BlogHASH

How to extend the range of your wireless network

Raj — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:49:40 +0000

A few years ago when I bought a long range wireless router for my home use, I was initially disappointed with my selection of the wifi router just two days after using it. Reason being that the signal strength was so weak I could hardly connect and browse Internet from the next room. But before I returned the router, I checked on the net for any configuration or tuning that I should have made on the router which I may have not known and may have helped extending the signals. After a few hours of troubleshooting it turned out to be something so simple that I easily overlooked. Mentioned below are some of the tips and tricks to help you extend the range of your wireless router, both at home and office, with almost negligble cost.

Wireless range extender tips

Check the location of your router: The location of the router is very important. If you need wireless connectivity in almost every room of your house, then relocating your router to a central location of the house is going to help you a lot. The router should also not be placed near another radio transmission emitting device such as cordless phones, wireless speakers etc as those devices can interfere with the router’s transmission and eventually weaken the signals.

Boost the wireless signal using a tinfoil: You will be amazed to see the difference an ordinary tinfoil can make to your wireless signals. Simply put a tinfoil behind your router as if you are redirecting all the signals in a particular direction and you will notice an immediate boost in the signal strength. This is very simple to understand but little tough to make it work. You will have to spend some time with your tinfoil shapes before you get it right.

Tip: Keep your laptop somewhere close by but not too close so everytime you tweak with the parabolic tinfoil, you can watch the signal strength indicator in your laptop to see if it worked. If you need help with the shape of the tinfoil, check out parabolic tinfoil printout.

Install a different firmware: Using Linux based firmware called DD-WRT can provide you a lot of features that usually don’t show up in your router’s admin console. If you don’t understand what this means, just don’t attempt it. Upgrading the firmware need experience and you could also end up leaving your router useless. Be careful!

Install a different antenna: Yes, that’s right. You can change the default antenna with a better uni-directional antenna to extend the range of your router or you can build a wireless router antenna yourself. Remember that uni-directional antennas focus all the signals in a particular direction while omni-direction cover all the directions. If you are going to place the router in a central location of your house, ignore this tip.

Other ways of boosting wireless signals

Adding a wireless repeater can extend the range of your wireless network without the need of any wiring.
Try changing the channel on which your router is broadcasting. Depending on the model, your router could be capable of broadcasting on different chanhels. Try to change the channel to see if your signal strength improves.
Upgrading the firmware or drivers of the network adapter on your laptop and your router to the latest one can sometime help as the latest firmware could fix some issue which may in turn boost your signal. You may want to check the release notes of the firware or driver before upgrading.

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How to operate a system remotely – Free remote desktop softwares

Raj — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 20:12:26 +0000

There are several ways using which you can take control of your computer remotely. Let the reason be to troubleshoot system remotely or operate home computer from work, we show you some of the free but only the best remote desktop softwares and tools which helps you access and control your system over the Internet and computers in a network. As a result, this article will only feature very few remote desktop and screen sharing softwares but whichever software we mention here are very easy to use and loaded with features.

TeamViewer – This one is our favorite remote desktop and collaboration softwares. Reason being it’s free for non-commercial use and offers all the features free of cost. In comparison with other similar tools, we find this one to have an edge in almost all aspects. You should certainly give this one a try and I am sure you won’t need a replacement. Some features of this tool which we like are the ability to drag and drop files to and from remote system, multiple monitors support, screen sharing recorder, host online meetings and presentations. It’s compatible with Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac, Linux, Android (app), iPhone (app) and iPad (app) too.

CrossLoop – One of the best screen sharing softwares which offers both free and pro version. This tool features ability to remotely reboot and connection option. Available for both Windows and Mac platforms, needs only 2 MB space on your system and 128 MB RAM.

RealVNC – The free and personal edition offer strong security, integrated file transfer, printing & chat for home users. The software comes in client and server editions which you can install on any computer at your home.

LogMeIn – The free edition of this software lets you access your computers (both Windows and Mac) remotely via another system or your iPhone/iPad devices. LogMeIn also features Wake on Lan which lets you wake up your sleeping home computer when you are in your office. This helps you save energy by not requiring to run your system all the day while you are away.

