe to our newsletter to stay connected for more computer tutorials, reviews and giveaways.

6 Tips to Boost Your PC Performance

2014-05-31T15:19:00.000+05:30

Isn't it frustrating when your PC hangs up or works at the turtle speed especially when you have to perform a very important task and meet a deadline? The slow performance of your speed might be due to the following reasons:

Computer hard disk is overloaded with too much data
Might be infected by a virus or a malware
Poor PC maintenance

All these issues can lead to bigger issues and PC errors like missing registry keys, corrupt files and programs shutting down abruptly to name a few. Therefore maintenance of your PC is extremely important to ensure your PC works perfectly.

6 Great Tips to Make Your PC Work Faster and Smoothly

Here are 6 great tips to help you maintain and boost your PC performance:

[Also read: Boost Your PC in 5 Seconds]

1. Remove Unnecessary Applications/Programs

To get started, remove unnecessary application programs from your PC. You can do this by evaluating all of the installed applications. Remove those that are not needed. Too many applications on your system can be one of the causes for the slow PC performance. To perform this task, simply go to the Start menu, click on control panel, browse through programs and check boxes of the programs that you want to remove.

2. Install and Run an Anti-Virus

PCs are prone to viruses especially if you don’t have an anti-virus installed. You never know from which website or file download viruses may creep into your PC. However, slow PC performance is one of the many signs that your PC might be suffering from virus infection. To deal with this problem and prevent viruses from infecting your PC again, it is best to install a powerful anti-virus.

Once installed, run it on your PC to scan for viruses. After the scanning is complete, you’ll see a scanned result report on your system. In this report, you can see how many viruses have infected your PC. Now simply click on the repair and restore button to resolve the problem.

A word of advice is to run the anti-virus every time you use your system. This helps prevent viruses for slowing down the speed of your system.

3. Clean Your Registry- Install a Registry Cleaner

Registry is basically a huge batch of files containing information practically about everything that occurs on your system including the website you visit to the programs you install. It is like the database of your system.

As it keeps on storing data and every activity performed on your PC, it can cause a computer’s performance to suffer and slow down. Sometimes, even when you remove and uninstall programs from your PC, you might not experience a significant change in the speed of your system, typically because of the registry.

In such situations, to boost the speed of your PC, it is advised to perform a registry clean up. For this you will have to download and install a registry cleaner on your system and run it to clean up the registry. This tool not only de-clutters the registry but in case if your PC is suffering from registry corruption or DLL file damage, it resolves such errors too. So, this is definitely a great tip to make your PC faster and ensure that it is well-maintained.

4. Defragment Your Drive

This is another way to boost your PC’s performance. Fragmented files often tend to slow down the system as it has to search through the hard drive for the pieces. Thus it increases the response time. Nonetheless, the best way to resolve this issue is to try defragmenting your drive by using the disk defragmenter tool. The defragmenter tool rearranges fragmented data enabling your disk and drives work more efficiently.

To access this tool, click on the start button and type Disk Defragmenter in the search box. Click on the Disk Defragmenter and select the disk you want to defragment. To learn which disk needs to be defragmented, simply click on the Analyze disk option. It helps you check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk. Choose the one that needs repair. This is slightly time consuming but worth it.

5. Limit How Many Programs Run at Start-up

Some programs on your PC may be designed to run automatically on your PC when Windows start. This is a cool feature however, only if you use those programs frequently. If you don’t, it can waste your memory and slow down the time it takes for the Windows to finish starting up.

To limit how many and what programs automatically run on your PC at start-up, install AutoRuns tool from the Microsoft website. Once installed, clear the check boxes of the programs that you don’t want to run on your PC.

Alternatively if you run Windows 8, you can easily manage your start-up programs from Task Manager itself.

6. Update Drivers

Your hardware devices and the programs on your PC use drivers to communicate with application and the operating system. By upgrading new drivers on your PC, you can easily increase the speed of your PC. For this all you need to do is to install the updated versions of the drivers on your PC by going to the device manufacturer’s website.

About The Guest Author:
Charles James is a software engineer, writer & tech enthusiast. He has created tools to fix Windows errors and writes fixer guides at ErrorTools.Com. You can connect with him on Twitter and Google+

How To Record Your PC's Speaker Output The Easy Way

2014-05-27T17:37:00.001+05:30

While working on some projects or while making a video tutorial, you might need to capture your computer screen and your speaker's sound output. When it comes to capturing your computer's screen output, its comparatively easier due to the availability of various tools and software for this purpose.

Original Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/itchy73/3888789539

But when it comes to recording the output sound from your speakers or headphones, its a tricky job with a lot of software failing to do the job effectively. There isn't any generic speaker device used in all the computers or laptops and actually the devices vary a lot with different manufacturers and due to difference in devices and their drivers it becomes a difficult task for any software developer to create a universally working program.

So how can one record speaker output after all?

The Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI) is your friend here. WASAPI is built in Windows Vista/7/8 versions and its task is to control audio flow between client programs and applications. And there is one free audio mixing program that uses this feature of WASAPI to capture speaker outputs and is efficient enough to work for almost all computers or laptops.

The name of that software is Audacity, which can be downloaded from here for free. Audacity is a free audio recording, mixing and editing software with advanced features making it a really powerful free software for all audio related needs. Here we will be using the recording features of Audacity for our task.

Now lets get started with the tutorial on recording your speaker's output using Audacity.

How To Record Speaker Output Using Audacity

Audacity has the feature of recording sounds from a specified input source. Most computers today do have an input to record sound card output, but some of them are hidden or disabled by default. So first we need to make sure our needed input medium is enabled and not hidden.

Here is how to check it:

For Windows Vista/7/8:

Right click your speaker icon by the system clock and click on 'Recording devices'.
Right click the blank area and click on 'Show disabled devices'.
Now you should see devices like 'Stereo Mix' or any similar option depending on your sound device manufacturer. Enable the device.

For Windows XP:

Right click your speaker icon and choose 'Adjust Audio Properties'.
Click on 'Audio' tab, then select the appropriate input in the 'Sound recording panel'.
You might need to adjust the volume for recording input too.

