Computer Articles

About Search Settings

2012-07-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

This browser error assistant page is designed to help you when you mistype an address or the website is unavailable. It is part of the Search Settings application, which is included as part of the YouTube Downloader Toolbar. Search Settings is an application that protects your browser search settings and prevents programs from altering them without your knowledge.

Disable MyBrowserBar Network Error Assistant
You can easily turn off this page from the YouTube Downloader Toolbar options dialog by doing the following:

Click the "Options" button on the YouTube Downloader Toolbar and click the "Options" menu item.

Click the "Search Settings" tab in the Options dialog.

Uncheck the "Enable browser network assistant page" option by clicking on the checkbox

Click the save button.

That's it!

"कूनै Software बिना आफ्नो मोबाईका गोप्य Folder लूकाउने तरीका"

2012-01-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

साथिहरू के तपाई कूनै Software बिना आफ्नो मोबाईलमा भएका गोप्य Folder हरू लूकाउन चाहानूहून्छ? यदि चाहानूहून्छ भने मैले थाहा पाएको यो सजिलो उपाय आफ्नो मोबाईलमा प्रयोग गर्नूहोस्‌॥
सर्बप्रथम तपाई आफ्नो मोबाईलमा एउटा नयाँ Folder बनाउनूहोस्‌। त्यसपछि तपाईले बनाएको नयाँ Folder लाई Rename गरेर उक्त Folder को पछाडि .jad थप्नूहोस॥ (जस्तै:- तपाईको Folder को नाम Prakash छ भने त्यसलाई Rename गरेर Prakash.jad बनाउनूहोस॥)
अब तपाईले लूकाउन चाहेका File तथा Folder हरुलाई Move गरेर तपाईले नयाँ बनाएको Folder मा राख्नूहोस्॥ यति गरिसके पछि अब पूरानै नाममा अर्को एउटा नयाँ Folder बनाउनूहोस् र त्यो Folder को पछाडि .jar थप्नूहोस॥ (जस्तै:- तपाईको पूरानो Folder को नाम Prakash छ भने त्यसलाई Rename गरेर Prakash.jar बनाउनूहोस॥)
नोट:- कृपया यो कूरालाई ध्यान दिनूहोस् कि पाईले बनाएको दूबै Folder को नाम एउटै हूनूपर्छ। फरक यति मात्र हूनूपर्छ कि पहिले बनाएको Folder को पछाडि .jad र पछि बनाएको Folder को पछाडि .jar हूनूपर्छ॥
अब आफ्नो मोबाईलमा हेर्नूहोस् तपाईले पहिले बनाएको Prakash.jad Folder हराएको पाउनूहूनेछ॥ यदि तपाईले लूकेको Folder हेर्न चाहानूहून्छ भने पछिल्लो चोटी बनाएको Prakash.jar Folder लाई Delete गर्नूहोस् त्यसपछि तपाई आफ्नो लूकाएको Folder पाउनूहूने छ॥
नोट:- यो उपाय सबै मोबाईलमा लागू नहून पनि सक्छ॥ त्यसैले जस- जसको मोबाईलमा यो प्रकृया लागू हूदैन तपाईहरू चिन्ता नगर्नूहोस्‌ म अर्को नयाँ उपाय तपाईहरू समक्ष छिटै नै प्रस्तूत गर्दै छू॥

Step 2-G: How to Install the Hard Drive in Your Computer.

2011-11-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

The hard drive serves as the long term memory and data storage device in your computer. You can have more than one hard drive in your computer. The one I recommend has a huge storage capacity to make sure you have space for all your programs, photos, videos and music.
If you haven't done so already, you will need to Order Your Hard Drive

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Facebook wins Google in PageRank

2011-11-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

As the talks between Google and Facebook is ON and ON every day. After Google lunched its Google+ their is a question in everyone’s mind who gonna win the battle of social networking as Facebook is already the king of social networking Today. Anyway guys i am not writing this post to talk about the social networking sites but as everywhere there is Facebook and they are saying Facebook dominated Google in traffic and other things. I found out one new thing that Facebook not only beat Google in its daily traffic also you can check out the Pagerank of Facebook its 10/10 where as Pagerank of Google is 9/10 which is given Google itself. So may in near future we will get to see Facebook Pagerank instead of Google Pagerank for ranking our websites and blogs.

These are the screenshot i took on 16th July 2011.

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RSS Blog Directories

2011-11-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

If you are planning to do Marketing of your blog then RSS Submission is also one of the powerful work that helps to increase your backlink as well as search engine ranking. Whether your blog is created on blogger or wordpress you can use your defult feed url or create a new feed url with feedburner.com and use the feed url for RSS Submission. To keep short and simple RSS Submission have a major role in ranking your website or blog in major search engines like Google. Here is one of the best list of RSS Blog Directories and submission services prepared by toprankblog.com (Updated List of 6/29/11).

