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Google+ : another Social Sharing Program

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:01:00 -0700

Google just unveiled a large-scale social sharing project, called Google+. It's an extension of the existing Google Profiles and Buzz, with many new features that make sharing more useful. Google's plan to compete with Facebook is to bring "the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions" to the Web.

Here's a video that describes some of the features of Google+:

Google+ means "Google + You", so it's all about your friends, your photos and videos, your interests and your conversations. The service currently has five new features:

+Circles: Rather than just pile everyone you've ever met into a list of Friends or Followers, Google+ lets users arrange friend lists according to the acquaintanceship they have with the person. Just like you've been able to do for the last 15 years with various instant messaging clients, you can arrange your friends into appropriate circles.

+Sparks: Similar to the way you might "like" a brand or news story or celebrity on Facebook, you add "Spark" topics on Google+. The "like" button, however, doesn't really do anything beyond putting you in the crosshairs of advertisers. Adding a Spark ties you into all the conversations going on about the topics you like, and you get a feed of content that people are sharing related to them.

+Hangouts: This multi-user video chat system is based on the premise that people want to hang out and not be awkward, so rather than force someone to set up a chatroom by topic or by a list of users, Hangouts are video chatrooms that exist solely to casually hang out and meet people.

+Mobile: Google is taking the "cache or share everything" attitude of Microsoft's short-lived Kin service and adding always-on geotagging and instant cloud uploading and caching to content sent from your mobile device. It could be status updates, or it could be pictures and video, but the primary idea is that the phone is just the tool to getting stuff onto the social Web.

+Huddle: This is a realtime group messaging client based around small groups of fellow users. Google is billing it as an ideal solution for event coordination, where multiple people must communicate with each other at the same time without it being a public conversation.

http://plus.google.com

The project is invite only as of now.

Vodafone Balance Transfer System | Vodafone Transfer Balance Mobile to Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:49:00 -0800

Vodafone recently introduce a "Balance Transfer System"..You can send & receive balances among ur friends & relatives..:-)

To SEND a balance..
Dial *131*MRP*<10 digit mobile no.>#

To RECEIVE a balance..
Dial *132*MRP*<10 digit mobile no.>#

Note:

1) Prepaid customer can send or receive balance only one time a day.

2) Transaction charges as follows:
--- Between Rs. 05 - 09 = Rs. 1 is deducted
--- Between Rs. 10 - 24 = Rs. 2 is deducted
--- Between Rs. 25 - 30 = Rs. 3 is deducted

3) Subscriber must be using the card since 3 months before.

How to Add Music in Orkut Profiles - V 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 10:35:00 -0800

Although Orkut launched v2, many of users got addicted to older version. In v2 of Orkut some extra features were enabled and this trick is one of them.

Common we'll give a try now =)

- Step 1 -

Have a song in your Mind =)

Get a working Mp3 Link of that song...

For Eg : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8902336/sydney.mp3

Uploaded it on Dropbox.com

Remember , A Mp3 link always ends with .mp3

Sites Given Below will help to get mp3 links

www.123musiq.com For Hindi , Malayalam ,Telugu , Tamil
www.skreemr.com For English
www.songs.pk For Hindi

- Step 2 -

Visit to www.orkut.com

If u are using new orkut ,

Go to

Profile - About Me - Html (Right top of the about me box)

- Step 3 -

Copy the below Html code and Paste it into HTML section and save.

- Step 4 -

Replace the stars ******* with your mp3 link

and Paste the code and click save.

--- You've done it ---

Convert Font File Types the Easy Way

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:45:00 -0700

The Internet is loaded with free fonts, but the file types for these free fonts are not always compatible with our favorite software. Even more, if we decide to change from PC to Mac, or vice versa, it is hard to move our font collection without file type conflicts.
A great service called FontConverter.org converts fonts from one file type to another almost instantly.

To use FontConverter, click the button in the middle of the page that says Choose File and open the font file you wish to convert.

Next, choose the file type you need for the computer in question. Microsoft applications prefer True Type Fonts (TTF), but the other font types, such as Printer Font Binary, have their own purposes as well.

After making your selections, click Send File.

Within seconds your new font file is processed and ready to download. Right Click the file name and choose Save As to save the file.

FontConverter is a no-frills solution for converting font files. It works quickly, with no unnecessary features. Overall, we are very pleased with this service—and our newly converted fonts!