In case you don't find any suitable input here and if your sound card manufacturer uses its own custom control panel, you may find something there.

Now head to Audacity.

You would have already downloaded and installed Audacity by now. Now run Audacity and make note of this device toolbar:

The first device preference column is of the audio host. Select WASAPI from there. Now if you were able to enable the proper input device, you will find in the third device preference column, an option with 'loopback' (like my case) or 'record what you hear' or any similar suggesting name.

Select the suitable input option. After that all you need to do is click on the start record button (the circular one) and play the sound you want to record. Click on Stop (the square one) to stop recording when its done and then you can just save the file in mp3 format by using the export option from file menu or you can do some editing in the sound using Audacity itself and then save it as per your choice.

[Note: To export to mp3 format, you'll need to download Lame mp3 encoder. You can download it from here for free. After installation, when you use the export to mp3 option in Audacity for the first time, it will ask for the location of 'lame_enc.dll' which will be present in the folder you install Lame into.]

So that's how you can record your computer's speaker output using Audacity. In case of any trouble, feel free to leave a comment and I'll make sure to help you out.

[Also read: Controlling Your PC With Just Voice]

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you. If so, please do spare a few seconds and click on the share buttons below. Won't you?

Download PirateBrowser - The Anti-Censorship Web Browser By Pirate Bay

2014-05-20T15:42:00.000+05:30

The Pirate Bay has always been a pioneer to internet freedom. Earlier the largest torrent site which was constantly in news and always under treat of getting into legal trouble, this company landed into a new world of freedom in August 2013 by launching its anti-censorship web browser - PirateBrowser.

[Also read: How To Download From Torrent Sites]

PirateBrowser is seriously meant to provide internet users the freedom from national censorship by letting its users browse and download anything they want. PirateBrowser is based on Tor network and uses Firefox portable browser base to create a stable web browser which can unblock any website censored by the agencies. According to the official PirateBrowser site:

"PirateBrowser is a bundle package of the Tor client (Vidalia), FireFox Portable browser (with foxyproxy addon) and some custom configs that allows you to circumvent censorship that certain countries such as Iran, North Korea, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Italy and Ireland impose onto their citizens." - PirateBrowser.com

This month PirateBrowser has reached a milestone of 5 million downloads. Also the company has given statements about future updates on the browser which means there is more to come.

While PirateBrowser does NOT provide anonymity to its users as expected from its Tor base, the main difference between Mozilla Firefox and PirateBrowser is that using the latter you can unblock almost any website censored or blocked by your network administrator, the government or any agencies.

Downloading & Getting Started With PirateBrowser

1. Downloading Piratebay:

PirateBrowser can be download from any of the three methods which are:
1. Torrent File
2. Magnet Link
3. Direct Download.

All the three download options can be found on the PirateBrowser site here.

2. Installing & Using PirateBrowser:

Using PirateBrowser is very simple. All you need to do is run the auto-extractor and give it the required path where you want to save the contents.

Next, open the extracted contents folder and run 'Start PirateBrowser' every time you want to start PirateBrowser. Yes it does not install anything on your PC, you have to run the program that's it. No installation.

What's next?

Expect a few updates from Pirate Bay on their browser features, maybe anonymity can be one of them in the near future. Till then, just use PirateBrowser as the anti-censorship weapon and unblock whatever you wish!

[Also read: 3 Simple Methods To Unblock Websites]

Note: Again, do not unblock any illegal content, that's my humble request. There are many sites that are not illegal and yet they are banned. Feel free to use PirateBrowser to unblock and access them, but stay away from illegal things.

And do comment your thoughts about censorship and PirateBrowser below! Visit again for more tech news and tutorials.

Top 5 Google Doodle Games

2014-05-19T15:13:00.003+05:30

Launched in 1998, Google has completed its 15 years in 2013 and is running its 16th successful year now. Right from the burning man festival to Google's 15th birthday, Google has gifted his users interesting doodles on every special occasion.

Not only static images, but Google has also launched a lot of interactive doodles like the musical doodles and the addictive mini games.

This post is about my top 5 favorite Google doodle games.

So lets start off!

[Also read: How To Play High End Games Without Graphics Card]

5. Zamboni - The Icy Adventure

Google launched this mini game on the occasion of Frank Zamboni's 112th birthday. Zamboni is credited as the inventor of the ice resurfacing machine which is named after him.

The aim of this game is to resurface ice which is degraded by skaters in every level. The game depicts use of the Zamboni ice resurfacing machine and is a very interesting mini-game with some high quality effects like the sliding in ice.

This game gets the 5th spot for the special banana peel-off that makes your Zamboni out of control!... for just about a second.

Play Zamboni here: Zamboni Doodle Game

4. Qixi Festival / Chilseok Minigame

Taking the 4th spot is the minigame launched in Asian countries on 14th February, bu it was meant to celebrate the Qixi festival which depicts a love-story. The aim of the game is to make a bridge of the legendary birds so that the two lovers can unite.

There are 3 levels in this mini-game which are not too complex yet fun to play.

Check out the doodle here: Qixi Festival Doodle Game

3. PAC-MAN

I guess you would have already played PAC-MAN once in your life before seeing this doodle. This doodle cum game was launched on the 30th anniversary of PAC-MAN and its objective was the same as the original pac-man, ie to eat fruits and stay away from ghosts.

Play the Google PAC-MAN game here: Google PAC-MAN Doodle Game

2. Google's Birthday Doodle - Piñata Game

Well, what can you expect from Google to do on its own birthday if it can celebrate every famous personality's birthday with a doodle? You can expect a doodle game!

On its 15th birthday, Google launched this piñata game that made people from all over the globe share their high scores whole day on social networking sites.

The aim of the game is simple, just hit the piñata with the stick and collect as many chocolates as you can.

This game gets the 2nd spot because it left me addicted to the game fore more than a day! Play this addicting game here: Google Piñata Game

And now comes my favorite Google Doodle Game...