Ablogin
Allforblog
Alltop
Birminghambloggers
Blloggs
Blog.com
Blogaz
Blogbunch blog+rss
BlogCatalog
Blog-collector blog+rss
Blogs-collection
Blogdigger
Blogdire
Blogdirectory
Blog-directory
Blogdirectorysubmission
Blogdir
BlogDirs
Blogdirectory.ws
Blogexplosion
Blogfinds
Blogflux
Blogfolders
Blogged
Bloggapedia blog+rss
Bloggerhq
Bloggernity
Bloggerschoiceawards
Bloghub
Blogginglist
Bloghints
Blogintro
Bloglines blog+rss
Bloglisting
Bloggernow
Blogoculars
Blogotion
BlogoWogo
Blogpopular
BlogPulse blog+rss
Blogrankings
BlogRateDirectory
BlogRollCenter blog + RSS
Blogs.com
Blogscanada
Blogsranker
Blogsrater
Blogsearch
Blogsearchengine
Blogsitelist
Blogsthatfollow
Blogs.urlz
Blogtoplist
Bloguniverse
Blogville
Blogz
Blurt It
BOTW Blog Directory
Britblog
Buzzerhut
Chordata Blog+Rss
Christiansunite
Ckalari
Conseillemoi
Crayon
Delightfulblogs
Demand Media Studios
DirectoryBlogs
Dmoz
Drool.net
EZE
Ezilon
Feedmap blog+rss
Feednuts blog+rss
Feedplex blog+rss
Flookie
FuelMyBlog blog + RSS
FyberSearch
Getblogs
Globeofblogs
Goblog4i
Google
Gozoof
Grokodile
Icerocket
Info-listings
Leighrss
Liquida
Loaded Web
LSBlogs
Million Blogs Online
Minnesota blog+rss
Mozdex
Mvblogs
Myblog2u
Myblogdirectory
Nycbloggers
Ontoplist blog+rss
Photarium
Photo Blog Directory
PlanetUSA
PuppyURL
Quickblogdirectory
Readablog
Rateitall
Regator
Roask
SmallBusiness.com
Spicypage
Sports
Sportsblogs
Submitblognow
Technorati
Theseoking
TheVital
Topblogarea
TopBlogging blog + RSS
Topsiteswebdirectory
Totalblogdirectory
Ubdaily
Weblogs.com
Webloogle
Websandiego
Webworldindex
WordPress
Yahoo local
Yahoo.com
Zimboblog+rss

Directories that have Fee or Need Reciprocal Link
A1Weblinks Reciprocal or Paid
AddYourBlog.Com Reciprocal link required
Aviva Paid
Biggerblogger Paid
Blogs All Over the World Reciprocal link required
Blogarama Paid
BlogDirectory.org.uk Paid
Bloggeries Paid
Blogging Fusion Paid
Blogsrating Reciprocal
BlogZoop Reciprocal link required
Bulletize Paid
EatonWeb Paid
Everything Directory for Blogs Reciprocal link required
IBlog Business Directory Paid
Kahuki Paid
LazyBlogDirectory Paid
Portal.eatonweb Paid
Search 4 Blog Paid
Small Business Blog Dir Paid
Society of Socialpreneurs Reciprocal link required
Spillbean Reciprocal or Paid
TopWeblogDirectory reciprocal link required or Paid
Wilsdomain Reciprocal
Wutzle Reciprocal link required
Blogsrating Reciprocal
Multi-Ping-Services
Feedshark
Pingomatic
RSS
4guysfromrolla
5z5.com
9rules.com
Allheadlinenews
Anatech.NET
Automotive-links
Blogdigger
Blo.gs
Chordata Blog+Rss
Crayon Blog+Rss
Educational-feeds
Feedagg
Feedage
Feed Burner
Feedcat
FeedoOyoo Paid
Free RSS and Link Directory
RSSFeeds.org
Rssfeeddirectory
Feedest
Feedgy
FeedListing
Feedmailer
Feedplex
Feedsee
Feeds4all
Finance-investing
Gabbr
Goldenfeed
Icerocket (Blog+RSS)
Itsmynews
Jordomedia
Keegy
Leighrss
Medical-feeds
Medworm
Millionrss
Moneyhighstreet
MyMSN RSS Directory (submit feed to ‘search’ for content)
News-feeds
NGOID News Network
Oobdoo
Paiddirectory
Plazoo
Postami Paid
Political-humor
Rapidfeeds
RDFTicker
ReadAblog
Redtram
Rssbuffet
RSSChomp
Rssfeeds
Rssmicro
Rssmountain
Rssmotron
Rssroot
Rsstop10
Rubhub
Solarwarp
Swoogle
Topix
Twingly
Urlfan
Wingee
Xmeta
Foreign RSS Feeds
Eintragen
Linkfeed
Rssfeeds
Rssland
Overskrift
Verzeichnis
Zooka.dk

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my computer has been hacked?

2011-11-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

How do I know if my computer has been hacked?

Question

How do I know if my computer has been hacked?

Answer

Most computer problems are not caused by computer hackers, it is more common for a computer to be hijacked then hacked. It can be difficult to detect a hacker on a computer because generally nothing changes to help disguise the hack. Below are the most common things that change after a computer is hacked.

New programs installed

In some situations, you may see new programs or files to the computer. If you are the only user on the computer and new programs are installed, this could be an indication of a hacked computer. However, there are also several legitimate reasons why a new program may appear on the computer, as listed below.

Operating system or other program received updates that included new programs or files.

When installing a new program it may have installed other programs. For example, it is common for plugins and other free programs to have a check box asking if it is ok to install a new Toolbar or anti-virus on your computer. If these boxes are checked, new programs are installed.

Any other person who logs on your computer could install new programs.

Below is a listing of programs that may indicate a hacker has been on the computer.

Backdoors and Trojans are by far the most common programs to be installed on the computer after it has been hacked. These programs allow the hacker to gain access to the computer.

IRC clients are another common way for a hacker to get into a computer or remotely control thousands of computers. If you have never participated in a IRC chat, your computer may have been hacked.

Spyware, rogue anti-virus programs, and malware can be an indication of a hacker. However, are more commonly a sign that your computer has been hijacked while on the Internet.

Computer passwords have changed

Online passwords

Sometimes, after an online account is hacked the attacker changes the password to your account. Try using the forgot password feature to reset the password. If your e-mail address has changed or this feature does not work, contact the company who is providing the service, they are the only ones who can reset your account.

Local computer password

If your password to log into your computer has changed, it may have been hacked. There is no reason why a password would change on its own. Log into an administrator account to change your accounts password.