How to Manage your Website Using Dreamweaver (Advanced)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:42:00 -0700

Yesterday, I wrote about the basic setup of managing your website using Dreamweaver. Today, we will continue with the advanced settings. Follow the first four screenshot steps from yesterday’s tutorial.
When you’re in the Site Definition window, go to the Advanced tab. Here, unlike the Basic settings, you are given more tools and functions to resourcefully manage your site.
Each step can be followed by clicking each the Category along the left side. For Local Info, enter the name of your website and select your Local root folder. You can also choose your local images folder. Clicking the folders on the right side of the text boxes will let you browse to the local directories.

The Default images folder should be stored beneath your website’s main location. For example: (c:/UserName/Documents/Name of the Website/images).

Next, press Remote Info. In here, select your Access type, and input your FTP host and Host directory. Then, enter your web server’s account Login and Password. For added convenience, you can put your Check out name and Email address.
To try the connection, click the Test button.

Wait for the testing to finish.

If your FTP host, host directory, login, and password are all correct, you’ll be successfully connected to your web server. Hit OK to continue.

Next, click Testing Server. For this illustration, we choose PHP MySQL as our Server model and FTP as the Access mode. Again, you have to put the FTP host & Host directory, and your account Login & Password.

One of the many tools the Advanced setting have is the ability to filter your website’s folders and files through Cloaking. This function is applicable when you are downloading from your server and uploading from your local directory.
You can specify what file types you want to be filtered. As an example, we indicated here that all PNG images and flash files should not be included to all site operations.

If your website’s codes have lots of comments and / or if you’re collaborating the development of your site with someone else, you must enable Design Notes.

Sitemaps are very important to websites. They make each site more SEO and user-friendly. To incorporate a sitemap, specify the index file of your website.

The last four categories (File View Columns, Contribute, Templates, and Spry) are extra tools you can use. You can leave it as is and set it up in the future.

If all your settings are correct and you’re good to go, click the OK button.

Your website will then be added to Dreamweaver.

Just like yesterday’s tutorial, you can download all your website’s remote files by using the Get command.

Surf Firefox with Voice Commands

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:34:00 -0700

Voice recognition has come pre-installed in Windows XP, Vista and now Windows 7, but improvements in voice recognition have been few. Surfing the Web with only voice commands is virtually impossible.
Firefox has an add-on called Firesay designed to improve Web surfing via voice command. While commands are limited, they are a vast improvement over commands currently available in other browsers.

After downloading and installing Firesay, a small, orange microphone symbol appears just after your search bar. Click the arrow beside the microphone and select Configure Speech Recognition.

This will take you to the Speech Recognition control panel in Windows. There, click Start Speech Recognition.

The setup wizard then starts. You are asked about the type of microphone you are using, then you must read a sentence to test the microphone’s strength. Click next on each screen until you complete the wizard.

The speech recognition panel then appears at the top of your screen and says it is listening.

Now, you can surf Firefox with voice commands, so long as the Firefox window is active. The amount of recognized commands are limited. For example, you can say Go to Facebook or Open Facebook and your browser will immediately go to the site requested.
This worked well for Gmail, MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo and Google, but did not work for eBay. We soon found a list of all sites Firesay recognizes here.
You can tell Firesay to Multitask and it will open a new tab.

Firesay also recognizes the names of television shows. So, you can say Watch the Simpsons and your browser is immediately redirected to Hulu’s Simpsons page.

Regular browser commands, like scroll up, scroll down, page down, page up, and switch to switch tabs, work as well.
Firesay is not as easy to configure as their promotional video shows. To make the program work, we had to restart our computer completely after initializing Window’s speech recognition. Then, we had to spend 10 minutes in the speech recognition training modules to teach the computer how to recognize our commands.

Firesay is a good start in the direction of fully voice-command enabled browsing; however, it is not a full replacement for the mouse and keyboard yet. With the combination of our tablet touch screen and Firesay, we were able to surf without the mouse and keyboard fairly well.
We hope Firesay continues to update this product with new commands over the coming months. For now, it is only available to Windows 7 users with Firefox 3.

How to Manage a Website Using Dreamweaver (Basic)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:32:00 -0700

Dreamweaver is Adobe’s foremost web development software app. Although the interface can look intimidating to non-tech users, it’s pretty easy to use once you get to know some of its functions and tools.
With Dreamweaver, you can create and edit several types of websites — from simple ones (such as pure HTML) to more complex pages (such as ActionScripts, CSS, JavaScript, ASP, ColdFusion, JSP, and PHP).
If you have a website, you can use the power of Dreamweaver to manage it more effectively. For this tutorial, I will discuss the program’s Basic site management settings. I will talk about the Advanced settings tomorrow.
The first step is to open Dreamweaver and click the Files side panel.
Next, press the drop-down arrow as shown below.