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New Tool For Creating Your Own Browser Theme – BlogHash.com

Raj — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:39:59 +0000

Most people think about SEO, Pay Per Click Marketing, Social Media, display ads and many other strategies for driving traffic to their websites. Sometimes, some of the easiest ways to drive more traffic to our websites is right under our noses. Literally. We use this application every minute we are surfing the web but seldom do we think of it as a marketing tool: The Internet Browser. Whether you use Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari, Opera or any other browser, every second you spend surfing the web is time spent looking at your browser. What if you could turn your fans’ browser into a marketing tool to help drive traffic to your site and increase their engagement with your brand? Well, now you can, quickly and easily.

Founded in 2007, Brand Thunder specializes in creating highly interactive browser themes that integrate general web browsing functionality with custom content and tools that make it easy to stay engaged with those who follow your brand. So what does that really mean? A great example of this is a browser theme they created for College Humor:

This theme has a simple design that’s aesthetically pleasing and yet keeps both the College Humor brand and content in front of those using the theme with their browser. Brand Thunder clients like College Humor and The Huffington Post, have consistently seen an average of 8 times more visits to their websites from browser theme users than from regular website visitors. That means on average, a browser theme user with your theme installed will visit your site 8X more than your regular website visitors.

Fortunately for those of you without the design and development capabilities of College Humor, you don’t have to hire a team to make a theme like this for you. You can create one yourself in minutes with BT:Engage, Brand Thunder’s new browser theme tool. Here’s how…

Step One:

Go to http://bt-engage.com and create an account. Then decide what sort of theme you want to create. For this tutorial we’ve chosen this website: Bloghash.com

Step Two:

Click – “Create a new theme”. Then name your theme. Obviously we will call this the “BlogHash” theme.

Step Three:

Select which browser you will be designing for. We will be sticking with Firefox but the steps should be extremely similar if not the same for both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Step Four:

Choose a background. Since I’m designing my theme around BlogHash.com, I’m going to use the properties window to make my background black to match the look of their site.

Step Five:

Add your logo. First you’ll want to click on the “My Images” tab in the assets section at the bottom of the page. Next you’ll need to upload the logo you’re using from your computer. We simply went to the BlogHash website, right clicked the logo, saved it, and uploaded the logo. Once your logo image appears in the assets area, click on it and drag it over top of the theme you’re creating. When you release the mouse button the image will be loaded and placed automatically. Adjust image size according to your personal taste, but be sure to click the “lock aspect ratio” check box in your properties window to keep the formatting of the logo while it is scaled.

Step Six:

Make sure to enter your URL along with your logo so that when someone clicks on your logo they are directed right to your homepage. Of course, we’ll enter the link: BlogHash.com

Step Seven:

Choose widgets that encourage the types of engagement you’d like to see from those who will use this theme. Since BlogHash.com has a blog, we’re going to drag the RSS widget up and paste the BlogHash.com RSS link into the properties window. Be sure to click “validate” and then “save.” We also added some links to the social media accounts, the homepage and the “articles” section for quick access to those features.

Step Eight:

Click Finish and install! Once you’ve click the finish button at the top left hand corner, your theme will be built and you’ll be taken to another page where you can download and install your theme for free. You can also share this page with others so they can use your theme as well. Here is what the BlogHash theme ended up looking like using our tool:

Here is the theme download page for the BlogHash browser theme. Download for free.

About the Author:

Mark Subel is the Distribution Director at Brand Thunder (BT). You can follow his team on Twitter @brandthunder or Facebook. The team at BT creates persistent engagement between major brands and their online consumers with extreme makeovers for Internet browsers. Brand Thunder’s new platform, BT:Engage gives everyone the tools to build and share their own browser themes.

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Free Microsoft Office Calendar Templates for 2011

Raj — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:20:08 +0000

If you are in need of 2011 calendar templates for your various Microsoft office products, look no further than the official website of Microsoft office that has over 93 MS Office calendar templates available for free download. These calendar templates are available for popular MS Office products such as Word, Excel, Publisher, OneNote and PowerPoint. Shown below is a collection of some of the calendar templates from the Microsoft website.