Lost or forgotten Windows password.

E-mail spam being sent

When an e-mail account is hacked or taken over, the attacker almost always uses that account to spread spam and viruses. If your friends, family, or coworkers are receiving e-mail from you advertising something like Viagra your e-mail is compromised. Log into your e-mail and change your e-mail account password.

E-mail addresses can also be spoofed without hacking the e-mail account. After changing the e-mail password, if your friends continue to get e-mails you have not sent, it is likely someone is spoofing your e-mail address.

Getting bounce back e-mails from addresses I don't know.

Increased network activity

For any attacker to take control of a computer, they must remotely connect to that computer. When someone is remotely connected to your computer, your Internet connection will be slower. Also, many times after the computer is hacked it becomes a zombie to attack other computers.

Installing a bandwidth monitor program on the computer can help determine what programs are using what bandwidth on your computer. Windows users can also use the netstat command to determine remote established network connections and open ports.

There are dozens of other legitimate reasons why your Internet connection may also be slow.

Why is my Internet connection so slow?

Unknown programs wanting access

Computer security programs and firewalls help restrict access to programs on a network or Internet. If the computer prompts for access to programs you do not know, rogue programs may be installed, or it may have been hacked. If you do not know why a program needs access to the Internet, we recommend blocking access to that program. If you later discover these blocks cause problems, they can be removed.

A firewall prompting you for access may also just be someone trying to probe your network, looking for open or available ports in your network.

Security programs uninstalled

If the computers anti-virus, anti-malware program, or firewall that has been uninstalled or disabled this can also be an indication of a hacked computer. A hacker may disable these programs to help hide any warnings that would appear while they are on the computer.

Computer doing things by itself

When someone is remotely connected to a computer they can remotely control any device. For example, a mouse cursor could be moved or something could be typed. If you see the computer doing something as if someone else was in control, this can be an indication of a hacked computer.

Modem users

If the computer is dialing the Internet on its own, it is an indication that a program needs to connect to the Internet. It is common for programs like e-mail clients to do this to check for new e-mail. However, if you cannot identify what program needs Internet access, this can also be an indication of a hacked computer.

Internet browser home page changed or new toolbar

Internet browser changes such as your home page changing to a different web page, a new toolbar getting added, your search provider changing, web pages getting redirected are all signs of a browser getting hijacked and not a computer hacker.

My web browser has been hijacked.

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My web browser has been hijacked.

2011-11-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

My web browser has been hijacked.

Question

My web browser has been hijacked.

Additional information

Spyware, adware, malware, and other Trojans are becoming an ever-growing threat to users who browse the Internet or install free programs. However, many computer users do not realize when these programs are secretly installed on a computer or realize when their system or browsers settings are changed. Below is a listing of potential symptoms a user may encounter when their browser or computer has been hijacked.

Default home page changes to a different page; commonly an adult oriented web page.

Computer slows down.

New tools in the browser such as a new search toolbar is installed or added to the browser.

Default search engine or other settings changed.

Answer

Unfortunately, many of the software programs designed to hijack a computer's browser are intentionally designed to be difficult to remove or detect. Below are recommendations on how these programs can be prevented and removed.

Free programs

When installing free programs such as KaZaA, read the disclaimers and watch for additional programs that are being installed. Many times these programs are supported by automatically installing spyware programs.

If you no longer use these programs on a regular basis, uninstalling these programs will (but not always) also uninstall any associated software that is included with them.

Add/Remove programs

If you are running Microsoft Windows and you have noticed a program that you do not wish to use or want uninstalled, see if the program can be removed through Add/Remove programs in theControl panel.

All of the legitimate companies that install toolbars onto your computer should be able to be removed through the Add/Remove programs icon in the control panel. Some examples include the Alexa Toolbar, ASK, Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar, and Windows Live Toolbar.

If the spyware program you're attempting to uninstall cannot be uninstalled or gets reinstalled when you reboot the computer.Boot the computer into Safe Mode and then uninstall the program while in Safe Mode.

Restore browser settings

Some web pages and programs are designed to automatically change your browser's settings. For example, a web page or program may automatically change your default home page to an alternate home page. These issues can be corrected by following the below steps.

Close all browser windows so that only one window is open.
Visit an alternate safe site such as Computer Hope or Google.
Correct the settings changed, such as changing your home page back to your original home page. Additional help and information about changing your browser's settings can be found on our browser help pages.
Once the settings have been changed and applied, close out of the browser window.
The next time the browser is opened it should have the correct settings. However, if the site that changed your browser settings is visited again, it is likely that the settings will be changed again. This issue can be prevented with many of the spyware / adware programs that are available today.

Spyware / Adware / Malware detection and removal programs

Because of the ever-growing threat of these programs, many companies have developed programs that help prevent, detect, and remove these infections. Below is a listing of a few of the programs you may wish to consider.

Malwarebytes

Microsoft's Windows Defender

Ad-aware from Lavasoft

Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software

Spybot Search and Destroy

SpywareBlaster from Javacool Software

HijackThis by Merijn.

A computer can have any number of spyware programs installed at the same time and it's recommended that you have more than one to ensure your computer is not infected. When running these programs if the spyware returns after rebooting the computer boot the computer into Safe Mode and run the spyware programs while in Safe Mode.

Microsoft Windows XP users

If you are running Microsoft Windows XP, updating to the latestService Pack will help protect your computer against spyware.

Try alternative browser

Because Microsoft Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser today and because of its vulnerabilities, switching to an alternative browser such as Mozilla Firefox can significantly reduce the amount of spyware you get on your computer.

System Restore

Users who are running Microsoft Windows XP or later and are not able to remove a program that has hijacked their computer or browser may also wish to consider running the Microsoft System Restore and restore the computer to an earlier date.