Then hit Manage Sites.

In the Manage Sites window, click the New button and

press Site.

There are two site management types, for this illustration we will use the Basic settings.
Name your website for easy referencing later, and then enter its HTTP Address or URL. Press Next > to proceed.

If you want to integrate a server technology to your site, tick the second option and select what server technology you want to have. As an example, we picked PHP MySQL.
You should also choose this option if one or more of your webpages has PHP / MySQL codes.
Click Next >.

Some of the server technologies you can opt include the following.

Tick Edit locally, then upload to remote testing server and browse to where you want to save / store all your site’s files.
Hit Next > to continue to the next step.

To test your files, you must choose how you want to connect to your testing server. For this illustration, we will connect through FTP (file transfer protocol).

Next, enter your web server’s hostname or FTP address, and specify what folder in your testing server you want to save / store all your site’s files.
Enter your FTP login username and password. To identify whether or not all these settings are correct, click the Test Connection button. If the connection is successful, press Next >.

After that, input your website’s root folder. To test that directory, hit Test URL. If it went through, proceed to the subsequent step.

If you’re not the only one managing and / or editing your website, enable the checking in and out of the files. Tick Dreamweaver should check it out, and enter your name and email address.
Click Next >.

You’ll be presented with the Site Definition summary. If all are correct, press the Done button.

The Site Definition interface will then be closed. Press Done in the Manage Site window.

Your website is now added to Dreamweaver’s File side panel. Under Local Files, right-click your site and

press Get. This process will download all your website’s files from your web server.

Depending on how large your website is, the downloading will take some time to finish.
When the Get process is complete, your website will be locally stored in your computer and will have a Dreamweaver structure just like the one below. All downloaded files can be managed, edited, and deleted locally and uploaded to your remote server. You can also create a new webpage and file and save it to your web server.

Recycle Old Electronics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:29:00 -0700

After more than a decade of continuously using and upgrading cell phones, laptops and MP3 players, the amount of old electronics shoved in closets and under beds is astounding. We never know quite what to do with a former beloved, but now replaced, device. A site called EcoSquid has solutions for this problem.

Enter the brand name or model number of a device in the search box in on the home page.

You are prompted to give more information about your item. For most electronics, you just choose an appropriate category (which was chosen already for our search above), then choose the brand name. Enter a zip code, then click Find Matching Offers.

A list appears on the right of the page listing local places to recycle the electronic device.

The process for recycling a cell phone is much more fun—EcoSquid lists live, cash offers for phones. After searching for the phone from the home page, answer the questions regarding your phone’s condition and which accessories are included with the phone. Click Find Matching Offers.

Cash offers appear on the right part of the screen. Click any offer to see the details on the offer’s Web site.

The EcoSquid idea is certainly a worthy one; we all need to recycle more. However, most of the cash offers for cell phones are far less than we could make by selling the phone on Ebay, even considering fees and shipping costs. This is not EcoSquid’s fault, but rather a problem with the used cell phone buying market in general.

How to Activate Windows Sound Sentry

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:27:00 -0700

There are times when you want your computer to be silent. There are many reasons for this. It’s either you don’t want to be disturbed while talking to someone over Skype or you’re watching your favorite tear-jerker movie. It could also be that you want to focus your attention to the online article you’re reading.
However, if you turn-off your PC’s audio notifications (such as the Default Beep, Critical / Low Battery Alarm, Device Connect, Close Program, etc), you might not know what’s going on with your computer.
Windows has a solution to this. The Sound Sentry system lets you disable almost all your PC’s sound notifications and replace it with flashes instead. So rather than hearing “cling”, “bing”, or “ding-dong”, you’ll see visual cues as an alternative. This way, although you can’t hear the sounds, you’re still in the loop because of the visuals.
You can choose the flash type you want. You can flash the active caption bar, the active window, or the desktop itself.

Sound Sentry is very practical if you’re watching a movie, listening to iTunes, taking a Skype call, and if you’re in a noisy place or in a library. It’s also applicable if you have a hearing problem and can’t perceive Windows’ default audio notifications.
To activate Sound Sentry, the first step is to click the Start Button.

Next, press Control Panel.

In the Control Panel window, click Ease of Access.

Hit Ease of Access Center.

Below Explore all settings, press Use text or visual alternatives for sounds.

Check the Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry) checkbox and select the visual warning you want. For this illustration, we will tick Flash active window.

If you’re done, click the Save button.

Once Sound Sentry is enabled, Windows will flash the active window if there’s something to be notified about.
For example, if there’s something wrong with your email message, it will flash the currently used window. The flashing is quick. It’s done in less than a second.

