Found Rapidshare or Hotfile links to the file you’re searching? Before you go through the long and tedious process of copy-pasting the links in a new tab to download your file, check their authenticity. You never know which link might turn out to be dead or invalid. Ofcourse there are many link checkers online which again require you to paste the links into the link checker box. Why waste time when Firefox already has an addon for this? Try out Linkylook for Firefox.

Linkylook provides you the convenience by checking all the Rapidshare or any hosting site links on any website.

1. Once you install the addon restart Firefox.

2. Go to the webpage where you have the Rapidshare links.

3. Right click on Linkylook (bottom-right in firefox) and select the category of links you want to check.

4. You will be redirected to the homepage where you can see whether the links are dead or still active.

As of now the services that are available are:  Rapidshare, Megaupload, Hotfile, Netload, Mediafire, Easyshare, Zshare, Badongo, Letitbit, Filefactory, Sendspace and Depositfiles – which mostly covers all the popular filesharing websites. So go ahead and download Linkylook – No more dead links for you.

You can download the addon from here : Linkylook

Linkylook : Rapidshare Link Checker is a post from Tech Spikes

Linkylook : Rapidshare Link Checker is a post from Tech Spikes

Unlike the older times having one email address is no longer an option that many users would prefer. Plus having multiple accounts on same service provider needs an effort to launch more than 2 different browsers to access the accounts simultaneously. Google now provides the feature of logging into your multiple accounts through the same browser.

To enable this feature go to google.com/accounts and click Edit besides the option Multiple sign-in.

In the page you are redirected to click on the check boxes that explain the rules and save. Now once you sign into your first account you can sign into the others by clicking the arrow besides your id at the top right corner. You can either toggle between different accounts or log in to a new google account.

This feature is only for the advanced users. The services in which you can use this feature are Calendar, Reader, Code , Sites and Gmail. For services like Picasa web albums and Blogger that don’t support this feature, you’ll be defaulted to the first the account you signed in with during the same session.

Now You Can Access Two Gmail Accounts in the same browser is a post from Tech Spikes

Now You Can Access Two Gmail Accounts in the same browser is a post from Tech Spikes

Mediaraptor is a simple solution for recording millions of songs from Web radio stations and music videos from the Internet. It’s common to Google out a song you just heard at a mall or on the radio. Searching in Mediaraptor might just yield the results you need. It provides you with millions of songs, videos and lyrics based on your search query.

It has a simple User Interface with 3 tabs “Search”, “Wishlist” and “Web”.

Filtering the results according to the type of content you want (audio or video) and according to the bit-rate of the media files is just a matter of few clicks. Mediaraptor supports keyword search as well as an alphabetical index that displays available video clip by the artist name with the source site tagged to the file. Everytime you watch a video or listen to a song on a website Mediaraptor records it for you. In case of embedded mp3 music on websites it can record the songs without playing them first.Mediaraptor lets you put the finishing touches on your collection with ID3 tags, album artwork and lyrics after recording your files. For staying upto date with the latest web radio stations you can add numerous search and record plug-ins .

You can even add your favorite artists on the Wishlist and let the Mediaraptor fulfill the wishes whenever you want them to. It’ll download all the media content related to the artist and present it to you. You can compile several wishlists and switch between them. Mediaraptor saves all your wishlists automatically. Wishlists can even be imported from the community if at all you run out of ideas.

The software comes with a media converter which lets you convert the downloaded files into a specified format. MP3 files can be converted to FLAC, M4A, OGG, WAV and WMA. And for the video files you can convert among AVI,3GP, MP4 and WMV formats. You can either burn your downloaded files or directly export them to your removable media device.

Another feature that’ll leave the critics ogling is that it provides the facility to install in removable media storage device. If you don’t have internet at home, just install Mediaraptor in your pendrive and start downloading your files in the internet cafe.Unlike the other media grabbers Mediaraptor is not a P2P file sharing software. The long unbearable task of waiting for the peers to seed the file won’t ever be a problem with Mediaraptor.

All in all Mediaraptor comes with a bundle of features to Download, Convert and Store the media files, thus making its title an apt one.

Mediaraptor : Download music, videos and movies for free is a post from Tech Spikes

Mediaraptor : Download music, videos and movies for free is a post from Tech Spikes

Foursquare as most of you might already know is a geo location-based social networking website where users ‘check-in’ at venues using text messaging, mobile web or mobile apps and has been tagged as the next best thing on Social Media after Twitter and I have no doubts that it probably is. I signed up with Foursquare a little over 3 months back and as on date, I’m a Mayor of 15 places, checked in 319 times and proud owner of 11 Badges with over 160 friends.

A lot of people may ask, if that’s the case, why would I quit Foursquare and then decide to write about it? Here’s why.