Facebook account has been hacked

2011-11-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Help my Facebook account has been hacked

Question

Help my Facebook page has been hacked.

Answer

When a Facebook account is hacked or taken over, the attacker almost always uses that account to advertise, spread spam, and spread viruses. If your Facebook account is making posts you did not make or you are getting complaints from your friends or followers about spam your account is compromised. Log into your Facebook account from the facebook.com web page and change your e-mail account password.

Applications you have granted access can post on your Facebook wall. To adjust what applications can post on your wall click Account, Privacy, Apps and Websites, and either remove the application or click the Edit Settings link for the application you wish to edit.

Friends also have the ability to post on your wall. To disable this feature click Account, Privacy, Customize Settings and uncheck the Enable box for Friends can post on my Wall.

Facebook password doesn't word

If your Facebook password does not work click the the Forgot your password? link under the username and password login boxes on the facebook.com web page to have the password sent to your accounts e-mail address.

Facebook profile picture

2011-11-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Create a unique Facebook profile picture

At the top of your Facebook profile, you'll see the five most recent pictures containing a picture of you. You can use this section of your profile to make a more unique and original profile picture by extending the main profile picture into these recent pictures. As can be seen in the picture to the right, this profile takes a larger image and spreads it from the profile picture into the recent pictures across the top.

This can be easily accomplished using the free Pic Scatter online tool. With this tool, you can upload any picture and easily adjust the picture to be shown in the profile section, the top five images, and even the wall.

When using this technique any time you or a friend tags you in a photo it will be posted in the top section of your profile ruining this effect. To keep this effect, hide any new photo by clicking the x that appears when hovering the mouse in the top right-corner of the picture.

API connected to Facebook

2011-11-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

See what an API connected to Facebook sees about you

Facebook allows web site developers and application developers access to their Facebook Graph Application Program Interface (API) that will enable them to display information about your profile. For example, show your friends who've visited that page, show friends who've liked the page, personally greet you, etc. This does not give that developer access to your personal information, but for some people may be of some concern.

Using the Facebook API Browser you can quickly and easily see what the Facebook API shares from your profile. If you feel that this is too much information you can then adjust your Facebook Privacy settings accordingly.

Once you've visited the above link enter your Facebook alias or ID to view the API settings. If you're not sure what your ID is, you can quickly find out by moving your mouse over your name on your Facebook page. For example, if your name was Joe Smith it's likely your Facebook alias could be joe.smith or if you haven't entered an alias a number such as 149957536227.

Top 10 Facebook tips

2011-11-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Facebook tips

Below is a listing of our top 10 tips for the popular social networking website Facebook.

Hide users, games, polls, etc.

It quickly gets annoying seeing some users posts, game invites, polls, etc. Hovering your mouse to the right of the post and clicking the Hide button as shown below can hide any post. Once this button is pressed you'll be prompted with the option to hide that user or in the case of a Facebook application the option to hide that application from ever showing up on your profile.

To unhide someone or unblock an application click the Edit Options link in the bottom right corner of the news feed as shown below.

Greasemonkey and FB Purity

Although Facebook does not allow the ability to hide friends getting new friends messages, friends becoming fans of something, and some application messages they can still be hidden with browser add-ons. If you're running Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari we suggest installing the Facebook Purity add-on.

Update your privacy settings

Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.

Anything that is not set to friends only or friends of friends can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Below is a few things we recommend for most users.

Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as GoogleUnder Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.If you're curious to see how a program or web page connect to the Facebook API can see your profile see Tip135.

Use the Facebook top bar for navigation

Knowing how to properly navigate is vital if you want to get the most out of Facebook. Below is a brief description of each of the available options in the top bar as shown above.

Home (facebook logo) - Clicking this logo will take you to your wall (News Feed) that shows all friends recent posts.

Friend requests - If any friend requests are waiting to be approved this icon will show a notification of how many friends are waiting for approval. This icon can also be clicked when you want to view any friend recommendations or search for friends on Facebook.

Messages - This section allows you to send and receive private messages between one or more people you're friends with.

Notifications - Any time a friend or Facebook application creates a new post you'll be notified in this section. Clicking this icon will show all recent notifications. If you wish to change what is capable of sending you notifications including any Facebook applications or games click the See All Notifications link at the bottom and check or uncheck what you want to be notified on.

Search - Finally, the search box in Facebook can be a powerful tool that can be used to quickly find any current friends or people on Facebook. In addition searching for terms such as a company name, product, sports team, music band, etc. will find fan pages and groups that can be joined.

Modify your account notifications

Keep your e-mail and your cell phone clean by updating or eliminate Facebook notifications or keep more up-to-date by adding new notifications. Facebook notifications can be added and removed by clicking Account link in the top right corner, thenAccount Settings, and then clicking the Notifications tab.

Facebook Contact information

2011-11-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Contact information

PHONE:	(650) 543-4800
SUPPORT PHONE:	Facebook does not offer phone support
FAX:	(650) 543-4801
TDD:
WEB SITE:	http://www.facebook.com
FACEBOOK HELP PAGE:	http://www.facebook.com/help/
INFO E-MAIL:	info@facebook.com
REPORT ABUSE OR HARRASSMENT:	Click here
ADDRESS:	Facebook Headquarters 156 University Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301-1605
COMPANY INFORMATION:	One of the largest social networking web pages on the Internet and one of the most popular pages on the Internet.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Current listed products

Hardware	Software
Currently none listed	Currently none listed

Company news

Currently no company news listed.

Direct link to company news page

Facebook keyboard shortcuts

2011-11-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

Facebook keyboard shortcuts

Before using Facebook keyboard shortcuts, determine the modifier keysfor your computer, which is based off what browser and operating system you are using.