If you’ll insert (and remove) a new device to your computer, such as an iPhone or an external hard-disk, Windows will show you a visual cue.

You can also see the flash when you will close an unsaved document just like the one below.

Your PC will also flash an active window if your laptop’s battery is low, when your inserted device failed to connect, when you browse through different folders and directories, when the installation system wants to confirm your action, and the like.

Take, Save and Share Notes in the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:25:00 -0700

For computer lovers living the portable life, a flash drive is an essential part of existence. However, flash drives have limitations. They break easily, are easily misplaced and the information stored on a flash drive is not easily shared with friends or co-workers on the other side of the world. For note taking and note sharing, cloud-based systems are a better choice.
Wrttn.in is such a system. Users take notes, embed multimedia content and then choose to either share the link to the note with friends, or keep it private.

The site’s homepage has is little more than a giant textbox. Type or paste information into the box.

Wrttn.in can use textile or markdown language for font options like bold or italics, and can make tables. Click Controls and Options on the right of the screen and then Textile Reference for a guide of how to use textile coding.

Adding multimedia to your notes requires using textile. Embed the link by using a code like: “Link Name”:http://www.youtube.com/yourvideohere

Click Preview on the right to make sure your video embeds properly.

Most multimedia can be embedded in Wrttn.in, including videos and pictures from sites like Myspace, Facebook and Flickr.
To finish your note, click the Create button on the bottom right of the screen.

The next page shows your note. The URL at the top of the screen is the Admin URL. If you plan to keep the note private, this URL is all you need. To share your note, you need the Public Url. Click the Public URL button at the top left of the screen to see the link.

The idea of saving notes in the cloud is a great one, but Wrttn.in’s dependence on textile makes it harder to use than a traditional blog editor. Many users will not take the time to learn textile, so a built-in text editor would greatly benefit the service.

Remove Formatting When Pasting Text into Windows Live Writer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:21:00 -0700

All text-editing applications such as Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer use some type of open source or proprietary markup language to both display text on the screen and print the document using a printer.
These markup languages keep track of formatting in the document such as which text is bolded, underlined, italicized, and many other ways text can be displayed in the applications. This can cause conflicts with HTML and CSS when publishing content to the web. Learn how to remove formatting when pasting text into Windows Live Writer.

Text Formatting

Since Windows Live Writer is primarily used to help blog writers publish posts to their blogs, the application uses HTML to markup the text. HTML markup here refers to the formatting of a web document to distinguish different types of attributes such as paragraph, heading, bold, underline, and all of the other HTML tags.
Other applications use their own markup languages to keep track of such formatting. When you copy and paste text from another application such as Microsoft Word, the formatting from that application comes along for the ride and can mess up the HTML formatting when it is posted on a blog.
Luckily, Windows Live Writer has a built in tool to help you remove such formatting so you can copy and paste the level of formatting you want in your blog post.

Remove Formatting from Text in Windows Live Writer

Suppose you have written a blog post using Microsoft Word and you want to copy and paste the text into Windows Live Writer so you can publish it to your blog. Copy the text from Word as you normally would but when you go to paste it into Windows Live Writer, choose Edit>Paste Special instead.

This will open up the Paste Special window. Notice that you have three options: Remove Formatting, Thinned HTML, and Keep Formatting. Note that Thinned HTML is the default choice.

Below is a description of each your Paste Special options.
Remove Formatting – this option is the most conservative because it literally removes nearly all formatting from the text you paste into Windows Live Writer. Line breaks, however, are preserved to prevent paragraphs from running into one another.
Windows Live Writer uses the p HTML tag to distinguish where the line breaks should be. Note that this option keeps images and hyperlinks intact. As Microsoft recommends, use this option To Copy Content Only.
Thinned HTML – The default option is an excellent tradeoff between two extremes. The Thinned HTML option removes all formatting that won’t be recognized as HTML markup. This includes proprietary markup such as that found in Microsoft Word.
This option also removes CSS styles and tables so be prepared to recreate any tables you want to display in your blog post. This option does, however, preserves basic formatting such as bolding, underlining, and heading information.
Keep Formatting – This is an option you are likely to avoid when pasting blog posts into Windows Live Writer from a word processor like Word. This option is the one most likely to cause display errors in your posts.
The reason is because all proprietary formatting marks from the source application are preserved in the paste. Such markup can interfere with your blog’s CSS and cause other unwanted effects. Unless you have a specific reason for wanting to preserve source markup, don’t use the Keep Formatting option.