All the templates can be downloaded from Microsoft Office Online website for free. Download your template today!

Other calendar templates: Academic year calendar templates, multiple year calendar templates and previous year calendars.

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Download 117 Free Microsoft Office Calendar Templates for 2010

Raj — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:41:58 +0000

Are you looking for free Microsoft office templates for 2010? Look no further. Here are 117 free MS-Office calendar templates for your personal and business use. These calendar templates are available for Word, Excel, Publisher, OneNote and PowerPoint.

All the templates can be downloaded from Microsoft Office Online website for free. Download your template today!

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Flip SlideHD Camcorder now available on Amazon

Raj — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:27:05 +0000

Flip had changed the digital camcorder industry few years ago when it launched its first digital camcorder product and now it’s about to bring upon another wave of change with its SlideHD camcorder that it launched recently. SlideHD is world’s first shoot and show HD camcorder which can shoot upto 4 hours of HD video. It features slideable 3-inch widescreen to let you play the recorded video and show it to others.

SlideHD features a built-in FlipShare software that makes creating, sharing and organizing your videos an easy job. You can connect the SlideHD to your computer using the built-in USB arm and as soon as its connected to the computer, the pre-loaded FlipShare software launches. The camcorder supports 16:9 widescreen format and HD 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second progressive scan.

The SlideHD is currently available for a price tag of $280 which in our opinion is worth for its ability to record HD videos and for how easy it’s to operate it. You may want to explore this product further on Amazon.

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The Slimmest Bluetooth Speakerphone from Hammacher Schlemmer

Raj — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 10:08:47 +0000

No doubt that this is the slimmest Bluetooth speakerphone in the market, we’ll also tell you what makes it the best in the category of Bluetooth speakers and why you should buy it if you need one for yourself.

It’s just half inch (0.5″) thick and can go anywhere along with you. You can clip it to your shirt’s pocket or place it in the cup holder of your car or simply place it on the dashboard of your car and it will still be able to capture your voice without error. Unlike other speaker phones wherein the voice echos, this speaker system offers clear voice quality, thanks to its built-in echo cancellation and noise suppression software that enables its microphone to capture your voice without error. This Bluetooth speakerphone also features a mute button which will allow you to participate in a conference call in which you don’t need to speak and still carry out a side conversation in your car or at your home and for that matter anywhere else you use it.

This speaker phone can pair upto seven different Bluetooth enabled devices. So, if any of your family member wishes to use it when you are not on calls, they will not have to worry about pairing it again. Once charged, it can provide you with upto 8 hours of talk time or in other words a full business day worth of meetings that you can attend using this wireless speaker phone.

We highly recommend this Bluetooth speakerphone from Hammacher Schlemmer to anyone interested in buying one. It is currently available for $49.95 from Amazon.

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Levitate any object in mid-air using Levitron world stage

Raj — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:03:00 +0000

What would you like to levitate? Levitron world stage anti-gravity platform lets you levitate almost any object in mid-air and rotate it as if the object was floating in mid-air. Levitron world stage lets you levitate any object in air that weighs upto 4 ounces and it’s all possible because of the breakthrough technology it uses – Maglev technology. In simpler terms, Maglev is also known as magnetic levitation which is primarily used in transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles using a very large number of magnets. This technology is far better than the conventional wheeled mass transportation systems as it’s very efficient but very costly.

Ok, back to Levitron world stage. Imagine this product on the table of your living room and a small car model floating on top of it. Your visitors will not only be amused but also love to rotate the car or any other object that you will levitate on it. Also, I think it’s one of the best gifts you could give to your children who will not just enjoy floating various objects on this anti-gravity platform but will also explore the science behind it and that way they will also learn a lot of interesting things about magnetic levitation. Curiosity goes a long way and this product could be a good starting point for your children to get started with science.

The Levitron world stage is available for $80 from Amazon.

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Bayer CONTOUR USB Blood Glucose Meter With Built-In Diabetes Management Software

Raj — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:39:36 +0000

Here’s some good news for all those who monitor their blood glucose on a regular basis. Bayer has just launched a blood glucose meter with built-in USB connectivity and diabetes management software that will allow you to monitor your blood glucose level and identify issues pertaining to your blood sugar level.