Win & Chrome	Win & Firefox	Win & IE	OSX & Firefox	OSX & Other
Alt	Alt + Shift	Alt	Function + Ctrl	Option + Ctrl

Once you have determined the modifier for your operating system and browser use the above key combination with any of the below 10 keys to perform the desired shortcut. For example, if you were using Firefox in Windows and wanted to go to the Facebook Home you could press Alt + Shift + 1.

If you are using Internet Explorer, after pressing Alt + # let go of both keys and press Enter for the shortcut to work. For example, press Alt + 1 (let go) and then press Enter to open the Facebook home page. * Also, the M to open a new message in Internet Explorer does not work, since it is the home shortcut.

M	Open a new message *
?	Go to the Facebook Search
1	Home (News Feed)
2	Your profile page
3	Friend requests
4	Messages
5	Notifications
6	Your Account Settings
7	Your Privacy Settings
8	Go to the Facebook page
9	View Facebook Statements and Rights agreement
0	Open Facebook help center

The above shortcut keys only work with the numbers on the top of your keyboard, not the number pad.

Social network

2011-11-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Social network

Alternatively referred to as a virtual community or profile site, asocial network is a web site on the Internet that brings people together in a central location to talk, gossip, share ideas, share interests, make new friends, etc. Below is a small list of some of the more popular social networks used today.

Bebo ( http://www.bebo.com/ ) - A popular social networking site where users can share photo's, stories, their journal, and more with friends and family privately or publicly on the Internet.

Classmates ( http://www.classmates.com/ ) - One of the largest and most used web sites that brings together and allows people who graduated from high school and allows you to keep in touch with them and any future reunions.

Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/ ) - One of the most popular social networking websites on the Internet. Facebook is a popular destination for users to setup their own personal web pages, connect with friends, share pictures, share movies, talk about what you're doing, etc.

Friendster ( http://www.friendster.com/ ) - A popular social network that brings together friends, family, and allows you to meet new people who share similar interests to you from all over the world.

Google+ (http://plus.google.com/) - The latest social networking service from Google.

LinkedIn ( http://www.linkedin.com/ ) - One of the best if not the best locations to connect with current and past co-workers and potentially future employers.

MySpace ( http://www.myspace.com/ ) - One of the most popular social networks and one of the most viewed web site on the Internet. See the MySpace definition for further information about this service.

Orkut ( http://www.orkut.com/ ) - A popular service from Googlethat provides you a location to socialize with your friends and family, and meet new acquaintances from all around the world.

StumbleUpon ( http://www.stumbleupon.com/ ) - Another very popular community of Internet users who vote for web pages they like and dislike and allows users to create their own personal page of interesting sites they come across. See the StumbleUpondefinition for additional information about this service.

TagWorld ( http://www.tagworld.com/ ) Great clean social networking site that brings users together who enjoy similar music tastes or other similar interests. In addition to allowing users to create their own blog users can post videos, music, etc or browse other users videos and music.

Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/ ) - Another fantastic service that allows users to post 140 character long posts from their phones and on the Internet. A fantastic way to get the pulse of what's going on around the world.

Windows Live Spaces ( http://spaces.live.com/ ) - A service by Microsoft that allows any user to create their own personal blog and social networking site.

YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/ ) - A great network of users posting video blogs or Vlog's and other fun and interesting videos.

Because of the increased popularity of social networking sites, especially among younger kids and teens, some social networking sites have become a popular location for online predators who stalk out young kids. Parents should always be active with their children and know what they are doing while online.

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Twitter

2011-11-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Twitter

A social networking site that allows anyone to post a short 140-character message about anything over the Internet, application, or on their phone. OftenTwitterers or Tweeters (users posting onTwitter) will post about what they are doing, interesting links or pictures they come across, major events, and replies to other users on Twitter. Twitter can be thought of as the pulse of the Internet and a quick and easy method of finding out about what is happening across the world. Using the search on Twitter a user can search for the latest news, what the businesses and people they are following are doing, topics they are interested in, local city or state tweets, and local events.

Use the Computer Hope convert tool to convert any long message down to 140-characters;

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

Follow ComputerHope @ http://www.twitter.com/rajblogrom

The official Twitter page is found at: http://www.twitter.com/

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

2011-11-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Twitter tips and tricks. These tips will help make your Twitter experience more enjoyable and can help increase your followers.

Customize
Change your profile picture. Use a picture of yourself to make it seem more personalized if this is your personal Twitter account.
Utilize as much of the 160-character limit Twitter BIO space allows. Include keywords your followers or potential followers may be searching for.
Create your own background image. However, do not make the image too much like an ad or sales pitch. The background image must be less than 800k and we recommend a size of 1600x1200 for a large image or smaller if you plan on tiling the image or just having it on the left-hand side. Finally, keep in mind that smaller resolutions and monitor sizes will hide much of the background.

Third-party tools

Take advantage of the hundreds of different third-party online tools and services that enhance your Twitter experience. Below are a few of our favorites.
TwitPic - Take advantage of TwitPic to post pictures on your tweets. If you want to post pictures while away from the computer, use the Twitterific app.
Qwitter - Great service that sends an e-mail any time someone unsubscribes from your Twitter profile and mentions a possible Twitter post you made that may have caused them to leave.
Manageflitter - Fantastic site for managing your followers and getting an easy to read overview of people not following you back, quiet users, and inactive users.
WeFollow - Great website that allows you to add yourself to a listing of Twitter users by tags you find interesting.
SocialOomph - Another great service with a collection of free Twitter tools including the ability to schedule when a tweets gets posted.
Tweetbeat - An excellent site that takes the trending topics on Twitter and gives you a clearer explanation of present and past trending topics.
TwitterMeme - Another great location to find the hottest links on Twitter.
Twitter Grader - Great service that grades any Twitter account and gives you additional details and ranking information.
Twitter Fan Wiki Apps - Finally, this wiki has a listing of several hundred different Twitter applications and tools for users wanting more.