Many double/wrong entries:

The above screenshot is a search for the biggest railway station in Chennai – called Central Railway Station or Chennai Central Railway Station. As you can see, there are 3 different options.

Another example of multiple entries is Subway, the health-eating joint in Nungambakkam, Chennai

Again 3 search options (the 4th search result is a different location) – however, the first result has the road name wrong, the second has the pin code wrong and the third has the road name wrong again.

Foursquare team does not respond to user requests:

Anyone who was serious about using Foursquare and familiar with this location would want to set this right. So that’s what I set out to do. Since I did not know about the super user concept, I did a bit of searching on their website and found their email id and contacted them. Here is the screenshot of my email to them. Click on the screenshot for a bigger image.

Its a month since my email and I haven’t got a response yet. I guess I can safely assume that they don’t care about feedback, customer support/care. I’ve tried contacting Foursquare on Twitter many times in the past 3+ months but they don’t respond there as well.

Too many wannabe users:

Foursquare is definitely not the first internet app who haven’t responded to me so I decided to give them the benefit of doubt and continued using/checking into Foursquare. I realised in due course that I was repeatedly being ousted as Mayor from a couple of locations and these were places where I used to check-in multiple times a day. While that got me suspicious, I did not take much heed. However, something that happened 3 days back was the last straw. On Sunday (May 16th), I was ousted as the Mayor of ICICI Bank. It is common knowledge that ICICI Bank, India’s biggest private bank is closed on Sundays and no one in his right senses would go to a private bank on a Sunday. That being the case, how is it then possible that I was ousted on a Sunday?

I realised then that there are many wannabe users on Foursquare who in their quest to become Mayors, check in at places even if they don’t really go there. I assume again that many would have noticed such wannabe users in all cities/locations.

I know Foursquare is an awesome app but the Foursquare team should realise that the app is as strong as its weakest link – its users. Foursquare should bring about better monitoring/moderating systems to ensure that the system is clean. Replying to genuine emails and using the genuine crowd to weed away the bad ones could be a start. Also, when you are present on Twitter/provide your email id on your website, users/public WILL expect you to respond to their queries. Not responding is a big no no.

For now, I’ve quit Foursquare – I still haven’t deleted my account yet, I’m not sure if that’s possible so you can call it a long long sabbatical. I’d love to get back on Foursquare if and only if they sort themselves out.

Till then, Goodbye Foursquare!

I’ve quit Foursquare and here’s why is a post from Tech Spikes

I’ve quit Foursquare and here’s why is a post from Tech Spikes

Videoholics are dime a dozen these days. Who doesn’t watch Youtube like they used to watch TV?
The only thing is, there are hundreds of distractions on the webpage serving the videos.

Imagine if you were watching a movie and there were boxes on the sides that showed you related movies and information about the actors.
Sure, it would be interesting, but it is distracting!

Turn Off The Lights solves the problem.

Chrome Extension to Dim Everything But the Video

Turn Off The Lights is an extension for Chrome that dims all of the webpage but the video you’re watching, so that you aren’t distracted by the disturbing and irritating elements of the webpage.

Also, with this extension, you can select the background color, and the opacity of the background. So if you want, you can adjust the default setting of black and an 80% opacity with a bright red and a 100% opacity if you so desire (though that would probably be more distracting than ever)

To enable the dimming, simply click the bulb icon that appears next to the video title after installing the extension.

Site Compatibility?

This extension will work with any site that has embedded video. I’m yet to find one that doesn’t work with it.

Download Turn Off the Lights

You can download Turn Off the Lights from here.

Turn Off the Lights – Dim Webpages And Highlight Videos in Chrome is a post from Tech Spikes

Turn Off the Lights – Dim Webpages And Highlight Videos in Chrome is a post from Tech Spikes

Wow, do any of you still use Hotmail? Microsoft has been trying hard to get their email service back to the top, but that’s not going to happen.
Anyway, if you still do use Hotmail (for whatever reason), you would have noticed the sad (or not so sad) lack of dedicated Hotmail checking addons for Firefox. But there is one…

Hotmail Watcher – A Hotmail Checking Addon for Firefox

This is the only Firefox addon out there that just checks Hotmail and notifies you of new email. Simple and secure.

Here’s the developer’s description of the addon:

Watch for your new inbox Hotmail and report to you in status-bar. Check Hotmail at specific interval. Neither username nor password is need. No sensitive information storage. Safe from hacker.

In short, this addon uses the cookie set by the Hotmail website for authentication. As long as you stay logged into the web mail client, Hotmail Watcher stays logged in.

Features

• Checks your Hotmail inbox and provides a notification in the status bar
• Checks your inbox at an interval of 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour or manually.
• There are three types of alerts for new mail – sound, notification window or a blinking icon
• No possibility of a security leak in the addon itself, as it uses the cookie set by the Hotmail website
• Logging out of the web interface will cause the extension to log out
• Compatibility with Private Browsing mode
• Open source

Download Hotmail Watcher

You can download and install the addon from the Mozilla Addon gallery.

