Internet, Simplified

FixWin – Fix Windows Issues in Seconds

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Fix common Windows issues with a single click.

FixWin is a lightweight application that corrects common Windows errors with a single click.

The utility basically lists over 50 common errors that your Windows operating system might be having, and repairs them with a single click (as shown in the screenshot above).

The makers of this useful tool suggest that a system file check is first done, after which you should setup a restore point (basically a point to which you can come back in case you have made changes to your operating system you do not like) and then proceed to fix issues.

It is also recommended that you reboot your system in between fixes.

The tool offers fixes in your explorer, internet, media tools and other system tools.

Download FixWin [Free download for Windows operating systems Vista and 7].

Related Reading: 30 Ways to Instantly Speed Up Your PC

RocketDock Application Launcher

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:36:00 +0000

RocketDock – a useful desktop application launcher.

Ever wanted an Apple Mac-style dock for launching applications instantly, instead of a normal desktop full of icons? You can try RocketDock.

RocketDock is a completely customizable application launcher, that is very useful in launching commonly used Windows applications and folders instantly.

The application would contains links (as shown in the screenshot above) of applications that you choose to put in the dock. The application is available for download, free of cost.

Related Reading: Launch applications in seconds with Launchy

Twitter Extensions For Google Chrome

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Tweet from the Google Chrome web browser, with these two Twitter extensions.

If you are a user of both Twitter and the Google Chrome web browser, you can tweet using these two extensions for the web browser.

1. Chromed Bird

Chromed Bird is a Twitter extension that offers most of the features you would need in a Twitter add-on. It appears with the necessary timeline, mentions and the direct messages tabs. You can also shorten URLs while tweeting.

2. Chrowety

Chrowety is another useful Twitter extension for Google Chrome. Chrowety offers more features than Chromed Bird. It is multi-lingual and you can even see photos or videos that have been tweeted.

Related Reading: Twitter Tips | Google Chrome Tips

Google Buzz Simplified

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:57:00 +0000

Simple tips to make the most out of Google Buzz.

Google Buzz is Google’s social microblogging and information sharing service, that comes embedded in Google Mail.

What you basically do on Buzz is share your status, photos or useful links with people who follow you. Google Buzz is like an expanded form of Twitter.

Here are a set of tips and tools that will help you do more on Google Buzz:

1. Send a Buzz to a user’s Gmail Inbox

You can send a message to a user through Buzz by specifying the @ symbol, followed by the person’s email address, which will post the update on your Buzz feed and send the message to the user’s email.

2. Connect your Social websites

If you want to connect various social websites like your blog, Twitter profile or Picasa to your Buzz stream, then simply select the Connected Sites option at the top of your Buzz stream, and add/remove websites accordingly. [Refer above screenshot]

3. A Firefox Add-on for Google Buzz

If you are a user of the Mozilla Firefox web browser, then you can instantly share what you surf with your followers on Google Buzz, by installing the Buzz It Firefox add-on in your browser. Buzz It also auto-shortens URLs with Bit.ly.

4. Google Chrome Extension for Google Buzz

The Google Buzz extension for Google Chrome, Google Buzz Pad, is a useful add-on that allows you to view your Buzz account and also share links with your followers from Google Reader.

5. Block unknown followers

Google Buzz offers you the option to block unknown followers, who might be posting inappropriate or unwanted comments on your posts.

Simply go to the list of your followers, and select Block corresponding to the specific follower to block him/her.

6. Privacy – Disable followers/following list from Google profile

A new option to disable the public viewing of who you are following and being followed by, has been introduced in Google Buzz. You can now disable the viewing of both of these lists from third parties visiting your Google profile.

To do that, click on the lists to open them. You will find a checkbox as shown above at the bottom of the lists. De-select the checkbox to ensure these lists cannot be viewed.

