Sundeep Machado

How to download a Facebook photo in which you are tagged automatically

2012-01-28T22:30:00.000+05:30

How to download a Facebook photo in which you are tagged automatically?
You will need the following accounts:
1. a Facebook account
2. a Dropbox account
3. a Ifttt account

Steps to be followed:

1. Go to your Ifttt account.
2. Go to this recipe: http://ifttt.com/recipes/1760

3. Activate the Dropbox channel (it means you are giving Ifttt app to access your dropbox account)

4. Save the task, and you are done.

Saving your files across devices using Dropbox

2012-01-27T10:04:00.001+05:30

Dropbox is a cool application that allows users to save files across devices.

What is File Synchronization?

File synchronization is a utility that allows users to save files across devices.

The benefit is that when you add files to one device (say your home computer), it automatically gets added to your office computer, provided you have paired or synchronized them.

The good thing about Dropbox is that it is very easy to install and setup.

What's good in Dropbox?

1. Easy to setup
2. You get additional 250 MB space for each referral

What's bad in Dropbox?
1. Only 2 GB of free space

Get Dropbox now:
Download Dropbox

How to create a new quiz in facebook using Quizazz

2012-01-15T17:27:00.000+05:30

There are a vast majority of cool applications that allow you to create your very own quiz on Facebook.

However a free app called Quizazz easily leads the pack.

Steps to create a quiz on Facebook
1. Go to Quizazz page by clicking here: Quizazz on facebook

2. Log In and give necessary permissions.

3. Select quiz type from the Create Menu. For example Personality Quiz. This will take you back to Quizazz main website. There are a lot of options you can choose as below:

Make sure you have a cool picture for your quiz, nobody likes a quiz which has no pictures.

Enter proper tags for your quiz. This is important as you want other people to find your quiz.

4. Make sure you fill all the Results

5. Click on Publish at the bottom after you have entered all questions, answers and results.

6. You can always edit you quiz, by going back to Quizazz app and selecting profile.

How to add a new contact in web versions of Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail messengers

2012-01-12T18:59:00.000+05:30

Google, Yahoo and Hotmail have all integrated their web chat services with their respective email services.

But it is really difficult to find some options like adding a contact.

How to add a contact in Yahoo mail web messenger?
Just press I

Or

1.Click on the small triangle next to Compose Message button
2. Select Instant Message.

Add the yahoo id of the person you want to chat with.

How to add a contact in Gmail web messenger?

1. Enter the email id in the text box provided below Chat
2. Click Invite to Chat

How to add a contact in Windows Live / Hotmail web messenger?
1.Move the mouse pointer over the Messenger text at the top navigation pane

2. Click on Add friends

3. Enter the email address and click next button

4. Click on the Invite button

Making the cloud work for you using if this then that app

2011-12-27T21:07:00.001+05:30

We do everything on the cloud from connecting with friends via Facebook and sending emails with Gmail.

But has the cloud ever done anything for you, like saving all your Facebook photos and storing them safely. A new app called IFTTT: If this then that is aiming to do exactly that.

The if and else statement is the basis of every programming language.

I always wanted my status on Facebook to be posted automatically to my Twitter account.

So all I have to do is add the above Recipe to my account.

Know more:http://ifttt.com/wtf

You can obviously do a lot more as pointed out here:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/EssentialIFTTTIfThisThenThatProgrammingWorkflowsForHumansUsingTheWebsSocialGlue.aspx

Facebook introduces new Timeline feature

2011-12-15T20:12:00.003+05:30

Facebook has introduced a new feature called "Timeline".

It will be live from December 2011 and resembles a lot like Google Plus in looks.

So what really is Facebook Timeline?

What is Timeline in Facebook?
Timeline is a new interface introduced by Facebook to enhance a user's profile based on time. In short you can see older pictures and status updates by merely clicking on a button.

The Timeline user interface looks a little similar to Google Plus.

In Facebook timeline , the pictures appear quite big as Google Plus and appear on the right while the links and updates you post appear on the left as below:

Privacy Settings: They are the same as before. It is important to know that you have to publish your timeline settings. if you don't publish them, they would be visible only to you.

Yes you can also go back in time with the help of button on the right.

Go here to try it now: https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline

How to solve battery issues of an android smart phone

2011-12-11T13:14:00.001+05:30

Sam recently brought a new Android phone from a mobile store. His new smartphone phone had it all: decent specs and sleek design.

However after few months, Sam was really disappointed.

The problem was his new phone would discharge quickly.

Sam is not the only one who is unhappy with his Android phone's battery life.

How to solve battery issues of an android smart phone?

1. Lower the Screen Brightness

The Screen eats up more battery than any other application you will install on your phone. Make sure that you set the Screen Brightness to low.