The developer has also made similar addons for GMail and Yahoo mail, check them out here.
Hotmail Watcher is an experimental addon, so you have to tick “Let me install this experimental addon” before you can download it.

Verdict

This isn’t a bad addon, and it’s the only one that provides barebones Hotmail-checking functionality.
So if you use Hotmail and you just want a notifier in your browser, choose this one.

Hotmail Watcher – The Only Dedicated Notifier for Firefox is a post from Tech Spikes

Hotmail Watcher – The Only Dedicated Notifier for Firefox is a post from Tech Spikes

Never thpight the Windows 7 “Superbar” could replace system tray apps or desktop widgets? Well, it can. Weather Bar is a small app that you can run and keep minimised in the new taskbar, and hovering over it or right clicking it shows you the weather forecast.

Weather Bar – Weather Forecasts in Your Superbar

This application seems to be aimed mainly at people who don’t want to clutter up their systen tray or add resource hogging widgets to their desktop or side bar.
The app in question is very simple, and runs as an ordinary program, looking like this:

The fun starts when you minimise it to get it out of your way – the icon of the application changes to reflect the weather:

What’s more, right clicking on the icon brings up the context menu – which contains the weather forecast for the next four days:

The application is written in C#, and can be found here on Codeplex

Weather Bar Brings Weather Forecasts to the Windows 7 Taskbar is a post from Tech Spikes

Weather Bar Brings Weather Forecasts to the Windows 7 Taskbar is a post from Tech Spikes

Each time you plug in a removable drive on Wndows, you have to navigate to My Computer and locate the drive before you can access it’s contents. But wouldn’t you like to have an Ubuntu-esque desktop icon that appears as soon as a drive is connected to the computer? Here’s a small tool that can do that.

Desk Drive Adds a Desktop Shortcut for Each Removable Drive

Here’s how DeskDrive works – it’s extremely simple.
The moment you plug in a removable drive, DeskDrive automatically adds an icon on your Desktop that points to the drive.

After you unplug the removable drive from the computer, DeskDrive automatically removes the shortcut from the desktop.

Once installed, Desk Drive sits in the system tray and doesn’t interfere until you ask it to open the configuration window;

You can configure it to exclude certain drives (like your internal hard drives), and also specify the time of drive to create shortcuts for (CD ROM, Removable, Fixed, Networked, and RAM drives).

Click here for a direct download of Desk Drive

The program runs on XP and Vista (also presumably on 7)

Also check out the website for more information.

How To Add Shortcuts To Removable Drives On Your Desktop is a post from Tech Spikes

How To Add Shortcuts To Removable Drives On Your Desktop is a post from Tech Spikes

You’d probably have heard by now that Apple has opened pre orders for their new iPad touchscreen tablets. But if they’re not good enough for you, why don’t you try this delicious diamond studded iPad?

Made by Mervis Diamonds, this beauty comes with 11.43 carats of G/H VS2/SI1 diamonds, 64GB storage, 3G, and looks like this: (hi res)

If you can afford it and want an iPad that’s subtly different from the others, then you should order it right away. After all, it’s only $19,999…

Compare that with Apple’s price chart:

Here’s what the text on the official site has to say:

This gorgeous diamond studded iPad features 11.43 carats of diamonds, hand-set in a micro-pave styling. The diamonds are graded G/H in color and VS2/SI1 in clarity. The iPad features 64 GB of memory and is 3G enabled.

Price tag: $19,999.

Very limited quantities available. Orders will be available June 1..

Click here for the official site.

Pre Order Now – iPad Diamond for Only $19,999 is a post from Tech Spikes

Pre Order Now – iPad Diamond for Only $19,999 is a post from Tech Spikes

If you’re stuck with a Windows machine and have always been jealous of how your friends with macbooks could simply swipe two fingers on their touchpad to scroll, you don’t have to feel sad anymore. There’s a program that will let you do just that!

Two Finger Scroll is a Small Windows App That Lets You Do Just That

Simply download Two Finger Scroll from the project page on Google Code.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, simply run it:

You can set a whole lot of things in the settings box, including the speed and acceleration of the scroll. It also has a few options for tapping as well.

You can use it to make a three finger tap mean a right-click, if you want.

Of course, if you want features like pinch-to-zoom and that kind of thing, you’ll require a complete driver replacement, and that’s a topic for another day!

[Two Finger Scroll via Lifehacker]

How to Enable Mac-like Two Finger Scrolling on Windows is a post from Tech Spikes

How to Enable Mac-like Two Finger Scrolling on Windows is a post from Tech Spikes