7. Update Buzz via email

To update Google Buzz via email, all you require is a Buzz-enabled GMail account. Simply send your update to buzz@gmail.com, to post your update to your Buzz followers via email.

8. Find more people on Buzz

To find more people to follow on Google Buzz, select the Find People option at the top of your Buzz feed, and you can find recommended followers, or search for users via their names or email addresses.

9. Select Public/Private while posting

You can choose to share on Buzz with a select people, or with anybody else on the world wide web.

When writing a post, find the Public/Private drop-down and select the desired one. [Screenshot above]

10. Remove posts from your Buzz feed

To hide a post on your Buzz feed that you may not be interested in, select the Mute Post option from the top-right drop-down menu on the particular post. [Screenshot above]

11. Disable Buzz/Hide Buzz

You can disable Google Buzz entirely from your GMail by heading to the bottom of your GMail page, where you will find a Turn Off Buzz option.

To hide the Buzz label from Gmail, simply head to Settings –> Labels and edit as required.

12. Update Twitter and Buzz together

In case you want to post the same update on both Twitter, the popular microblogging platform, and Google Buzz, read this Internet Simplified post to know how.

13. Create a Google Buzz widget

You can create a Google Buzz widget for your website, by heading to Buzz Counter. Simply specify your Google profile name and obtain the code for the widget.

Paste it on your blog/website, and a widget (see screenshot above) will appear with your Buzz updates.

Related Reading: Compendium of Tips on GMail

Update Twitter And Buzz Together

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:11:00 +0000

BuzzTweep – Send updates to Twitter and Google Buzz at once.

BuzzTweep is a free service, using which you can update your Twitter account and your Google Buzz stream at once, with the same comment.

Just follow the instructions given on their website (Tutorials Page 1 and Page 2) to set up the service. Basically, all you require to do is set up a GMail filter, and then connect your Twitter account to the service.

Learn in detail about setting up a GMail filter in our detailed GMail tips post.

Related Reading: What is Google Buzz?

Google Buzz - Google's Social Microblogging Service

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:15:00 +0000

Here's a video that explains Google Buzz.

[Via Google Blog]

Watch Television Series’ Online For Free

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:15:00 +0000

TVGorge – a free service to watch your favourite TV shows.

TVGorge is a decent service that combines the best streaming links of television serials available, for you to watch online.

To learn more about watching TV online, do check out Internet Simplified’s guide.

Convert YouTube videos to MP3s Instantly

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Video2Mp3 – a free service.

Found a song video on YouTube that you want to convert to an MP3 file? Use Video2Mp3 – a free service that creates a MP3 out of the video.

Provide the YouTube URL of the video and download the MP3 generated in a link at Video2Mp3.

Create A Free Online Chatroom

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:52:00 +0000

Tiny Chat – a free service to create a private audio/video chat room.

Tiny Chat is an extremely useful instant chat service, where you can create a chat room and share the URL with others you want to invite to the room.

You can have an audio chat, a video chat or just a plain textual one on Tiny Chat. Simply login to the chat using your Twitter or Facebook credentials, or even a simple nickname.

There is also no need to register on the website to use it.

Related Reading: How To Chat In Any Language

7 Interesting Twitter Services

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:31:00 +0000

Useful Twitter services, that are free.

Here are seven interesting Twitter services that you can give a try.

1. TweetAlarm

TweetAlarm is a Google Alerts-type of service for Twitter. Get alerted when users tweet about something specific to you with TweetAlarm.

2. TweetStats

TweetStats is a service that provides a detailed, graphical analysis of your Twitter usage. Just enter your Twitter handle, and you will get a detailed report about everything that can be possibly analyzed of your Twitter use.

3. Chir.ps

Chir.ps helps you tweet little audio clips to your followers. Record an audio clip and tweet it to your followers. Learn more here.

4. TwitterCal

With TwitterCal, you can tweet events and notes directly to your Google Calendar account. To learn how to do that, read our complete post on Twittercal.