Windows Live Writer includes a convenient Paste Special option to help blog publishers paste text into the application. Using three options, you can choose which level of formatting will be preserved after the text is pasted. To avoid conflicts with the HTML and CSS on your blog’s site, you should not use the Keep Formatting option.

Add Additional Clocks and Sync PC Time with Internet in Windows 7 and Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:18:00 -0700

Being punctual at work and meeting job deadlines is important, especially if you’re the head honcho, the big boss, or the office manager. That’s why it’s very important that your clock, particularly the ones displayed on your computer, is accurate — not late and not advanced. If you’re working with foreign clients or partners, it’s also a good practice to know what their current times are.
Windows 7 and Vista have a tool that lets you add two additional clocks to your computer. You can integrate two times zones from anywhere in the world. When this tool is activated, the computer will display three clocks when you click your PC’s taskbar time.
This application also allows you to synchronize your current Windows 7 or Vista time to one of the five Internet time servers. This way, your clock will be updated and matched to the more accurate time setting. The synchronization process can be done automatically on a daily basis.

There are several methods you can use to access this tool. For this illustration, we will perform the faster and more convenient procedure.
First, click your taskbar time.

Next, press Change date and time settings….

Vista will show you the basic Date and Time tab. What we’re after are the Additional Clocks and Internet Time tabs.

Go to Additional Clocks. In here, you can check the Show this clock checkboxes if you want to display extra clocks aside from your default time. You can also label it accordingly.
For example, we selected the GMT -08:00 time zone and named it Los Angeles. This is a good approach of keeping up and knowing the other places’ current times.
For your changes to take effect, press the Apply button.

When you click your taskbar time, it will now display three clocks.

The next tutorial is for synchronizing your clock with the Internet’s. To do this, hit the Internet Time tab and click Change settings….

Check Synchronize with an Internet time server and

select the server you want from the Server drop-down menu. For this illustration, we will pick the one from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

After this, press Update now.

Depending on your Internet connection’s speed, the synchronization will just take less than three seconds to complete.

After the synchronization, click OK to close the Internet Time Settings window.

The main function of the clock-synch tool is that it makes your Vista time more accurate.
This is the time before the synchronization.

This is the time AFTER the synchronization.

Find out Exactly What Hardware is in Your Windows 7 PC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:15:00 -0700

Unless you are a computer hardware junkie, you may have forgotten exactly what hardware you have in your Windows 7-based PC. This is especially true if you have upgraded your computer since the time you bought it. Rather than dig through your receipts and invoices, use this simple Windows 7 command to find out exactly what hardware is in your PC.
To see what hardware is in your computer, click the Start button and then click on Run. If you don’t have the Run command on your Start menu, then hold down the Windows Key on your keyboard and press the R key.
Either method will bring up the Run dialog box. Then, type msinfo32 into the run box and click OK. Note that this command is the same whether you are running the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7.

You should now be looking at the Systems Information window. This window tells you just about everything you would even need to know about the hardware you have in your Windows 7 PC.
For example, notice that under Processor, you can see that this particular user has an Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU that is running at 2666Mhz. Under BIOS Version/Data, you can see that this user has an Asus P5N-E motherboard and that the BIOS date is 8/9/2007. This one is particularly useful for when you are updating or upgrading your BIOS.

Unfortunately, the Systems Information window will only show you the devices that are currently recognized and working properly in Windows 7. It does not provide any means to diagnose, fix, or remove any of the hardware in your PC.
If you suspect that you have some hardware in your computer but it is not showing up in the Systems Information window, try using Windows’s Device Manager.
To open up Device Manage, click on Start and then right-click on My Computer. In the menu that opens, click Manage. This will open up the Computer Management Window. Expand System Tools and click on Device Manager. This will open up the Device Manager in the window to the right.

Device Manager conveniently displays your PC’s hardware by type. For example, all of your hard drives are listed under the Disk Drives section and your video card(s) show up under Display Adaptors.
Unlike the Systems Information window, Microsoft designed Device Manager to be a troubleshooting and diagnostic tool. With it, you can enable/disable devices, upgrade/install drivers, and see if any conflicts exist between or among the hardware in your computer.
Although the Systems Information window is useful for seeing what hardware you have in your Windows 7 PC, it doesn’t help you with troubleshooting, or conflicts. Use Systems Information when you just want to see what’s in your computer; use Device Manager for diagnostics.

Make Your Own Mouse Cursor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:13:00 -0700

The mouse cursor, the little white arrow forever pointing at whatever we want, is possibly the most underappreciated part of our computers. We rarely think about it—for the most part, it is just there. But, the mouse cursor has a wide range of customization options. With a site called CursorWiz, you can even make your own, custom mouse cursor.
With CursorWiz, you can either draw your own mouse cursor from scratch, or upload a picture from your computer. To create a cursor from scratch, choose a color from the color wheel at the top of the page, then draw, pixel-by-pixel, your cursor.