1. Rubik's Cube Doodle

Just today ie 19th May 2014, Google launched this doodle game to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rubik's Cube. The game is an online version of a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube with no variations compared to the original game and so its fun to solve the online version of Rubik's cube.

The thing that makes this doodle my favorite is that it can be considered the hardest of all doodle games considering that not everyone can solve a regular Rubik's cube. Also on completion you get to see a success page with the signatures of Larry Page, one of the founders of Google and Erno Rubik, the inventor of Rubik's cube. Here is what I got after completing the game:

It takes time getting accustomed to the controls especially the rotation in the cube as its in 3D but once you get accustomed its a fun trying to solve it. I took 15 minutes in my first try and got it in 10 minutes the second time.

Go play the game here: Google Rubik's Cube Doodle

Your favorite?

Well, this was my top 5 list. In the comments I would be expecting you to comment your favorite game. Also do comment here if you found any of these games enjoyable!

How To Share Files Over WiFi

2014-05-17T16:16:00.001+05:30

In this age of technology, CD/DVDs and pen drives are not fast enough when it comes to sharing files between 2 computers next to each other. Today nobody wants to insert a pen drive, copy the contents, remove it and place to the next computer, copy the contents. And what if there were more than 2 computers in queue for the same data?

Slow and tedious isn't it?

image credit: crossbowtech.com

Today, almost every home or office uses WiFi as the internet connection and networking medium. Not only does this allow quick connection of multiple computers, tablets and other devices to the internet but also helps create a secure and fast internal connection between all devices. (Sometimes referred to as 'Homegroup' or 'Workgroup')

The wifi workgroup lets multiple devices share data to other connected devices. Its fast, easy and doesn't require any storage device to transfer data. One can simply turn on sharing for a file from his PC and access it from his laptop or can let his friend's access it, copy it or even edit it if required from their computers.

Better indeed, isn't it?

How To Share Files Over Wifi

So lets start with the tutorial on sharing files over a wireless network. In this tutorial I will be using a homegroup that I will create for my home devices. I'll be using a Windows 8 laptop so the exact steps may only work for Windows 8, but the procedure remains same for Windows 7 or XP.

1. Turn ON Sharing Between Devices.

First of all you need to enable sharing between you and other devices. Here is how to do it:

Open up your wifi connection list.
Tight click your wifi network that you are connected to, then go to turn sharing on or off.
Select Yes .

2. Create a Homegroup And Make Other Devices Join It.

A homegroup is the group made of those devices which you want to share the files with. All computers in a single homegroup with sharing turned on can share files with each other over the wifi network.

Open Network & Sharing center while connected to the wifi network.
Click on Create next to homegroup. Only one homegroup exists in a network. So once you create a homegroup, other computers will get the option to 'join' rather than 'create'. You will have to choose a membership password while creating the homegroup which other computers or devices will need to join the homegroup.
You can always check the homegroup settings in Windows 8 by opening the charms > settings > change PC settings and viewing homegroup settings.

3. Sharing Folders Over The Homegroup

This is the last step of this tutorial. Now that you have a working Homegroup and have turned ON sharing from your device, you just need to select the folder you want to share.

Right click the folder to be shared, goto share with> Homegroup (view) or Homegroup(view and edit). If you want others to be able to edit your shared files, select the 'view and edit' option, else you can choose the other one ie 'view'.
OR you can right click the folder and open its properties, go to sharing and click share. Select the homegroup or specific people from the drop down box and assign them the required permissions.

That's it. The files will now be available on all compatible devices on the homegroup.

But where? Just open 'My Computer' and check the left sidebar (navigation pane) for 'Homegroup'. You might have to enable navigation pane. Or you can just enter 'Homegroup' without quotes directly into the address bar of your explorer.

Open you username's folder and that's where all your shared files would be.

Bonus: Video Tutorial On Sharing Files Over WiFi

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here.

Your views!

Have any doubt or problem working with the method described here? Do comment and let me know. I will be ready to solve your problems. And do share with your friends if you found this tutorial helful! Happy sharing and keep visiting.

How to Recover Lost Files from Mac

2014-01-14T13:24:00.000+05:30

Apple devices is becoming more and more popular in today’s society. Almost everyone wants an apple device whoever he is because of its fast operating speed and beautiful outlook. But nothing is perfect, there are upset things happening, such as losing data. Are you still anxious about recovering lost files from a crushed Mac Pro?

[Also read: Backup your Mac]

Data loss happens due to a lot of reasons, such as, unexpected power-off, system crush, virus attack and hard disk corruption.

Accidentally formatting is the most common cause of losing data. If you are an attentive PC user, you may do some safeguard procedures to protect the data when you encounter such problems which may relive the embarrassed situation. But in order to get back the complete data from a crushed Mac Pro, researchers has developed a data recovery software for Mac which can help common PC users to recover lost files such as pictures, music, videos easily within a few minutes.

It is indeed a good news to all PC users that EaseUs Data Recovery Wizard has such a function to bring back lost data from crushed computers. And the quality of the recovered files is the same as the original ones. It is completely safe and effective without any plugin. It deserves the honor of best data recovery software which is trusted by millions of users.

Most PC users believe that it is very important to make a backup of the files stored in their computers. But most of them make a backup in their PCs which is not safe enough for future use. For example, when your hard drive crushes, the backup files will also missing along with the crush of hard drive. It is so hard to recover lost files without any data recovery software. We should take actions to prevent such tragedy, EaseUs Todo Backup Free is a good backup software, which can make an identical copy of your hard disk. When you do a good backup job, you don’t need to worry about losing files.

To make it more convenient to you, I attach the link of EaseUS software, you can download EaseUs software freely on the website. You can choose the most suitable one according to your needs.

4 Free PDF Editing Tools And Methods

2014-01-05T14:37:00.000+05:30

A Portable Document Format (PDF) is just another famous document format preferred all over the internet. Be it your favorite online novel, some help manual or college circulars, everything is presented in a PDF format.