One great advantage of this blood glucose meter is that since it has a built-in diabetes management software, you can adjust your insulin and pills based on the trend of blood sugar readings and thus avoid dangerously high and low blood sugar levels. This is really helpful for those people with type 1 diabetes who are recommended to check their blood glucose level at least three times a day, and those with type 2 diabetes on an oral medication or insulin check at least once a day. Bayer’s CONTOUR USB will help patients and healthcare professionals to better interpret results.

“People with diabetes can plug in and instantly access information about trends and patterns in their blood glucose levels with the integrated Glucofacts® DELUXE software. Bayer’s CONTOUR USB is as simple to use as any standard blood glucose meter. The meter stores up to 2,000 test results, which patients can access on any computer, whether at home, at the doctor’s office, or on the go with their laptop.”

Other key features of CONTOUR USB are as follows:

Simplify it – As easy to use as any standard meter, but with built-in technology that simplifies tracking and interpreting your results.
See it – A bright colour OLED display screen visible in any light that flags average, high and low blood sugar readings.
Customize it – Customizable features such as intuitive pre- and post-meal marking to help track blood glucose trends.
Store it – Stores 2,000 blood glucose test results, plus 500MB extra memory for storage of personal files.
Charge it – Rechargeable battery that can charge from any USB port or via the optional CONTOUR USB wall charger.
Live it – Slick and discreet design features make it a great fit for your plugged-in lifestyle.

One important thing to note though. It seems to works only with Windows operating system and the software doesn’t seems to be compatible with Mac OS. So, if you have Windows OS on your computer, you should go ahead and explore this product further. For those with Mac OS, you might have to wait a little bit before the software is fixed to work with Mac OS.

Bayer’s CONTOUR USB meter is available for as low as $77 on Amazon and a pack of 100 test strips will cost you another $50.

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Portable LED Monitor for Everyone from MEDL Technology

Raj — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:19:34 +0000

MEDL Technology recently announced a prototype, The Panel, which they are calling the world’s first fully functional portable LED monitor. Basically, with the portable monitor anyone can add a second or third monitor to their laptop and carry it along with them easily too.

This is in fact the first multi-purpose 13″ LED display that weighs just 2.2 lbs and can be used almost anywhere. Ideally suitable for both business and home users, the 13″ portable LED monitor features its own battery which lasts for almost 5 hours and can be connected to your computers using a USB cable. Once connected, it takes less than 10 seconds before you are able to use the display. It works with almost any computer which runs on either Windows or Mac OS with USB support.

What else? The portable monitor can be used with video players, cameras, DVD players, iPhones, iPods and gaming platforms such as Xbox and PS3 as well. via press release

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Fujitsu launches LifeBook MH330 netbook

Raj — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:56:45 +0000

Here is another entry into the netbook world and this time it’s from Fujitsu. LifeBook MH330 weighs just around 1.1 kg and measuring just 18.5mm thin at the front and 24.5mm thin at the back making it one of the slimmest netbooks in its class.

The Fujitsu LifeBook MH330 netbook is powered by Intel Atom N450 processor (1.66GHz, 512 L2 Cache, 667MHz) and comes with a 250GB hard disk. It also features Bluetooth v2.1, 5-in-one card reader, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and an integrated web camera. The LifeBook MH330 features the 10.1-inch WSVGA back-light LED display with a resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels with 400:1 Contrast Ratio and built-in dual stereo speakers.

The price details of the netbook is not yet known as the netbook is yet to launched for retailing. via press release

You might also be interested in looking at a selection of bestselling netbooks.

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ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition – Most Powerful Graphics Card for PC

Raj — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:12:20 +0000

AMD has recently announced the launch of ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card which is based on world’s most powerful graphics processor that is capable of capable of rendering in excess of 1 billion pixels per second. The card is equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory and is the first graphics card ever with such a processing capability.

With ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition, PC users will now be able to experience up to 12 times more resolution than 1080p HD and will not need multiple graphic cards to simultaneously drive six independent computer monitors at and beyond 1080p HD resolutions.