Use Twitter search

Take full advantage of the Twitter search tool. Below are just a few tips that can help improve your search capabilities on Twitter.
Search for your website or blog URL and see if others are mentioning your page.
Search for anything near you by adding near:"city state". For example, typing near:"Salt lake city Utah" club would return current tweets that have happened in Salt Lake City, Utah with the keyword club in them.
Find people who you may enjoy following by searching for keywords that interested you.
If you do not want tweets with links add ? -filter:links at the end of your search query.
Need more options, use the Advanced Twitter search.
Any time you get excellent results click the "Save this search" button to save that search. These searches can then be found under "Saved Searches" on the right-hand part of your profile on the old Twitter interface or under the "Searches" tab next to your timeline on the new Twitter interface.

Followers
Engage followers.
Do not follow too many people. No one is going to follow someone who is following thousands of people but only has 10 followers.
Retweet interesting posts.
Retweet and participate in conversations with people with a lot of followers.
Realize it is impossible for anyone to read every tweet.
When first joining do not follow hundreds of people, doing this may mark you as a bot.

Create useful and interesting tweets
Try making all your tweets informative, useful, or funny.
Do not post mundane posts, e.g. eating a bowl of cereal.
Add hastags to your tweets. For example, if your tweet is about computers, consider adding #computer in the tweet.
Tweet frequently. No one is going to follow someone they do not know who has not tweeted in months. Try at the very least to tweet a few times a week or daily if you can manage.
Do not whine or complain. Everyone will unfollow anyone who constantly whines or complains.
Try making your valuable tweets during the times people will most likely see them.
Keep some space available in your tweet in case someone retweets your post.
Use special characters in your tweets.

Know the lingo

Know the Twitter lingo, these are just a few examples: @reply,Direct Message (DM), Follower, Hashtag, Retweet (RT), Trending Topics, and Tweet. See the Twitter description for a full listing of Twitter terms and Lingo and related terms.

Follow the masters

Following a few of the masters of Twitter and Social Networking will give you an understanding of how to tweet better, posts to RT, and inspiration for tweets of your own. Below are the top ten Twitters we recommend following.
@mudoff

@GuyKawasaki
@Scobleizer
@jeffbullas
@briansolis
@tonyrobbins
@kevinrose
@timoreilly
@donttrythis
@zappos
@brainpicker
Twitaholic - A full listing of the top users on Twitter based off Followers. This is a terrific service to find and follow the top users and possibly incorporate some of the ideas they are doing on their account.

Many of the first few hundred people are celebrities on Twitaholic, if they do not interest you skip the first page.

Create and use lists

Twitter lists are an excellent method of filtering filter through the people you follow. To create a list, click theLists link and then Create a list. After creating a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon, as shown in the picture to the right. Our Computers and Tech list is an example of a public list we created.

Go Mobile

Apple iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Windows phone 7 phones, and most of the other smart phones have Twitter applications. Take full advantage of these applications. For users who do not have smart phones Twitter also has extensive support for SMS, which can send tweets over a text message.

Help my Twitter account has been hacked.

2011-11-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

Help my Twitter account has been hacked

Question

Help my Twitter account has been hacked.

Answer

When a Twitter account is hacked or taken over, the attacker almost always uses that account to advertise, spreadspam, and spread viruses. If your Twitter account is tweeting or making posts you have not made your account is compromised. Log into your Twitter account from the twitter.com web pageand change your password.

If you have granted third-party applications access to your Twitter account, these programs can make Twitter posts on your account. To see what programs have access to your Twitter account open the Twitter connection settings. If you want to prevent these programs from posting on your Twitter page click the Revoke access link.

Twitter password doesn't word

If your Twitter password does not work click the the Forgot password? link under the username and password login boxes on the Twitter.com web page to have the password sent to your accounts e-mail address.

Google Plus | Welcome to Planet Google (Part 2)

2011-10-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

Google Plus: Part of Google’s Grand Strategy

In Part 1 of this article: Google Plus, we examined some of the features of Google Plus in the context of Facebook. Now we look at how this fits into Google’s overall strategy. It seems like it is not merely an addition to an existing line of Google products, but it has become the focus of a major overhaul within the system. The first step seems to be the integration of existing Google profiles. In this case, all public profiles will be integrated by July 31, and all private ones will be deleted.

As part of its ongoing strategy, Google will re-brand both Picasa and Blogger. The former will now becomes Google Photos, while the latter will become Google Blogs. YouTube will be spared a name change, but then again, “Google Videos” would be a major downgrade

Re-branding aside, there are also various design changes being introduced to existingservices including Google Calendar, Google docs and the home page. The design changes for Gmail can be previewed from the “Themes” section but will be rolled out later.

The final push is on mobile platform. Google has correctly deduced the fact that the future of social networking strongly depends on how easily it can be accessed through smartphones. Google has already released apps for both Android and Apple (still awaiting approval, the last time I checked). The Android app is remarkably easy to use but it is still facing quite a number of glitches, which is understandable because Google Plus is still in the beta stage.

Google Plus: Will it catch on?

The important question is will Google’s efforts lead to success or failure? I am cautiously optimistic for three simple reasons.

The eco-system

Google provides users with a complete eco-system and users feel very happy inside: email, calendar, docs, search engine, and a whole bunch of other services. Thus, users will not have to compromise or duplicate certain features. For example, Facebook mail duplicates chat and email resources.
Certainly, the appeal will be dimmer for non-Gmail users but that does not mean that it will not be any better than Facebook.