PDFs were originally invented by Adobe and so the only official tool for creating a PDF must be the Adobe Acrobat. That is what we all know about but still, there are a lot of other tools and methods to create as well as edit a PDF file as an alternative to the commercial Adobe Acrobat software.

So today, I would like to share some of the best tools that let you edit PDFs easily and free of cost.

1. Online PDF Editor - CutePDF Editor

As the name would suggest, CutePDF editor is quite a simple and basic online tool for editing PDF files. This tool lets you make changes to document structure, rearrange pages, add page numbers, headings and much more.

Simple, yet worth trying.

2. Open Office - MS Office alternative

Open Office would be a familiar name to most of you and if not, its a very perfect alternative to the MS Office suite.

Open Office showcases programs similar to MS Office like a program for creating spreadsheets, one for working with documents, one for drawing diagrams and so on. And the best thing, its free! And some might even argue that Open Office is much better than MS Office in terms of its capacity.

Talking about its capacity, PDF files can be open and edited in Open Office programs. And that's what you are looking here for!

3. Libre Office - Open Office alternative

Frankly speaking I have never tried Libre Office but after reading a lot of positive reviews, I put this one on this list.

Libre Office is another free suite for working with documents similar to open office and it also lets you work with PDF files.

4. Using a PDF-DOC Converter

The best way to edit a PDF file according to me, is using a PDF to DOC converter, editing the new doc file and then saving the file back to PDF format.

This ensures maximum editing features and you may get the best results. You can get a 'Save as PDF' tool for your version of MS Office easily. And talking about converting the PDF into .doc format, I would like to name a few online as well as offline tools.

Zamzar.com is a free, easy to use and fast online tool that lets you convert between a lot of different file formats into one another. I have tested it myself and it gives perfect result. Another online tool is PDFtoWord.com.

Also, Stanza desktop is an offline tool that can be used to convert a PDF file into .doc format.

After converting a PDF to .doc, you just need to edit it in MS Office or Open Office, and save it back to PDF using a suitable add-in for your version of document editor. For MS Office 2007 users, here is the link to the Microsoft add-in: http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=7

Which one would you use?

So after looking at all the tools that you can use for editing a PDF file free of cost, which one of these would you choose? Or do you have any past experience with any of these? Or would you like to share some more names with us?

Do comment and share our problems, views and suggestions!

Digiarty Christmas Giveaway – WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe Worth $49.95

2013-12-31T21:02:00.000+05:30

Digiarty is a multimedia software developer that has made DVD ripping/copying and HD video converting software rated highly by users. To celebrate 2013 Christmas and the coming New Year, Digiarty is now giving away its major HD video converter – WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe to all until January 3, 2014. The software is worth $49.95. Now you can easily get it for free by just visiting Digiarty Christmas Giveaway Page and grabbing the free full license.

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is an all in one HD video converter, video editor, video downloader and slideshow maker.

Video Converter

It can convert high definition video like MKV, M2TS, MTS, AVCHD, and MOD to others, convert high definition video to standard definition video like AVI, MPEG, MP4, WMV, MOV, VOB, FLV, RM, and WebM, and convert standard definition video to others. It can also convert videos to iPhone, iPad, Android, WP8 and other mobile devices.

Video Editor

It has rich video editing features including video trimming, cropping, merging multiple videos to one, and adding external SRT subtitles to videos.

Video Downloader

It can download videos from YouTube, Metacafe, and Dailymotion, and convert them to AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, 3GP for offline playback in different media players and mobile devices.

Slideshow Maker

It is able to combine JPG/PNG/BMP pictures into a slideshow flash video. You can adjust the display order of pictures and add background music to the slideshow.

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe Christmas Giveaway

If you are just looking for some video converting tool, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe would be a very good choice. Just seize the chance to get it for free in Digiarty Christmas Giveaway.

Giveaway Page: http://www.winxdvd.com/giveaway/

Giveaway Deadline: January 3, 2014

How to Get: Click 'Download Full Version' to get the program and free full license. Activate the software with the license before January 5.

Note: the license does not support free upgrade.

Hope you like the gift! Enjoy and keep visiting for more giveaways.. And Happy New Year 2014 to all my readers!

15 Years With Google

2013-12-30T18:10:00.000+05:30

Google, a name known by all, a tool which is the all time favorite for engineers and students, a company which every start-up gets inspiration from, a network which has been ruling the internet since 15 years.

15 years ago when Larry Page and Sergey Brin shook their hands on this project in their little garage, little would they know that this lesser known startup would end up to become one of the largest tech company. The early primitive Google.com gave path to a large network of internet products, all successful. Be it the clean and fast Gmail or the world’s largest video collection YouTube, Google has satisfied customers and web surfers in each and every possible way.

This 27th September, Google officially celebrated its 15th birthday with a piñata game, which I am sure none of you would have missed! But even if you missed it or if you want to play the game again, no doubt it’s still available on www.google.com/doodles/ To give a tribute to these glorious 15 years, here I have compiled a list of the best 15 products and innovations by Google so far.

1. The Search Engine Giant – Google.com

Ask any engineer a tricky question and his answer will always be – ‘Just Google it!’

Google in 1998

Google.com; the domain name registered on 15th September 1997, about an year before the company went public; is the well known homepage to the search engine giant and the homepage to their every other product as well.

Google has indexed about 60 trillion web pages so far and is no doubt the most accurate search engine and an all time favorite for students. Search web content, images, news, videos and a lot more from the same place - www.google.com!

2. Gmail

Fast, clean, simple yet sophisticated, these words define the largest free email service provided by Google. Gmail, started in the year 2004, is the most preferred email service because of its large storage, clean and spam free environment.

3. YouTube

YouTube, the free video sharing website which had about 20 million unique visitors per month in the year 2006, was acquired by Google that year and now there are about 1 billion unique monthly visitors on YouTube. YouTube hosts the world’s largest collection of videos shared by amateur as well as professional video makers.

4. Google+

In no time, the social network by Google reached about 500 million active users. Google+ succeeded in attracting professional business people, corporate men as well as fellow social geeks. Google+ had everything that you would expect from the online giant from features like cover pics and circle features to hangouts and #hashtags.

