The Netizens

How to customize Windows 7 Boot Screen

2012-01-30T23:19:00.001+05:30

If you have been using Windows 7 for quite sometime, the same old boot screen could be a bit boring – though has a wonderful animation. So, why don’t we spice it up a little bit and make it more interesting ?

How to customize Windows 7 Boot Screen ?

We will be using Windows 7 Boot Updater for this.
Download Windows 7 Boot Updater (links at bottom of the article)
Open the .exe file which you just downloaded.
Now to the bottom left corner, click on Message 2 tab to find something like the following image:
You may change the value in the TEXT field to anything you like. Also the font color, position and the font size can be changed here. After changing click on the Play button ( to the bottom right ) to preview how it looks like.
The bottom copyright showing Microsoft Corporation can also be changed by clicking on the Message 1 tab.

Click on Apply and you are done. The same process can be done even for the boot screen got while Resuming Windows (got after Hibernating the system).

Here is the modified boot screen I am using now :

This article shows just the basics of modifying the boot screen. Stay tuned for the coming articles where we show changing the boot screen completely.

DOWNLOAD LINKS : Windows 7 Boot Updater

CAUTION: In case of any errors while booting (after using this) do not panic ! There is a way out. Just follow the restoration steps described here.

Recommended Reading:

Pirated DVD vs Legal DVD-humorous flow chart

2012-01-29T00:00:00.001+05:30

Here is a flow chart showing the experience of using a pirated DVD vs a paid legal DVD. Let us know your stand after going through it.

And why do the DVD companies keep complaining that people don’t buy their DVDs.

[via imgur.com]

Recommended reading: Outdated PC advertisements – Don’t be shocked

SOPA and PIPA explained clearly [Infographic]

2012-01-28T02:32:00.001+05:30

A simple explanation and analysis of what the SOPA and PIPA acts mean.

There has been quite a lot of discussion about the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) especially after the one day Wikipedia Black Out.

Are not the SOPA and PIPA acts beneficial ? Don’t they help wipe off piracy ?

These are all the questions that I had because of the ambiguity and the lack of information. This info graphic prepared by Lumin Consulting helps clear the doubts regarding SOPA and PIPA and explains the various aspects of the acts clearly.

Though the SOPA and the PIPA are now shelved, there are still similar acts (like ACTA) looming around. So, it is worth keeping ourselves informed about such acts.

If someone of your friends is still unclear about the bills, do share it and help wipe off the ambiguity – Let us take a clear stand.

[Click on the image to get the full view]

[via Lifehacker]
Recommended Reading: How can your Social Network profile influence your job ?

Facebook Privacy settings–friends lists

2012-01-26T21:29:00.001+05:30

Welcome to our first installment of Facebook Privacy settings guide. With Facebook becoming increasingly popular day by day, our friends list keeps bulging. This poses a problem with privacy settings.

We upload some photos and wish to hide it from a set of friends – who might not be so close to you or we might as well wish to hide it from our own family members on Facebook.

So, here is a detailed tutorial showing how to hide only parts of our Facebook profile from a group of friends. The way out is to group your friends into LISTS so that the permissions to a particular album or photos can be open or hidden from all the friends in a list.

STEPS to organize your friends into lists:

- Goto this link on FB https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists

- Click on the Create List button (top middle portion) to create a new list.

- Give a name to the list – here I wish to hide updates from my relatives – so create a list for them and just hide certain photos/albums from the list.

- After creating the list, you are directed to a page showing the updates from friends on this list (Since it is a new list, right now it will be empty).

- On the top right corner, select Manage List and Add friends

- Now select all those from your Friends list who got to come under this category and click Finish.

- Repeat this procedure for everyone on your friends list until all of them are grouped into relevant lists. Though it might be time consuming, but it is worth the effort.

- Now you are with the grouping part – done with the major part. All that is left over is to hide specific contents of your profile on Facebook from particular list of friends.

Here we show you how to hide an album from a specific list of friends.

- Goto your photos page
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?sk=photos

- Select the settings icon beside an album and select custom

- Then in the new popup which comes up, goto the Hide this from section and select the list from whom you want to hide the album. Here I want to hide my album from the list named my relatives. So, all the friends in the list cannot see this particular album.