To automatically add shapes to your cursor, click any of the pre-made options on the right of the screen. The shapes will appear in the color you last selected from the color wheel.

There are two pencil thicknesses: single pixel, thin line or four pixel, thick line. Also with the pencil options is the option to add transparent lines to your cursor. This is the closest thing to a pixel-by-pixel eraser in CursorWiz.

If your cursor drawing is a complete mess, you can erase it and start over by clicking the big eraser button near the bottom right corner of the page.

To upload and edit your own picture, click Choose File below the cursor editing box and choose your file. Click upload when finished. Smaller, pre-shrunken pictures work best, and only JPG or PNG files are allowed.

When you have finished editing your picture, click the Test link to test your cursor in the test zone on the right of the Web site.

When you are satisfied with your cursor, click the arrow button next to the test link to download the cursor in the proper format. You may also download your cursor as a desktop icon by clicking the target button on the other side of the test link.

Once downloaded, you can start using your cursor by opening the mouse options in control panel, then the pointers tab. From there, click Browse to select your cursor.

CursorWiz is fun. We enjoyed making cursors with it, but the controls were hard to decipher at first. The site feels a bit messy, but still offers a creative service.

Change the Default Windows 7 Sound Scheme

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:11:00 -0700

Even the earliest versions of Windows incorporated sounds to make experience with the operating system more convenient, customizable, and fun. Windows 7 ships with a number of different sound schemes to match the personality and needs of each individual user. Learn how to change the default Windows 7 sound scheme.

About Windows 7 Sound Schemes

Many events in Windows 7 have a sound attached to them to alert the user to important warnings and actions. For example, Windows 7 plays different tones to alert users that an e-mail message has arrived in their inbox, the operating system needs a question answered, or further administrative permissions are needed to complete an action. Windows 7 even plays a sound when it starts up and shuts down.
Most people have become so accustomed to the default Windows sound scheme that they don’t realize it can be changed. In this article, we will discuss how to access the various sound schemes that ship with Windows 7 and how to change the scheme to something more to your liking.

Changing Windows 7 Sound Schemes

To change the sound scheme, you must first access the appropriate window. Right click anywhere on an unoccupied area of the Windows 7 desktop and select Personalize from the menu.

This will open the Control Panel>Appearance and Personalization>Personalization window. At the bottom of the screen, click on the icon titled Sounds. If you are like most Windows users, below the icon you will see that the current sound scheme is Windows Default.

You should now be looking at the Sound window with the Sounds tab already selected. At the top of the window, you can see that Windows 7 provides you with a description of what a sound scheme is. Below that is a drop down menu labeled Sound Scheme. It is from that menu that you can change the default sound scheme.

Click on the arrow of the drop down menu and notice that Windows 7 ships with 14 sound schemes. Note that there is even a No Sounds option. This is great for when you want your computer to play sounds, just not the sounds tied to Windows 7 events and alerts.

Once you choose a sound scheme (except, of course, the No Sounds scheme), you can listen to the individual sounds of the scheme in the Program Events section of the window. For example, choose any scheme and then click on the event titled Asterisk. Then click the Test button and you can hear the Asterisk sound for that scheme.

Notice that the actual sound played for the Asterisk event is a sound file titled Windows Error.wav. Using the Sounds drop down menu, you can assign any sound to that event from another sound scheme or from a sound located on your computer.
Just use the Browse button. Once you customize your sound scheme, you can use the Save As button to name and save it. Many people use this feature to turn off certain events in a scheme while leaving others alone.
Note that there is even an option on the window to Play Windows Startup Sound. Unchecking this box will stop the Windows startup sound from playing while leaving the other sounds associated with your chosen scheme to play normally.
Changing the default sound scheme in Windows 7 is simply a matter of either choosing a new scheme or customizing one to meet your particular needs. Many people turn off most of the Windows 7 event sounds to avoid bothering co-workers at work or family members at home.
Whatever you reasons, changing the Windows 7 default sound scheme gives you more flexibility to use the operating system the way you want.

Use Your Cell Phone as a YouTube Remote

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:06:00 -0700

YouTube can be watched from just about anywhere these days thanks to our cell phone browsers. However, most of us would really rather curl up on the couch to watch videos. With the TubeMote, we can do exactly this—provided our computer’s screen is large enough to make it worthwhile.