5. Google Chrome

Just like every other Google product, the best feature about Google Chrome, its very own web browser is – speed. Fast, simple and powerful would be some other adjectives that suit Google Chrome very well. In a very short span of time, Google Chrome replaced Mozilla Firefox to become the most used web browser.

In the month of September this year, Google Chrome got updated with new features including the integration of Google homepage and Google+ notifications bar on every new blank tab launched in Chrome.

6. Android

Android was acquired by Google in the year 2005 and today, Android has one of the largest user base. Android is the smartphone OS which offered powerful features in mobiles which cost less. With more than 50 billion apps available on the Google playstore, Android is very famous in developers too.

7. Blogger

The originally called Blogspot.com was acquired, renamed to Blogger and brought to success by Google in the year 2003. Blogger is one of the largest free blogging platform used by millions of bloggers to host their professional as well as hobby blogs.

This very blog is also hosted at blogger.

8. Picasa

Picasa and Picasa web albums are two products by Google used for organizing images offline and online respectively. Picasa web albums (picasaweb.google.com) offers 1GB of free storage for photos and videos which can be extended at some minimal costs.

9. Google Maps and Google Earth

Google Maps is the well known tool that helps you find your way in unknown cities and places. Google Maps is the most accurate service which gets updated by its users and provides the most accurate paths and maps.

Google Earth provides satellite views of the earth’s different locations and places, lets you view 3D buildings and maps. Google Earth is a free software whereas Google Earth Pro is a more advanced and premium software which costs about $400 per year.

10. Google Business Solutions

With the features like Google Apps, Google drive, Google docs, Google Adwords, Adsense, Google Website Optimizer, Google Webmasters Central, Google Analytics and a lot more, Google has succeeded in attracting business people and companies by making their online work easier.

Google Apps are used by business bodies and institutions for managing a lot of features like email accounts, docs and sites based on the domain name of the institution.

11. URL Shortener – goo.gl

How about converting a 100 character long URL into a 10 character short, easy to share URL?

This is what goo.gl is all about. If you see URLs like http://goo.gl/ZfhTf2 and click on them, the short URL would redirect to the original page which the person wanted to share. To create a short URL of your own, just visit http://goo.gl and enter the long URL. Goo.gl also gives tracking features which let you keep a record of the number of people who use your short links.

12. Google Translate

If while searching for the best answer to a tricky physics question, you land on a German web page, don’t worry. All you need to understand the content is just http://translate.google.com .

Google translate effectively translates the given language into English or any other language that you want from international languages like German, Spanish, French or Latin to even regional languages like Gujarati, Hindi and Bengali!

13. Google Glass

Google Glass is a new device designed by Google this year, which is a combination of a smartphone, a wearable computer and a spectacle frame. This device is one of the only products which costs you something more than $0, obviously because this product isn’t an online product like Gmail or YouTube.

The estimated cost of Google Glass is about $1500 and currently this product is available only to researchers and developers.

14. Google Web Designer

Launched this September, Google Web Designer is the latest addition to the innovative products by Google. Google Web Designer is a free visual based designing tool to create HTML5 sites easily.

To download and try out Google Web Designer, visit http://www.google.com/webdesigner/

15. Doodles and Easters

Last but not the least, Google features some of the most interesting and fun features in the form of Doodles and Easters.

Doodles are the images and animations featured on Google home page to celebrate worldwide or local important events. The first one being the burning man doodle which was designed to show that the owners Larry Page and Sergey Brin were taking a leave for a day to participate in the festival and the latest doodle being the piñata game to celebrate Google’s 15th birthday.

Google also features a lot of hidden easter eggs in their search engine like the ‘do a barrel roll’ easter, ‘google gravity’, ‘the answer to life the universe and everything’ , ‘zerg rush , ‘google in 1998’ , ‘find chuck norris’ and many more easters. All you need to experience the fun is type the given search terms in the search box and hit search. To experience google gravity and ‘find chuck norris’, you need to visit the home page, enter the term ‘google gravity’ or ‘find chuck norris’ and hit ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’.

Other special easters are http://google.com/pacman, http://www.google.com/mentalplex ,etc.

These 15 products have made Google, the most well known and one of the largest tech company especially in the field on internet. Whether it be the search engine, the email service, the online documents and storage or the latest device Google Glass, Google has spread its wings on every field and is still transforming innovative ideas into real products, satisfying and attracting customers all over.

With such an ever expanding territory, we can conclude that no alternative to Google exists till today and let’s hope that Google keeps expanding its reach with new products and features in its long future.

How To Install Whatsapp on Your PC or Laptop

2013-08-30T22:33:00.000+05:30

Whatsapp is a free cross-mobile messaging platform which is well known to most of us. Whatsapp cuts down our SMS bills as well as provides a lot of other features like group chat, lets you send photos and videos. You can even share your current geographic location with your friends.

As mentioned above, Whatsapp is a messaging platform for mobiles. Currently, Whatsapp is available for iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia S40, Symbian and Windows Phone.

But there are a lot of users with some other mobile phones who don't want to miss out from the world of Whatsapp either. Are you one such mobile user?

Then there is a solution for you that will let you use Whatsapp with your laptop or even your PC!

How To Install Whatsapp on Your PC or Laptop

To run Whatsapp on a computer, we are going to use a tool named "Bluestacks".

Bluestacks is actually a tool that lets you emulate android applications on Windows OS like Windows XP SP3 and higher. Just like any other android application, Whatsapp can be run using bluestacks easily. Download bluestacks from here: http://www.bluestacks.com/

After downloading and installing bluestacks, run and search Whatsapp from the search bar provided in bluestacks or alternatively you can download Whatsapp from its official site here: http://www.whatsapp.com

Now follow the steps shown on screen to install Whatsapp on your computer. You may need to confirm your mobile number during the installation. For this, you will be sent a special code to your mobile number which you need to re-enter when asked by Whatsapp during installation.

Thats it!

Now you are done with installing Whatsapp on your Laptop or PC and you can use it without any kind of limitations as perfectly as you could with a smartphone.