5. Twitzer

Twitzer helps you go beyond the 140-character tweet limit set by Twitter. You can post longer tweets. Learn more here.

6. Twitter Grader

Twitter Grader offers you details about how influential you are in comparison with other Twitter users. Enter your Twitter handle and be ranked with this service.

7. Twtpoll

Twtpoll helps you create a little opinion poll in Twitter. Generate a poll and share the link with others on Twitter, to get percentage stats about a particular topic.

If you need more Twitter tips, visit the useful Twitips website.

Orkut Extension for Google Chrome

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:20:00 +0000

Get Orkut updates through the Orkut extension on your Google Chrome web browser.

Orkut Chrome Extension is a useful add-on for the Google Chrome browser that gives you instant updates from the Orkut social network.

You get notifications of scraps, can share links and use it to update your status on Orkut. Instantly access friends’ pages also from this extension.

Download Orkut Extension for Google Chrome

Related Reading: More Tips on Google Chrome

Twitter Introduces Local Trends

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:45:00 +0000

Now follow local trending topics, on Twitter.

Social microblogging platform Twitter has introduced local trending topics in it’s web service. A trending topic is basically the subject being most talked about in Twitter at the moment.

You can observe local trends now. Local trends are currently available for a few countries and cities.

Related Reading: Twitter Simplified

Quix – A Command Line Bookmarklet For Your Browser

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:02:00 +0000

With Quix, all you have to do is provide a command to perform various different, regular internet tasks.

Quix is an excellent bookmarklet, that allows you to easily access all your bookmarklets and has various commands to perform a particular task.

All you have to do is drag this –> Quix <- to your bookmarklets bar or folder on your web browser. Once this is done, to use Quix, you just have to summon it. A text field will appear for you to provide a command to, after which the task will be performed.

For example, let’s say you need to find the meaning of a word using Google Dictionary. Now, without doing the entire process of going to the Google Dictionary website, all you need to do is open the Quix bookmarklet and type ‘dict’ and the word to direct you to the meaning of the word on Google Dictionary (as shown below).

Quix has several such commands, and you can even create your own commands to get more out of Quix. Access the entire list of commands here.

This bookmarklet basically reduces the need for you to maintain various bookmarklets for different tasks. Learn more about bookmarklets here. To set up Quix for a specific web browser, please visit this.

Related Reading: A Guide To Keyword Bookmarks

Manage Google Docs Offline

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:47:00 +0000

Access, edit, and do more with your Google Docs documents, offline.

Memeo Connect is a useful tool that helps you manage your Google Docs, the online office tools suite provided by Google, offline.

Access all your Google Docs documents offline, edit them as you like, transfer them to your online Docs account with much ease, store current and previous versions on your hard drive.

The tool automatically syncs your files with your Google Docs account. You can test a trial version for 30 days, after which the service is chargeable.

Related Reading: More Google Docs Tips

Flickr Tab – A Facebook Application To Share Flickr Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Flickr Tab is a Facebook application, which helps you post your public Flickr photostream as a Facebook tab.

To post your Flickr photostream on your Facebook profile as an additional tab, use the application Flickr Tab.

Through Flickr Tab, your Facebook friends can view your public photos set within your profile itself.

You can also add Flickr Tab to a Facebook Fan Page, in case you are the owner of one. Flickr Tab would appear as shown in the screenshot above, in your profile.

Related Reading: More Flickr Tips | 9 Useful Facebook Applications

A Video Monitoring Software For Your PC Or Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:54:00 +0000

Vitamin D – Monitors your home or office, verifies people and does much more.

Vitamin D is a very interesting video monitoring tool, that helps you optimize upon what your PC or Mac’s web cameras or other network cameras capture.

You can install the Beta edition of Vitamin D, which provides various features like people recognition, highlight reels of when there was any activity and identifies based upon previously recorded videos.