TubeMote allows all users to make their own channel for watching YouTube. Watchers then use their cell phones to change the video displaying on their channel. To create your own channel, click the Sign Up link on the top right of the Web site.

Next, choose a username, which will serve as the name of your personal channel. You must also choose a password and provide your email address. Click Sign Up when finished.

You are then given your channel’s URL. Point your computer’s browser to that URL to watch your channel.

Using your cell phone’s browser, navigate to TubeMote.com and sign in with your username and password. Your cell phone instantly becomes a remote control. Search YouTube for the videos you want to watch, then click any video for it to display on your channel (the one on your computer’s browser).

Videos display in full screen mode, which means if a video is of low pixel quality, it will appear blurry.
We tried TubeMote on our 21-inch computer screen in Chrome, IE9 and Firefox—all worked beautifully. For fun, we tried it with our Wii’s Opera browser and were surprised to find it worked there too! So, with a browser-enabled video game system, TubeMote can display continuous, remote-controlled videos on the HDTV of your choice.

After playing with TubeMote for longer than we care to admit, our overall review is very positive. Videos load on our channel the instant we choose them on our cell phone-based remote. Our only complaint iss the ads displayed at the bottom of some videos, but we are unsure if these belong to YouTube or TubeMote.

Toshiba’s Libretto Dual-Screen Tablet Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:52:00 -0700

Back in June we brought you news about Toshiba’s special Libretto tablet, which was a concept that featured a two seven-inch touchscreen design. Well, now that tablet is available with a limited supply for only $1,099.99. Dubbed the W105-L251, specs for the tablet include a Pentium U5400 processor, integrated Intel HD graphics, memory card reader, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 62GB SSD, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, webcam and 8-cell battery. Grab it while you can, folks.

Wanderest Ergonomic Seat Can Be Attached To A Lamp Post As A Resting Point

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:51:00 -0700

The easy way for elderly to keep healthy and mobile is to do a short walk. Although a short walk can be considered as light exercise, the elderly need to break their walk into manageable distances, take some rest for small intervals, enjoy the surroundings. Unfortunately, public seating is not placed frequently enough around rest homes and retirement villages. To accommodate these situations, Wanderest, a well engineered and ergonomic seat has been designed. It is constructed of 3 identical panels (extra panels can be added for a larger seat) that can be attached to a lamp post as a resting point. To combine the panels together, a stainless steel strap is put through the indentation at the back and the strap is bolted onto the panels at two points. Then the stainless steel strap can be bolted to the lamp post or attached with a clamp mechanism. The panels are shaped with a slight downward slope on the sitting part and installed at a perching height. This way, the elderly can slide on and off the seat comfortably, there’s no need to bend down just like conventional seat.

Designer : Nichola Trudgen

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Confirmed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:49:00 -0700

Remember Microsoft’s Magic Mouse competitor we talked about back in July? Well, it looks like the Arc Touch Mouse is real. Images have leaked from a German online store that show the mouse, with some specs too. The main draw here is the curved design, which provides more ergonomic comfort, and the mouse also folds down for portability. Other features include touch-scrolling, multi-surface tracking, a battery indicator, and 2.4GHz nano receiver. The price, roughly translated, is $69.95, but availability for America is currently unknown.

Sunflower Street Lighting Features Efficient, Cost-Effective And Eco-Friendly City Lighting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:48:00 -0700

What happens when there is no power supply in the street light, in worse case, what if the light is broken? Unless you have a bionic eye or using a night vision goggles, walking through a congested road during dark nights would be a horrible experience.

Sunflower street lighting not only eliminates the power issue through solar photovoltaic modules on the upper surface of the lamps, it ensures that if for any reason one light goes down, other lights will still continue to work. Moreover, incorporating the LED light instead of usual fluorescent bulb has made the concept up to eight times more efficient, cost effective and eco-friendly by reducing the mission of CO2. Each lighting consists 5 individual lamps on different cell modules and comprises one battery only to store the energy gathered from the sun during daytime. Finally, it the sunflower like appearance of the concept will enhance the décor of a city just like a thrived garden with lots of bloomed sunflower.

Designer : Riis Ros

Philips GoGear Connect Is The First Android MP4 Player

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:46:00 -0700

The iPod Touch has long remained the champion in its space, that is until today. Philips GoGear Connect is for all intense and purposes an iPod Touch running the Android OS with access to the Android store.