Common Issues Faced

Unable to download Whatsapp directly from Bluestacks - Try downloading Whatsapp using your computer's browser from the official whatsapp site or from some other website providing android application (apk) files.
How to add contacts to Bluestacks - Go to settings, manage contacts, then click on the menu button provided on the lower left side of Bluestacks and select "New Contact".

Any more issues?

How many of you are going to use Bluestacks now? I hope you don't come across any issues but even if you do face any problems installing Whatsapp on your PC or laptop, do comment and let me know.

Monitor Your Computer Effectively With Gecko Monitor - Review

2013-07-13T17:05:00.000+05:30

Unless you are the sole owner of your computer, you might want to be conscious of activities taking place on your computer by the other users, right?

We may be talking about computers at a workplace or school, or the computer your children might be using. You might be looking for a brilliant solution to monitor your computer activities accurately.

So here, I would like to mention a software which I recently got the chance to test out.

Gecko Monitor is the complete solution to monitoring everything that happens on your computer while you’re away. - Gecko Monitor

Am I pleased with Gecko Monitor? Read ahead and find out!

Gecko Monitor Review

Gecko Monitor is a sophisticated yet simple to use and accurate software for monitoring EVERY kind of activity taking place on your computer. It takes screenshots of active windows, keylogs data entered in any application, records internet activities and also the activities taking place by other applications, changes in file system, printers and every other activity you can think of.

And the best thing is that Gecko Monitor remains well hidden from your eyes so that the PC users don't get to find out about it or close it! Gecko Monitor also runs fast enough even on a normal PC and doesn't slow down the other processes.

To read more, to buy or to test the trial version visit their site.

Here is a list of features I was impressed by:

1. Stealth Mode

As I said earlier, Gecko Monitor runs in perfect stealth mode. Its not shown in Task Manager, not in the taskbar notifications area and you can't even find its installation directly easily if you limit your search to the 'Program Files' folder located in C: because its not even close to this folder.

Its also fast enough not to delay other processes or create any suspicion about being watched on.

2. Regular Screenshots

Gecko Monitor takes screenshot of the screen activity by taking pictures of the whole desktop, newly activated windows or even taskbar separately.

In a time span of 2 minutes I opened and closed several files and folders, web pages etc and I was really impressed to see that ALL my activities got recorded in the form of screenshots!

By default Gecko Monitor is set to take screenshots of active windows and screenshots of the whole desktop after every 300 seconds, which can be changed or disabled from the settings page.

3. Password And Hotkey Combination To Unlock The Interface

As mentioned earlier, Gecko Monitor runs in complete stealth mode and so if you need to unlock its interface, you need a special key combination and a password as well. And this makes sure that no other person who uses your computer can use it.

4. Captures Every Keystroke

I testing this feature by typing some lines in Notepad.

I even made a mistake while typing the word 'abilities' and Gecko was able to capture every keystroke perfectly! Below is a screenshot.

It even captured my mail password but I am not going to show a screenshot for this!

5. Monitored Files/Folder Changes

I made a folder on my desktop to test this.

Once again, Gecko monitored everything.

My Verdict

Gecko Monitor is a really awesome solution to monitor each and every activity taking place on your computer. No feature has been left out by it and all the features are implemented with the same accuracy and perfection.

I would give Gecko Monitor a full 5/5 rating!

How To Get A Start Menu In Windows 8

2013-07-06T16:24:00.004+05:30

Released in October 2012, Windows 8 is the latest OS by Microsoft. Millions of Windows users were expecting a grand revolution with the new OS, about which Microsoft had been spreading excellent news since a long time.

Windows 8 did provide a whole new experience to its users compared to the older OS like Windows XP or 7. The new OS was more like a tablet computing experience with the metro style start screen. Apart from the completely new interface, one more change was in the news with Windows 8.

It was the missing start menu. The start menu was totally replaced with the start screen and until the release of Windows 8.1, it was impossible to get back the start button in Windows 8 without the use of any third party tool.

Both free as well as paid third party tools are available that let you get a start menu in Windows 8.

So which are the 5 best free tools to get back the start menu? Let's see!

1. Classic Shell Start Menu For Windows 8

Classic Shell Start Menu is a free and open source tool that not only installs a start menu but also lets you skip the start screen and boot directly to the desktop. Its available with 3 different styles and is highly customizable from every aspect.

Classic shell is no doubt one of the best free tool of its kind.

Download Classic Shell

2. Vistart Windows 8 Start Menu

Vistart is another free tool which is clean yet stylish looking with a somewhat different start button look. Vistart is also highly customizable as well as fast loading.

Download Vistart

3. Start Menu 8

Just as the name suggests, Start Menu 8 is a complete start menu designed for Windows 8. Its fast, simple and customizable. It even includes the option to skip the start screen and directly boot to the desktop.

Also the start button is a much familiar looking one.

Download Start Menu 8

4. StartW8

StartW8 is another free tool to get back the start menu in Windows 8. This tool features a new start button of itself. StartW8 also lets you boot directly to desktop skipping the start screen.

Recently on 29 May 2013, new features and languages were added to StartW8. This tool is worth trying out if you like the look of the start button.

Download StartW8

5. Pokki Start Menu For Windows 8

Pokki has developed something more than just a start menu replacement. They have created a whole new experience. You can get my meaning from the screenshot above. Not only the start button but the whole menu has a completely different look.

The start menu by pokki is more like a smartphone or tablet menu which suits the Windows 8 metro look very perfectly.

If you like the uniqueness of this menu, then Pokki is a must have start menu replacement for your Windows 8 OS.

Download Pokki Start Menu

6. Bonus Tool - Stardock Start8 - $4.99

This post was about 5 of the best free tools that let you get back the start button in Windows 8 but I couldn't stop myself from sharing this paid app too.

That's because this one is my personal favorite and one of the best one of its kind which completely satisfies its small cost of $4.99

The color of the semi-transparent start menu matches automatically with the taskbar. Its fast, stylish and perfect from every aspect.