2. Stop unnecessary running applications but do not kill them

There are many applications that run in background if you don't need that. Make sure you stop them and not kill them (in tech jargon kill the running processes as you do in Windows using the Task Manager) . You should never use a task manager to kill applications. This link explains further: http://lifehacker.com/5650894/android-task-killers-explained-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them

3. Charge only when your battery drops under 10%

This rule is applicable to all cell phones, cameras and laptops. Never overcharge your cell phone as the battery gets heated up.

When you charge your phone, make sure you charge it fully. This helps your cell phone battery to last longer.

4. Turn off Internet Access (2G or 3G or WiFi) when you don't need it

Your cell phone will be wasting unnecessary battery when you have an active internet connection.

5. Use widgets to access frequently used applications.

This is important as you won't be wasting battery searching for your favorite application.

Using Facebook for Email

2011-11-10T10:30:00.002+05:30

Facebook is a well known social networking site.
With over 500 million plus active users Facebook is just better than the rest.
However you can even use your Facebook account as an email account.

All users on Facebook have a Facebook email address.
The email address is of the form <username>@facebook.com, replace <userrname> with your username on Facebook.

How efficient is Facebook email?
Facebook email is fast. However it still cannot handle attachments that well.

It ended up sending the same message 6 times on my Windows Live account. There is no way you can edit the subject.

Verdict
Facebook should not be used for email as it is highly unreliable. Use it only when you want to send someone a message and don't want to share your personal e-mail id.

Steve Jobs is dead, but Apple doesn't want you to forget him

2011-10-16T09:36:00.000+05:30

Steve Jobs had a successful career at Apple with both highs and lows.

During his tenure Apple got a complete makeover.

It was cool to earn an iPod, iPhone and iMac.

But he is dead, but big executives at Apple don't know when to let go.

People were really waiting to see him die. Most notably people were obsessed with his weight loss.
Then one day he really died. (I still don't know how Elvis Presley died. Maybe he is still alive in a secret government location called Area 51). But the point here is an important person is of more value to a company when he is dead. Even Michael Jackson was not an exception to this rule.

The big bosses in Apple have got out of their way to promote the new iPhone 4S as the last gadget that Steve made. Do you really think Steve as a CEO of a company will actually design everything on his own.
He would have done that only if he had no money (a fact when Apple was a start-up).

Steve Jobs was not a good person to work with. If you ask former employees at Apple who had that so called privilege to work with him, will tell you why. This is a common trait the great Mr. Jobs shares with the fantastic Mr. Gates.

Conclusion
As a consumer and as a responsible netizen it is important to know the marketing tactics of multinationals. All they care is Profit (a fact that even Steve would have done the same).
To prove my point you might want to read this:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briancaulfield/2011/10/14/at-steves-store-customers-line-up-for-the-iphone-4s/

Do you know the other Steve? I mean Steve Wozniak The guy who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs.
I am sure you don't. If you do then you belong to a minority.

So after one year when we all gather on Steve Job's day, make sure you still think twice before you buy that Apple product you always wanted.

Facebook now allows group chat

2011-10-08T16:05:00.001+05:30

Facebook has finally added this most awaited feature of group chat
Now you can chat with multiple friends.

How to start group chat in Facebook?

1. Select the friend by clicking his / her name in facebook chat window at the left hand corner.
2.Simply click on the small icon as shown in image and select Add Friends to Chat.
3. Add friends and select Done.

How to use the new Smart Lists in Facebook

2011-09-18T12:10:00.000+05:30

Facebook has finally taken some inspiration from Google plus.

It has now officially introduced something called Smart Lists.

What are Smart Lists?
Smart lists in Facebook allow you to categorize your friends, so that you can control the information that you share with them. You can think of smart lists as circles in Google plus.

The two most important lists are as follows:

Close Friends
As the name suggests these are the bunch of friends whose updates you can't afford to miss. You will get a notification each time when they update their status or upload a new photo on their wall and many other things.

This is an important list of friends as they can see everything you post on your wall.

Restricted
This smart list contains the list of friends who can only see your public posts.
Example: There was friend from high school who always commented on your pictures. Shut him / her out by putting him on this list.

This is important as you don't want to unfriend someone on Facebook. The best part is they have no idea that you have put them in your restricted list in Facebook.

Below is a low quality video to give you a brief idea of Smart Lists:

Remove Powered by Blogger from your Blogger blog in new Blogger interface

2011-09-01T21:40:00.003+05:30

How do I remove the Powered by Blogger from my Blogger blog in the new blogger interface?
In order to remove you will need to edit the blogger template and delete the attribution widget in the new Blogger interface.