In terms of specs: 3.2-inch touchscreen (480×320), WiFi, GPS, a wide variety of audio (.mp3, .wma, .m4a (AAC), .ogg, and .flac audio) and video (.wmv, .mp4 (MPEG4 and H264 up to 720p), .avi (MPEG4 up to 720p) video) support. In a blow to Apple you’ll be glad to hear that you can sync your music over both Bluetooth and a USB cable. And thanks to the built-in GPS you should expect turn-by-turn directions. There is also a camera and microSD card slot for expansion.

You can expect the Philips GoGear to hit US and EU shores this November for $315.

The PadFoot iPad Stand Is Minimalist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:44:00 -0700

There are a million iPad stands out there, or at least it feels that way. Designed by minimalist designer Michiel Cornelissen, the PadFoot is at least a different take on things. It’s constructed out of a piece of 3D printed polyamide with a wedge in it, that lets you stand the iPad in either portrait or landscape, or more, and is definitely the most portable one out there. Let’s hope it does its job well. It’s available now for $30.

Espresso On Four Legs Is A Breakthrough For Conventional Coffee Makers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:43:00 -0700

An espresso machine that sits on a tabletop and pours a coffee cup is something we can easily see around. Now, even the espresso machine realized its time to stand up and rejuvenate in the form of Espresso on four legs, an innovative concept espresso machine that can ensure handy use along with extraordinary interior aesthetics. The cylindrical main body is mounted horizontally above the coffee cup with the support of a beautiful white shell, giving a feel of floating the espresso machine over the cup. Each side of the cylinder comprises a door to enter water through one door and coffee capsules through another. Operating the espresso machine is super easy with only two buttons to prepare short or long espresso.

Designer : Dror Goldblum

The Samsung Epic 4G Launches On Sprint Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:37:00 -0700

Word is that Sprint stores will open at the crack of dawn tomorrow (actually 8am) for the launch of Samsung’s Epic 4G phone. It’s an Android handset with a 1Ghz processor, 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 4G connectivity and a slide out keyboard. Price for the handset will be $249.99 after a 2-year contract and $100 mail-in-rebate.

Logitech K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 06:36:00 -0700

Logitech’s new K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard brings the wired illumination of last year’s MK700 to the wireless realm. An ambient light detector and motion sensor guarantees the right amount of light for each environment while conserving battery — up to ten hours on a single charge, which then gets refilled via mini-USB. It also uses Logitech’s PerfectStroke system, promising uniform tactile feedback across the entire surface of the key.

The Logitech’s K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard is available now for $100.

The Wireless Keyboard with a Nightlife: Logitech Unveils New Illuminated Keyboard

Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 Features Smart Backlighting

FREMONT, Calif. – Aug. 18, 2010 -Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today introduced the rechargeable Logitech® Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800, delivering bright, precise illumination – day or night. The newest Logitech keyboard features ambient light and motion sensors, ensuring that you have the right amount of backlight when you need it, while conserving battery life when you don’t.

“The Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is perfect for someone who values both form and function,” said Denis Pavillard, vice president of product marketing for Logitech’s keyboards and desktops. “The Wireless Illuminated K800 keyboard includes features that make it a standout – smart backlighting, Logitech® Unifying technology, our PerfectStroke™ key system and Logitech Incurve keys™ – and presents it all in a very stylish and sleek package that’s sure to please.”

The Wireless Illuminated K800 backlighting automatically adjusts based on the amount of light in the room using ambient light sensors. Motion sensors detect your hands as they approach to turn the backlighting on and to turn it back off when your hands move away. As a result, you’ll enjoy bright, precise illumination and more battery life – up to 10 days of battery life without recharging. (Actual battery life will vary with use, settings and environmental conditions.)

The Wireless Illuminated K800 is always ready when you need it thanks to the micro-USB cable that lets you recharge while you type. Due to the fast, flexible recharging, you’ll never need to replace the batteries. Instead, you can simply plug in the universal micro-USB cable to recharge the onboard batteries.

Because a good keyboard needs to deliver a good typing experience, the Logitech Wireless Illuminated keyboard includes the PerfectStroke™ key system and Logitech Incurve keys™. The PerfectStroke key system helps make every stroke comfortable, fluid and whisper-quiet. And the concave design and softly rounded edges of the durable Logitech Incurve keys position your fingers properly and invite your fingertips to glide from key to key, hour after hour. Additionally, the letters and characters on the keys are very durable and won’t wear off.

The Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is also the latest in a line of Logitech® Unifying-compatible mice and keyboards that feature the tiny, leave-in receiver – so small you can leave it in your laptop. Unifying-compatible keyboards feature Logitech® Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, virtually eliminating delays and dropouts.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is expected to be available in August for a suggested retail price of $99.99 (U.S.). You can learn more about the Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 on our blog or you can visit www.logitech.com.