Start8 features a unique start button look which suits Windows 8 perfectly. Start8 also lets you boot directly to the desktop and skip the metro start screen completely. Though you can access the original 'Windows 8 Menu' anytime from the start menu.

Start8 also comes with a free 30 day trial to try out its features before you buy it.

To know more about Start8 visit: Stardock - Start8

Which One Is Your Favorite?

Are you a Windows 8 user? Most probably you are and thats why you were looking for the tools to bring back the start button in Windows 8, right? So from the above mentioned tools, which one is your favorite?

Do comment and share your views.

How To Install More Than 1 OS On A Single Partition Using VirtualBox

2013-07-02T18:53:00.000+05:30

You may be a Windows user, a Linux user or you may be using some other operating system. It may happen that you want to try out any other OS or you may be a developer using some other OS.

In this case you have 2 primary options to install the second OS on your computer:

1. To install the second OS on a different partition and use a multi-partition system.

2. To install the second OS on the same partition.

The first option of creating a separate partition may create some issues in the long run. Either that the two OS may not be a well compatible one or your hard drive may get corrupted more easily due to viruses or other vulnerabilities.

And that is why you might be interested to know more about the second alternative i.e. to install the another OS on the same partition and more specifically - on the same OS.

This is possible with - VirtualBox.

VirtualBox is a freeware software that can emulate a virtual hard drive using some space on your real hard drive on some OS. The virtual hard drive on the VirtualBox system can then be used as a new computer itself and can be used to install and use any other OS that you can install on any normal hard drive.

To know more about VirtualBox and to download VirtualBox visit here: Virtualbox.org

For an example on how to use VirtualBox, we will have a look at creating a virtual hard drive and installing Windows XP on it.

How To Install Windows XP In VirtualBox

I chose Windows XP for this tutorial because there are a lot of Linux users and developers who use this OS for testing and other purposes. And Windows XP is still the most preferred OS in the world.

So let us start with the steps:

1. Download and install VirtualBox

2. Run VirtualBox And Create New Virtual Machine

Start VirtualBox and select on the 'New' button to start the "Create New Virtual Machine" Wizard.

Choose a name for your Virtual Machine (VM), select an OS and its version from the list.

At this stage, you have to select the amount of RAM you would like to dedicate to your virtual machine.

If you have never created a virtual hard disk with VitualBox before (which I suppose here), then you would have only 1 option and that is to create a new one now.

Now there are 2 types of hard drives that you can create using VirtualBox. First is the dynamically expanding one which uses less space in the beginning and expands as needed. This one is ideal for those with smaller hard drive. The second one is of fixed-size which is better in case you have a larger hard drive and can wait a few extra minutes while the virtual drive is being created.

After that, choose a name for your virtual disk and assign a size to it. For OS like Windows or Linux, about 6-10 GB would be sufficient to install and run the OS for minimum usage level. But if you are interested in installing the OS for heavier use and for storing a moderate or large number of files even in that second OS, you should assign at least 50 GB to your virtual hard disk.

Check the final summary and click on 'Finish' to complete the process of creating the virtual machine.

3. Attaching The Required Removable Media To Install The OS

After having created the virtual machine along with the virtual hard disk, the next task is to attach the removable media which contains your OS installation files like a DVD or CD.

Select the newly created VM and click on "Settings" icon. Then go to storage settings.

As shown in the figure, select the empty storage below the newly created virtual drive and then assign the removable media you want to use with it. You can select a CD/DVD or even a pendrive.

Now you are almost done with your VM.

4. Run The VM And Install Your OS

The last step is to run your virtual machine and install the OS from the removable storage you selected just a few while ago.

Select the VM from the main screen and click on the "Start" icon.

That's it!

Your virtual machine will now start just like a brand new unused computer. Follow the installation steps you perform with any normal hard drive and install the OS on your virtual hard drive.

[Note: If you want to install Mac OS X on VirtualBox, refer this tutorial.]

After the installation is over, you can start using the virtual OS as you would use if you installed it on a separate partition! And that too without any risks, vulnerabilities or any kind of issues that you would face if you preferred a multi-partition system.

Tips And Summary On Using VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a simple and free solution to install more than one OS on your computer. There are a lot of issues with multi-partition systems that you can easily avoid with the help of VirtualBox.
To use more than 1 OS on your system, you need to install VirtualBox and create a virtual machine for your OS.
Assign enough RAM and hard drive space to your virtual machine so that it runs smoothly but doesn't trouble the main system at the same time.
Install your OS from the CD/DVD drive that you normally use and start using your 2nd OS! That too - within the same OS!

Facing any problems? Or any kind of errors? Be sure to drop a comment and let me help you!

4 Simple And Straight Methods To Back Up Your Data

2013-06-26T17:48:00.000+05:30

The information on your computer is important for both your business life and your personal life. So understanding how to back up your data to prevent an overwhelming loss of information is very important.

The loss of large amounts of data can be devastating to a company and extremely upsetting to an individual or family who stands to lose sentimental items such as photos or important documents.

Learning how to back up your data is important and gives you peace of mind that the information stored on your computer is always accessible, because once you have lost it, there is no getting it back unless you have taken the appropriate precautions.

It is actually quite simple to implement a data back-up system and options abound. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses, but the most surefire way to keep your files safe is to rely on at least two simultaneous solutions.

1. Storing data in the cloud

The advent of cloud computing has been particularly advantageous for the storage of data. For most businesses, using the cloud is the most secure solution.

Since data stored via the cloud can be accessed from anywhere using an Internet connection, data are safely stored as well as easily retrieved.

The only disadvantage to this option is that it generally requires a subscription to a service that offers cloud storage, and the safety of the data varies depending on the capabilities of the service provider. Properly researching cloud hosting service providers is important to find the safest option.

2. Local backup

Backing up data locally means saving it to an external drive, a flash drive, or a CD/DVD. Although repeatedly saving files to an external drive or CD/DVD is time-consuming, programs such as Windows Backup and SyncBack Freeware are available to automatically save your files to a local back-up source. Disadvantages of this option include the cost of equipment, which can be quite high, and the possibility of equipment malfunction.