Some of the key features of the new ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition are as follows:

2GB of GDDR5 memory to enable high frame rates and image quality settings in the latest DirectX® 11 games in three- and six-display gaming setups.
Support for 3×2 display configuration with new configurations supported in upcoming ATI Catalyst™ software updates
The ability to use ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU technology in conjunction with ATI Eyefinity multi-display capabilities as released in ATI Catalyst™ graphics drivers version 10.2, enabling increased gaming performance when driving high-resolution ATI Eyefinity display groups.
ATI Eyefinity technology enhancements were made available in ATI Catalyst™ graphics update version 10.3, including bezel compensation, which helps simulate a more integrated display surface by adjusting for display bezels.

via press release

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Toshiba Introduces UX600 Series Internet Capable LED TV

Raj — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:15:01 +0000

Toshiba has announced the availability of the new UX600 LED TV which offers rich Internet capabilities and breakthrough picture quality. The UX600 LED TV is equipped with a built-in Wi-Fi adapter of its own which lets you access Internet right out of the box. The Toshiba NET TV includes support for Internet applications such as Facebook and Twitter to let you stay in touch with your friends while you are watching TV programs. Additionally, video and photo services such as YouTube, Flickr, and Picasa Web Albums let users share content with friends. News services including the New York Times, AP, National Weather, and more, provide latest news about the world around you.

“This is a high quality LED TV that is both simple and fun!” said Scott Ramirez, VP, TV Marketing. “We have packed amazingly deep LED picture quality, robust Internet capability, and a long list of key Toshiba features, into our new slim Air Lagoon™ design, and included a Wi-Fi Adapter to make it a total pleasure from day one. This is a package people will be excited to own.”

The UX600 LED TV is available in three sizes – 40″, 46″ and 55″. The TV offers a stunning dynamic contrast ratio of 3M:1 which produces crystal clear images. It also features AutoView which analyzes ambient room light and the incoming video signal to automatically create the optimal picture in all lighting conditions and DynaLight™ automatically adjusts the backlight intensity based on the incoming video signal.

Toshiba UX600 is available in three models – 40UX600 (40″), 46UX600 (46″) and 55UX600 (50″) at a retail price of $1,399.99, 1,699.99 and $2,499.99 respectively. via press release

You might also be interested in seeing a selection of bestselling LED TVs.

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Sony launches headsets for iPod/Iphone with in-line remote control and built-in microphone

Raj — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:24:29 +0000

Sony has announced the launch of four new headsets which are specially made for iPod and iPhone users. These models are DR-EX300ip, MDR-EX38ip, DR-V150iP, MDR-E10iP. All the models feature in-line remote that gives control over common iPod/iPhone functionality and allows you to chat hands-free on iPhone.

The DR-EX300iP features a 13.5mm Neodymium driver unit which is oriented vertically in the ear and offers studio-quality sound in a compact, in-ear headphone. The MDR-EX38iP model features a 9mm Neodymium driver for rich, deep bass and is available in three sizes. The DR-V150iP model is tailor-made for DJs delivering crisp sound.

The new DR-EX300iP, DR-V150iP and MDR-E10iP headsets from Sony are available from May 2010 while the MDR-EX38iP model is available now. via SONY

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Un-hackable Secure Pro USB Drive from Victorinox

Raj — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:30:39 +0000

This USB drive is first of its kind that we have come across. This secure pro USB drive from Victorinox features AES256 encryption and fingerprint security that could not be hacked by a team of professional hackers who were offered a £100,000 prize if they could hack it. That’s not the only thing to mention about this drive. It has a self-destruct mechanism that can burn the CPU and memory chip of this device if anyone tries to forcefully open it. As far as we know, there is no other USB drive in the world that has such features.

The drive also features an integrated Single Chip Technology, meaning that there are no external and accessible lines between the different coding/security steps, as on multi-chip solutions; this makes cracking the hardware impossible.

The Secure Pro is available in three different sizes, ranging from 8GB to 32GB RRP £50 – £180 and features:

- Removable USB flash drive
- Biometric fingerprint recognition technology
- LED Mini White Light
- Retractable Ball Point Pen
- Blade
- Scissors
- Nail File with
- Screwdriver
- Key ring

via realwire

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