If you are using the old interface, please read this post on removing Powered by Blogger in old Blogger interface.

Please backup your blogger template before you make any changes to it. This helps to revert back to the original template when something goes wrong while editing your template. The steps for backup and restore are discussed here in detail.

Steps to remove the Powered by Blogger text from your blog in the new Blogger interface:
1. Click on the Template link in the left navigation menu.

2. Click on the Edit HTML button

3.Select the Expand Widget Templates check-box

4. Remove the following highlighted code.

5. Click on Save Template Button.
6. A warning is displayed.Click on Delete Widgets and click on Save Template Button.

How to add official Twitter Follow Button to a blog or website

2011-08-31T22:37:00.001+05:30

Twitter allows a variety of widgets, buttons and mobile applications that can be added to blogs, mobile devices and websites. However it is important that you add goodies that are provided only by Twitter.

1. Go to the official official Twitter Follow button page

2. Enter your username and customize your button. Not the preview at the right hand side.

3.Copy and paste it to an area where you want the button to appear.

4.For Blogger blogs, paste the above code inside the HTML / JavaScript gadget provided by blogger.

How to download and restore and your blog template in the new Blogger

2011-08-27T20:30:00.000+05:30

It is important to backup your blog's template before you make any changes to it.

If you are still using the old interface, visit this link:
Backup your template in old Blogger interface

Steps to download your Blogger's blog template:

1. Click on the Template link in the left navigation menu.

2.Click on the Download full Template to save your template in xml format.

Steps to restore your Blogger's blog template:
Click on Browse an select your previously saved template and press the Upload Button.

Chatting with Facebook friends using Skype

2011-08-26T13:37:00.000+05:30

With the latest version of Skype (5.5.0.113), it is possible to chat with your Facebook buddies.

However you will need to do some quick settings to enable this feature.

How to enable the chat with Facebook friends using Skype?
1. Login to skype.

2. Click on the small Facebook icon next to contacts
3. Click on the Connect with Facebook button.

4. Enter Facebook Credentials

How to disable Facebook integration with Skype?
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=823057
You will need to delete the access given to skype from your Facebook account.

Related reading:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/06/facebook-video-chat-and-skype-5-5-beta-hands-on/

Backup important Office documents using Google Cloud Connect

2011-07-30T18:46:00.003+05:30

Google Cloud Connect is a free tool from Google that easily allows you to save your important Microsoft Office documents to the cloud (Google Docs).

You can download Google Connect from this link:
Google Cloud Connect download link

After you successfully install the free add-in you will see Google Cloud Connect as above.

How to use Google Cloud Connect?
Using Google Cloud Connect can be a little tricky.

As soon as you install Google Connect select Google Cloud Connect Settings, you will see a small dialog box as shown below:

1 Account
To use Google Connect you will need to Log -In to your Google account. You can also have multiple Google accounts yo use with Google Cloud Connect by using the Switch account option.

2 Global Document Options
Google Cloud Connect works in the following two modes
Automatic: All your documents will be saved to Google Docs
Manual: Only select documents will be saved to Google Docs

Make sure you select Manual option as you do not want all your documents to be saved in Google Docs.

3 Opening files from Google Docs
The Save location option is a local folder where all your documents will be stored to be used by Google Cloud Connect which is should be different other than My Documents folder ( tip).

Note: Every document in Google Docs has a unique URL

As soon as you click on the Sync button your current document will be saved in Google Docs provided you see Success.

Advantages
1. You have a copy of your important documents in Google Docs.
2. Multiple users can edit the same document provided they too install the Google Cloud Connect plugin and you give access to them to edit the document.
3. You can share your documents

Disadvantages
These documents cannot be edited inside Google Docs. You will need Microsoft Office on your computer to edit these synced documents.

References:
1.Google Cloud Connect download link
2.Google Docs Cloud Connect Help

Google Plus in simple terms

2011-07-10T12:40:00.001+05:30

What is Google Plus?
Google has recently launched Google Plus a real-time social networking website, an attempt to challenge Facebook, Twitter and Skype.

As always Google has allowed users to join on invitations only like it did for its now defunct project Google Waves.

So what's new in Plus?

What's awesome about Google Plus?

Circles
The feature you can just drag someone you know and put in it a circle of friends or acquaintances.

Hangout
This feature allows users to video chat with 10 people at a time. That's totally cool and its for free.

What's bad about Google Plus ?
It is still buggy
My Profile Page hanged for 20 seconds with no reason whatsoever.

I want to change the dull background but no option
Even Twitter allows this option, Facebook doesn't so what? I want this feature.

Just try it.

Why Google is constantly changing its Homepage?