Trust factor

Facebook may be the biggest social networking site (750 million according to the latest count) but it is ironically amongst the top 10 hated companies in the U.S.

Google on the other hand seems to command a strong measure of respect and trust from its users. This is partly because it has long championed the idea of “open source” technology and developed numerous projects concerning everything from clean energy to solutions for ethnic violence. In addition, it has dared take a public stance against authoritative governments and has a much stronger policy concerning privacy. Certainly, Google is guilty of lots of violations but the idea many users have of Google is broadly positive.
One thing I liked with Google Plus is the fact that privacy and account information can be downloaded or removed with a significant degree transparency. In comparison, Facebook has grudgingly allowed people to control much of their personal information (still a contentious topic) and its numerous PR disasters did not help its cause. To its credit, Facebook has addressed some of the important issues.

A viable alternative

According to recent polls conducted by the Christian Post, 42.7 percent agreed that Google Plus would overshadow Facebook. Meanwhile, 42.6 percent believed that both networks would function together. More interestingly, 38.2 percent said they had already decided to make a move to Google Plus. The polls themselves only reflect the views of a few thousand users but in my opinion, they may be a good indicator of things to come.
In my opinion, Google Plus is a genuinely viable alternative to Facebook with impressive features that outperform Facebook. Once it is released from the beta stage, Google can count on a strong response. Do not forget that Google can also tap into a vast market of Android users as well, who are generally pro-Google.
Google Plus: My bet on the future of social networking
As I see it, Google Plus may go through three distinctive phases.
Currently, it is in the first stage of the process or the beta stage. Right now, it is attracting tons of curious visitors, tech geeks, enthusiastic writers and sceptics. However, the positive feedback it is receiving will help it expand relatively easily when it is officially released.
In the second stage, when it reaches a decent level of maturity (i.e. a fair number of users and all its features working well) then it might come to co-exist with Facebook as a genuine rival with a significant number maintaining multiple accounts (Facebook to remember the memories and Google Plus to make new ones).
In the third stage, Facebook will finally enter decline like MySpace once did. Afterwards, Google Plus will rise to dominance. In the process, there might even be an agreement to integrate all the data from FB to Google Plus (already some interesting apps are coming out in the Chrome Web Store).
That is a very optimistic view of things and that is assuming Facebook sits on the sidelines and watches (which it is not doing). However, if history is a guide, even if people are ‘too invested’ in Facebook (one major reason to stay) they will eventually move on. Memories are becoming easier to make, and for new generations that have not been exposed to Facebook in an intense manner, the choice will be easier to make.

Your Thoughts and Comments on Google Plus

I admit that I am quite biased towards Google because I use most of the services and I find micro-managing settings on Facebook to be a very tedious thing to do.
However, what I am interested is the views of the other side. If there are readers who disagree with my views, then please let me know what you think. I have a couple of questions for all the readers out there, 1. Do you really think that people would remain on Facebook just because they are heavily invested in it? 2. What do you think about Google Plus and its future?

Google Plus | Welcome to Planet Google (Part 1)

2011-10-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

Something you have to admire about Google is the fact that they can be extremely persistent when they want to be. This is certainly the impression that I got when they recently announced their plans to roll out Google Plus; their latest attempt at social networking. Previously, Google had tried to enter the Social Networking scene through acquisition (Orkut), stealth (Buzz) and innovation (Wave). While, none of these brought success, they did teach Google some valuable lessons. This time, Google has dreamed big and put in a lot effort to realize that dream.
If I could describe Google Plus in one word, I might choose “intimate” because thatword seems to properly represent the philosophy behind this endeavour. To me it seems that Google has identified a fundamental reality of our average social experience: we are not the same person to everyone. Hence, it has built a system that can seamlessly allow us to customize the level of social interaction we want with different people.

Google Plus VS Facebook: Features

There are some very impressive features that have gone into Google Plus that could really enhance the social experience. To give proper context to these features, I have compared them with Facebook.

Google Plus: Circles

At first glance, Circles seem to be a simple method of categorizing your friends: putting relevant friends in relevant Circles. However, you can also post material and directly interact with members of a specific circle. This is great if you want to avoid mentioning the same thing to two very different groups of contacts.
For example, you could post academic material in a circle containing your study friends, while posting work material to a circle dedicated to your colleagues.
Facebook: First of all, adding friends to different friend categories only influences the chat feature. To my understanding, the best ways to customize your social experience on Facebook would be to create different groups and add relevant friends into it. Also, do not forget customizing privacy settings to allow/deny access to albums or other material. Tagging people in posts also helps.
The problem is that this is very cumbersome. Most of us are in at-least a dozen groups and sooner or later people lose interest in interacting within groups because the primary method of keeping tabs is through the news feeds. Even this feature is not the best because it does not do a good job filtering out the people I am less interested in (the only option is blocking them out, which is something people are hesitant to do). Also, blocking out some content could really offend some people. Tagging people does help, but that also draws everyone’s attention, not just the ones you tag.
The Verdict: Circles are just simple; add your friends to a circle and you are good to go. The privacy, the posts and the entire social interaction is automatically customised. In comparison, Facebook is more complex and even though it does deserve credit for simplifying the privacy settings, it is still very complicating and still requires a lot of micro management.

Google Plus: Hang out

This feature allows users to invite specific contacts or even entire Circles to a video conference. What I like about this is the fact that different participants can invite different people to the conference. The total capacity is actually 25.
Facebook: When I started writing this article, Facebook just announced that it would allow Skype video chats. However, judging by the initial feedback the video quality does not seem to be very good.
Verdict: In its current form, Facebook is structurally incapable of rolling out something similar to Hangout. It would require a completely new approach to the chat interface in general. Skype is wonderful as a standalone app, but efforts to integrate it into Facebook or other platforms will not provide satisfactory results overnight. Meanwhile, Google already has a lot of experience with audio and video services via Google Voice and its own Google Talk.