3. Network Attached Storage (NAS)

NAS devices have been gaining popularity in the last few years, and they tend to offer faster data access than options such as home servers. NAS devices are often manufactured as separate computers designed entirely to store data, functioning via a stripped down operating system such as FreeNAS.

4. Home servers

Home servers, such as Windows Home Server or Mirra Personal Server, can also back up files and prevent data loss. Advantages include remote accessibility and an automatic back up setting. Disadvantages include vulnerability to home disasters such as fires and security of the home server.

Although using the cloud often means high security combined with reduced costs, at your company or in your home, you still need to thoroughly consider the various advantages and disadvantages of these different options to back up your data.

If possible, consider implementing two solutions for the utmost in security.

About The Geust Author: Timothy Wightman is CEO/President of Effective Data in Schaumburg, IL. Effective Data is a worldwide EDI provider and a leader in EDI consulting and data integration. Connect with Effective Data on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Top 5 Tablet Game Genres - Which One Do You Like?

2013-06-20T14:38:00.001+05:30

So you bought a new tablet and you don’t know what to put in it yet.

There’s one thing you should never forget: games.

Even the busiest person should have some games in their tablet to get through those boring hours stuck in traffic. Games can also help you relax while having a break at work. The tablet is handy and most people take it wherever they go, which is why it is a convenient place to store games and important files on.

Now, what kinds of games should you put in there? Check out the top 5 tablet game genres and find our yourself!

1. Puzzles

Who doesn’t like puzzle games?

There’s something appealing about finding out a missing object or solving a certain problem, especially if it seems to be easy but proves to be difficult. It perks you up and makes your brain process work even as you rest. You can actually learn new skills when you play puzzle games. Your attention to detail and math skills can even be enhanced by playing Sudoku, math puzzles, and magic squares during your free time.

2. Word games

This genre is suitable for all ages. Children can discover new words and spell them properly with games for kids. Meanwhile, adults can rediscover certain words or names that they have not heard of in a long time. This is a practice for your long-term memory faculty to always be sharp in recalling things.

3. Card/Board games

If you want a game that makes you tick, go for card and board games. Play chess with an AI and see how you fare with an opponent who has impeccable moves. If you’re just learning chess, go for the ones that have guides or have settings for easy and difficult levels. You can also enjoy board games such as snakes and ladders or monopoly with some friends to keep boredom at bay.

4. Arcade games

Arcade games are popular because of the more complicated world being introduced to the player. You can play car racing games, for example, and marvel at the different race tracks and places you will pass by.

Just make sure that you’re not sidetracked by the beautiful trees and blue seas otherwise you will lose the game too soon. If you progress through higher levels you can also unlock more options, locations, or settings.

Isn’t that fun and engaging?

5. Action/Adventure games

Adventure games have the best gaming worlds. You can be in a community and meet virtual people, or you can be in a fantasy world filled with fairies. Super Mario is a popular action game that is now available in tablets.

There are plenty of other games that both young and adult players will surely enjoy.

Your Ideas Now!

Your tablet doesn’t have to be all about work.

You should put in some games there so that you can relax even when you only have a few minutes to spare.

Games are only for kids?

There’s nothing wrong with releasing the child in you even for just a few minutes per day. Or better yet, pack up some nice games in your tablet so that when your kids are throwing temper tantrums while you are doing something, you can simply hand over the tablet and keep them quiet for hours!

What do you say about this list?

Do comment and share your favourite one out of these!

About The Guest Author:

Goran Stankovic is part of Web24's team. Web24 is Australia's leading web hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated server hosting provider. Has a background in international marketing, and enjoys writing about changes in the IT industry, video games, and modern business ideas.

The All New Perspective With iOS 7

2013-06-17T15:44:00.000+05:30

There is always a grand welcome to any of the new features, software or products introduced by Apple because they always come with some new ravishing key features with other every new launch.

The Apple has come up with its new revamped stylish operating system that is iOS 7.

The software is being launched meant only for Apple Iphones and ipads. It offers a completely revamped look and feel. This software has revolutionized the world with remarkable changes in its operating ever since the introduction of iphones. iOS 7 took an initiation to make people make feel much better with a user friendly system. It introduces you instantly with a new chapter of iOS, basically different from its previous versions or you can say that other iOS available in the market with other mobile phones.

Control centers, air drops and smarter multitasking are some of the great exciting features of the iOS 7 that really attracts the people of every category towards it.

Some of the improvements that are the hidden gems in the system of the operating are given as follows:

Face time calls- This feature lets you do voice chat with other people without any specified phone plans but internet connection is must.
Inclinometer feature- Earlier Apple has provided only with accelerometer and gyroscope. But now, there is the 3D space tracking technology that is the inclinometer. This very application measures the angle of slope of tilt with respect to the gravity. It supports ups and down movements rather than only side to side movements.
No more updates messing- This software relieves you from the updating of the software again and again over the time. The updates will be automatically downloaded in the background as you access certain software.
Removal of skeuomorphism- iOS 7 has come up with the removal of this very technique which efforts to make the objects look real with the heavy texturing of the interfaces. It makes up close with the digital authenticity and a unified interface.
Modified map directions- iOS 7 comes with new mapping directions. Walking turn by turn gives you a delight and an easy tackling of the route unfamiliar with you about the surroundings.
Night mode navigators – Various brightness adjustments are being made in the allied software to make you easily watch all the screen components clearly at the night.
Bookmarks for maps- There are several bookmarking facilities for the maps also in this new operating system. The safari has synchronized with this system to avail this facility.
Improved mail services- You don’t need to hover over each and every mail to get your required one mail. There is an easy smart mail box facility available for you. Just enter to the required folder and optimize your search easily.
Gone the era of faces and tags- The photo tagging is over now and replaced with collection and moments. The moments are basically focused around the locations and include map data for various locations. They hold a prominent place in the iOS 7.

Bless yourself with the advent of this very new operating system without any hurdle.

This guest post is written by Saanvi on behalf of rcginfotech.com.