Check out the video demo of Vitamin D here.

Download Vitamin D Beta. [For PC and Mac]

How To Tweet Audio Clips To Your Twitter Followers

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:29:00 +0000

Make Twitter more personal. Record and tweet audio clips with Chirps.

Chir.ps is an interesting tool that allows you to tweet audio, along with your text. Need to send out a tweet to your followers with an audio message included? Use Chirps.

Simply, record an audio clip, add a text message if you like and tweet from the website itself. Chirps is a free service, and offers you to either record an audio clip or upload one from your computer.

Related Reading: More Twitter Tips

Listen to Free Music on Grooveshark

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:34:00 +0000

Listen to music online, at Grooveshark. Now, with an improved interface and better features.

Grooveshark, a very popular website for listening to free music, has revamped it’s interface and offers a much more pleasant experience when searching for and listening to new music.

You can listen to the latest music from various genres, create playlists, browse through other songs on the website, upload your own songs and do much more without paying any fee at all.

Grooveshark streams over 50 million songs, and offers great recommendations through it’s Grooveshark Radio service. While listening to a song in Grooveshark, click ‘Radio’ to find more music on the same lines.

If you are a budding musician yourself, then you can promote your music on Grooveshark. The website has thousands of registered users.

You would find a great audience to obtain feedback on your music. To know more, visit Grooveshark Artists.

The service does charge a small amount, if you would prefer to have an ad-free experience on the website.

Grooveshark also has social networking-like services. You can interact with fellow Grooveshark users, and find better music in the same way.

Related Reading: More Ways To Listen To Music Online

Win A 12-Month Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 License

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:06:00 +0000

Internet Simplified will give away a year’s license of Kaspersky Internet Security (worth $59.95) for free.

Internet Simplified is pleased to announce that we have a 12-month license of Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 (worth $59.95), in association with Kaspersky, to give away to our readers.

All you would need to do is leave a comment on this post here in the blog (with your email address please), or you can leave a comment on our Facebook Fan Page.

If you do not want to leave a comment and still be a part of the contest, then please tweet the following on Twitter:

“ Tweet this to win a 12-month license of Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, courtesy of @NetSimplified and Kaspersky #ISGiveAway “

Tweet this simple message (even re-tweets are considered), and be a part of the contest. Do remember to follow us on Twitter and become a fan of our blog on Facebook.

The giveaway will end on January 25th, 2010. Thank you for your interest and we hope you would participate.

Update: The giveaway contest is now officially closed. The winner of the contest is one of our commenters, Manoj Gudi. Congratulations, Manoj. Thank you all for participating. The winner of this contest was drawn using a program called The Hat. Please observe the screenshots below of The Hat (Winner was drawn after names were pooled and a shuffle was done):

Internet Simplified thanks all of you who commented and the Twitter users who tweeted in this Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 Giveaway.

We also thank Kaspersky for their support in this giveaway contest. Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 is a very useful product to protect your computer from threats, if you are a regular internet user.

We promise to hold many more such giveaways in the near future. Thank you, again.

Send Short Notes To Your Email

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:22:00 +0000

Scribbly is a lightweight application that allows you to send important notes to your email inbox.

Send short scribbles to your email address with a very useful lightweight application called Scribbly.

The freeware has a simple interface, where you can set up notes to be sent to your email address for future reference. Scribbly uses Adobe AIR.

If you are a user of GMail, organize notes effectively by creating a filter for emails from Scribbly and automatically labelling them. Learn more here.

Reply To Facebook Comments Via Email

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:32:00 +0000

Respond to comments on posts through email.

Facebook has introduced a feature that allows you to reply to Facebook comments via email.

Simply reply with your comment to the message you’ve received from Facebook notification and that would be posted on the particular post.

Related Reading: More Facebook Tips

[Via Facebook Blog]

Store Any File In Google Docs

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:47:00 +0000

You can now store any type of file in your Google Docs account.