2011-07-02T10:03:00.001+05:30

Google has recently added a lot of improvements to its Homepage (www.google.com).

It has also added a new color scheme and turned its interface literally upside down.

Before we understand why the changes were required, let us see what really changed?

Google changed the following things in its Homepage:

Color Scheme from Light Blue to Black
Google Image Search allows a user to search using images
Google Search now searches the web using voice
Google Plus button in search results

These are the main changes Google introduced recently.

The changes were made primarily to challenge Facebook. In Facebook there is a concept of "LIKE".
Similarly goes the concept of "Google Plus" .

Also notice that Facebook is constantly changing unlike Google's own popular platform Orkut.
Remember Orkut? The way you used to write scraps on your friend pages? Orkut was very slow to introduce new changes to its social networking platform and as a result, it lost the game to Facebook.

Facebook has introduced so many changes this year like:

Facebook Questions
Photo Viewer
Faster page loading times

So change is the name of the game as it may seem. Even Yahoo is constantly changing its mail interface.

Google redefines search by introducing Voice search

2011-06-22T20:41:00.000+05:30

The search giant has recently introduced a new feature called Voice Search.

What is Google Voice Search?
Google Voice Search allows a user to search the web using Google by saying a search term.

For more information visit
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/voicesearch-chrome.html

Create your own music on the cloud using UJAM

2011-06-15T10:29:00.000+05:30

Stand aside SoundCloud, because UJAM, is here

With UJAM you can not only record sounds, you can also create your own song!

UJAM has a very intuitive interface and has everything you need to record your voice and edit it. It also has several built in effects to customize the beats and add harmony to your songs.

References:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/13/technology/ujam_music/

Apple announces iCloud to sync user data across multiple devices

2011-06-07T22:46:00.000+05:30

What is iCloud?
Apple has recently officially announced iCloud , a free service that allows people using the company's products to keep their data across multiple devices like iPhone, iPad and the Mac in sync.

iTunes is rumored to be renamed to iCloud, which is part of this new iCloud platform.

With iCloud, Apple has also announced Photo Stream, a free service which allows a users to automatically upload photos taken from an iPhone or an iPad.

However, these changes will only be available in the new mobile operating system iOS version 5.

References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/technology/07apple.html

The future of video is online video streaming

2011-06-03T18:56:00.000+05:30

Does the term VHS cassette ring a bell? If not it stands for once widely used technology way older then the current CD-ROM disks.

But now even CD-ROM or DVD disks are here to go thanks to something called OnlineVideo-Streaming.

Yes, we all love YouTube here. With the success of YouTube, sites like Hulu and Vevo have emerged rapidly. You can find many more here on this link. Thankfully you can also download most of these online videos using a trick as described in this post.

You don't need a computer to view these online videos, they can be played on mobile devices like iPad.
It now has 40 % of internet traffic share beating the famous peer-to-peer networks to the number one spot.

We won't respect your Privacy, say today's tech companies

2011-04-30T20:42:00.000+05:30

Tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook are in the news again, but this time for the wrong reasons.

These companies have played with your personal data like photos for years and will continue to do so in future.

For example Google used to store everything you searched on the internet. The company said it wanted to provide some kind of personal search experience for its users. However when confronted, the company changed this in to product called Web History.

Facebook was also accused of "selling user data" to advertisers. An act of total privacy breach of its users even though the social networking site has a privacy policy longer than the United States constitution.

Now we come to Apple, the largest technology company in market capitalization. It has been accused of sending user location information to third parties alongside Google. For a detailed report visit this link:http://www.pcworld.com/article/226221/google_and_apple_smartphone_spies.html.

Online Music Storage by Tech Giants

2011-04-24T21:18:00.000+05:30

Apple is currently rumored to start it's own music storage service. It is important to note that even Google is planning a similar service.

Amazon is already way ahead with it's Cloud Drive technology which allows 5 GB space. What's unique in Cloud Drive is that it allows a user to play his mp3 songs with it's built in Cloud Player. More details can be found here at Life Hacker.

Why you should not use the Dynamic Views for Readers in Blogger

2011-04-04T19:44:00.003+05:30

What is Dynamic Views feature in Blogger?
Blogger has now introduced a new feature called Dynamic Views which allows a blog to be displayed in five new formats or views. But these dynamic views really not useful.

1. No Add Revenue
The dynamic views feature does not allow Adsense advertisements and as a result you can't earn money from your blog post.

2. Too Confusing
Although dynamic views do offer some eye-candy to blogs, views like Mosaic are too confusing for blog readers.

3. Still Buggy
Sometimes the same post is shown more than once. this is common for blog post having more than one picture.

For example the Snapshot view showed the same post four times!