Google Plus: Instant Upload

A lot of our pictures and videos are still lingering in our cameras and smartphones and some may never grace Facebook because we may simply be too lazy or too busy to upload them. Google’s instant upload solves this problem by automatically uploading all your pictures and videos to a private Google+ album. Later, you can decide on editing or posting it. Unfortunately, this is only available for Android phones right now.
Facebook: As far as I know, there is no comparable feature.
The Verdict: Google+ is the clear winner here.

Google Plus: Pictures

Adding and tagging pictures is very similar to Facebook. However, Google’s interface with regards to editing and commenting is somewhat different. Also, as mentioned earlier, you can post pictures directly to different Circles. This means you do not have to go through the added problem of customizing privacy settings and offending people in the process.
Facebook: The only option is to upload pictures to different groups. However, as I mentioned earlier, this is a very cumbersome process especially because people tend to interact very little on groups. Circles in comparison make the specific social interaction more flexible and meaningful.
The Verdict: Uploading and sharing pictures on Google+ is easier but the only real difference is because of Circles. There are added features but I am not giving it too much credit for this feature.

Google Plus: Sparks

An exciting name for a rather bland feature. Sparks allows you to add your interests (eg. Technology, history, fashion, etc.) and allows you to share and comment on these sparks with your Circles or other friends.
Facebook: posting links on your profile or adding interests to your profile list is quite similar to sparks. There is no great difference here.
The Verdict: I suppose I saved the last for the least, even on Facebook, I doubt people pay a lot of attention to the “interests” on the profile page. However, the only difference with Google+ is that you can post directly to your Circles, which might make the experience better but by itself, it is not much.

Google Plus: Social Sharing

Just like with the Facebook button, you can now add a Google +1 button to your pages. With Facebook it shares the link on your Facebook wall. With the +1 button, it shares the link on your Google Plus page… but unlike the Facebook button, the +1 potentially influences search results when people in your circles searches Google for related terms. This is how the buttons look like… If you’d like to click each of them once, to share this article, that would be much appreciated!

Share775

Google Plus: Huddle

This allows group chats across different platforms such as mobile (also currently restricted to Android) and PC. Users can initiate chats directly with specific Circles or friends. There are 3rd party apps that allow this sort of flexibility but as far as I know, this is the first time it has been fully integrated into a single social networking system.
Facebook: The chat interface has improved and now you can initiate group chats. One thing I personally dislike is that Facebook displays chat histories and messages together. This really makes it difficult for me to keep track of anything properly.
The Verdict: Google’s chat interface is very simple and hopefully it will probably incorporate the experience it has gained through Gmail Chat. If it does, we are looking at a much better chatting experience. Chat histories are saved into the “chats” on the Gmail page.

What do you guys think?

I know I have not gone into the nuts and bolts of some of these features but I hope this gives people a good understanding of what Google Plus is all about.
If there were anything you guys would like to contribute, please let me know. Also, I am interested to know how many of you are willing to switch over from Facebook and if so, why?
Once you are done, go over to Part 2: Google Plus to see where exactly Google Plus fits in Google’s overall strategy, and what exactly are its rivals going to do about it.

Get Google Plus One (+1) Button On Your Website or Blog

2011-10-31T15:17:00.001-07:00

Get Google Plus One (+1) Button On Your Website or Blog

The google +1 button is to share or recommend your friends or anyother on the web, you must have noticed the plus one button at the end of the links of google search

When you click on +1 button it will be shared with your friends and it will also be recommended to others on the web, which will make easy to find what we are looking for, and guess what? it also help to improve your rank in google search.

+1 help to remember links on google search, when remembering your buddy recommended a link for holiday places or any bed and breakfast recipe, just google it while you are logged in with your google account, and it will make it much easier than you think.

To do +1 any link, you need to have google+ profile, when you +1 it, your profile get listed in the search results publicly, though you can change privacy setting if you dont want to share your profile.

You can see all your +1's in a new tab, it will be created when you using this feature

To get +1 button on your website or blog, use the code below in your website or blog

Share +1'd Webpage Or Article With Specific Circle's Stream In Google Plus

2011-10-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Already Using Google+? Follow our blog by Email for all exciting tips and tricks of Google+

Google+ Recently added one more feature to its +1 button, Now you can share any webpage or article with your selected circle.

Previously when you +1 any webpage or article, it was publicly +1 and was posted on your profile page, but now when you +1 any webpage or article, you can also share it with choice of your Circles.

Here it is how it works

When you hit the +1 button anywhere on web, keep your mouse over the 1+ button will show you something like this

Enter the Circle name in the space given, and you will be able to share it will your Circle, The people will see that page in their stream. In addition this pop will also show you how it will look when it will be posted on their stream.

+1 button is already spreading like virus and this feature will boost its efficiency.

Google Plus vs Facebook funny videos

2011-10-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

facebook-vs-google-plus-funny

2011-10-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

30 Facebook Vs Google Plus + Funny and Creative Animations!

2011-10-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

From the date when the Google + information released, all the social media fans awaiting for the official launch. And specially, Google + has announce some cool interfaces and features that is better than Facebook. So, What to say, Google + Vs Facebook battle has started. Well, Even before the official launch of Google+, Google fans are so exited and created some funny .gif animations and jpg images all over the internet. I just wanted to collect all of them and show it to spicytec.com fans. There are so many .gif file and it might be loading slow. Please be patience...

Other Images

Google Plus

2011-10-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Google+

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