Google Docs has announced that it will soon implement a feature that allows you to upload and store any kind of file in your account.

The online office utility offers 1 GB space of free storage, and usually catered to documents, presentations, PDFs and spreadsheets only.

The size of file that you can upload is upto 250 MB. You can share, collaborate and organize all these files just like office documents.

[Via Google Docs Blog]

9 Useful Facebook Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Nine Facebook applications, that provide a lot of uses.

Facebook applications are useful tools created by third-parties that you can use in the social network to do more stuff. Listed below are 10 very useful applications that you must use:

1. Twitter

Link your Facebook account with your Twitter account through the Twitter application. With this application, whatever you tweet in Twitter would be posted as your status in Facebook. Access the Twitter application now.

2. Muziic

Muziic is a great way to listen to music playlists while browsing Facebook. It is a simple application, that looks like a multimedia player, and is also easy-to-use. You can also use it to watch music videos from YouTube. Get Muziic on Facebook now.

3. Picasa

You can upload photos from Google’s image sharing tool Picasa directly to Facebook by getting the Picasa application that inserts a Facebook link in the freeware. Access the application here.

4. Zoho Online Office

Share and access your Zoho Online Office documents, spreadsheets or presentations from Facebook itself. The Zoho Online Office application allows you to share and collaborate or edit your documents that have been created from Zoho, the popular online office service.

5. Files

Files is a very useful Facebook application. With Files, you can use Facebook to save, share and access any documents, photos or videos within the social network. The service is powered by Box.Net and offers upto 1 GB space for free. Access Files now.

6. my Lists

Create and maintain To-Do lists with the my Lists Facebook application. You can create useful lists that remind you of work to be done. Access the my Lists application here.

7. Facebook Mobile

Facebook Mobile is a service to access your Facebook account from your mobile. It provides a decent, mobile-adapted interface that allows you to perform many of the Facebook functions from the web service. Visit Facebook Mobile to do that, from your GPRS browser.

8. Calendar

Facebook Calendar is a useful application to maintain schedules, dates, meetings and everything else on the social network. You can use the application to keep track of events and birthdays also. Access Facebook Calendar now. [Note: There are also other Calendar applications in Facebook]

9. My Flickr

My Flickr connects your Facebook account with your Flickr photo stream. Friends on Facebook can view and comment on your Flickr photos without having to go to Flickr. Activate My Flick here.

Related Reading: More Facebook Tips

Send Free Audio Postcards to Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:16:00 +0000

Add an image, throw in a song and send the free audio postcard to your friend.

Postcard FM is a simple website where you can create a cool audio postcard for your friend, and send it to him/her directly from the website.

Simply add a favourite image, upload a song to your card and send it instantly. You can send as many as you like. There is a limit on the size of the song you can upload.

4 Websites Where You Can Learn Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Trailblazer) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:38:00 +0000

Here are four websites that contain information, tutorials, know-how articles, videos and almost everything else about a variety of topics.

1. WikiHow

WikiHow is a very useful website that offers over 69,000 articles to learn new stuff from, and also contribute to the website. You can become a member of the website (even via Facebook) and write for the website.

2. eHow

eHow is another useful source to learn tons of new stuff, in the form of articles and videos. The website offers thousands of guides for you to read, and like WikiHow, allows you to contribute to it’s database by becoming a member.

3. Wonder How-To

Wonder How-To is another learn-everything website that specializes in providing 5-minute videos that explain stuff. The website has over 230,000 videos for you to view and learn.

4. How Stuff Works

How Stuff Works is a well-known website that has detailed, and simple, articles on how everything that is around us functions. If you need to find out how something works (ranging from computers to military equipment to animal sounds), simply head to How Stuff Works.

Wikipedia is another source for you to obtain instant first-hand information about almost anything. Do read our post on how you can put Wikipedia to better use.

Related Reading: Tips and Tools for Wikipedia