- Also if you want to hide your status updates from a particular list, follow the same procedure as explained above. (screenshot below)

From the next status update onwards, the same privacy settings will be applicable.

That is the end of the guide and the way you organize depends on your requirements.

TIP: Organize your friends even better by grouping them into hierarchical lists like – close (your closest friends) , close-2 (slightly close friends) , close-3 (acquaintances) , my relatives (relatives) , doubtful (if you doubt some of your friends).

Hope the guide helped you. Stay tuned for more privacy guides on Facebook.

Read full articles on Wall Street Journal without subscribing

2012-01-26T00:29:00.001+05:30

A one step method to get free full access to Wall Street Journal articles without subscribing – using a work around from Google Cache – a fully legal method.

You are asked to pay $1.99 per week to get a full access. How can you do it for FREE?

Websites of famous newspapers like Wall Street Journal , Financial Times have some restrictions for non-registered users. I came across this when I have been going through an article on WSJ.

The Wall Street Journal, prompts for registration to view certain articles and certain articles are behind the paywall - you have to pay to read those articles. Such articles have a key symbol beside them as shown below:

So, here is how to get full access to premium content on sites like Wall Street Journal for free without subscribing and paying ($1.99 per week):

The trick is to make use of the cached content of the pages.

Method 1: (Manual method)

Right click on the link and copy the URL of the article which is locked only for registered users.
The link (URL) is somewhat like this :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577181371465957162.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_RightMostPopular
Now strip this text only till the ".html" part and add the word cache: before it as shown below:
cache:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577181371465957162.html
After adding cache:{URL} paste it in the address bar (if using Chrome) and hit enter it opens the full article.

If you are using Mozilla Firefox paste the above cache:{URL} in Google search bar:

So, essentially you are doing a Google search with the term cache:{URL}. If Google instant search is ON, the trick does not seem to be working.

This method is working - it has been tested. But if you think this is a tedious procedure to open the cached copy always manually, there is an automatic method too.

Method 2: (Automatic Method)

UPDATE: The extension is no more available – so use the manual method

You need Google Chrome browser for this

Install Read WSJ Extension on Chrome from the chrome webstore.
Now it fetches the cached copy of all the locked articles on WSJ (indicated by the unlock icon beside such articles).

That's all ! You have full access to premium and locked content on Wall Street Journal.

Do let us know in case this method does not work.

Transform Windows 7 to Android Ice Cream Sandwich [ Tuesday Themes]

2012-01-24T23:33:00.001+05:30

It is already a known news that Android 4.0 named Ice cream Sandwich looks stunning. Getting inspired by this, Flickr user David Molina has modified his Windows 7 desktop to look equally stunning as Ice Cream Sandwich.

Here is the final look of the Android ICS Windows 7 desktop :

So, here is the list of components needed to transform your Windows 7 to Android Ice Cream Sandwich:

Taskbar look: APPOWS2010 Windows 7 theme at Deviantart
Icons: Ice Cream Sandwich Icon Pack from DroidPirate
ICS font: Roboto Font (specifically Roboto Light)
Time and Date display: Minimal Bar skin for Rainmeter
Weather forecast on Desktop: Lexis skin for Rainmeter
Google Search at bottom left: Google Search Bar for Rainmeter
Now Playing Music List on Desktop (lower right): Simplesentencethree for Rainmeter
System usage shown: Rainmeter system monitor and configuration tool for Windows
Dock at the left: RocketDock with a blank theme
And Finally the Ice Cream Sandwich wallpaper – my favourite !!

That’s it ! You are now Androdified !!

The list of components needed might be huge – but believe me with a combination of all these you can as well create your own version of Android ICS looking desktop – all you need to do is keep changing the skins. Rainmeter provides a lot of never ever imagined customization options for your Desktop.

In case of any doubts about using Rainmeter – refer this detailed and useful guide on Rainmeter by LifeHacker.

[via LifeHacker Featured Desktops and David Molina on Flickr]

Recommended Reading: How to Transform Windows 7/Vista/XP to Windows 8 ?

Convey last message on Facebook after death

2012-01-22T16:20:00.001+05:30

Imagine how would it be if you are given a chance to convey your last message to the world after you die ! It is now possible to let your friends on Facebook know your last message after your death with yet another Facebook app called If I Die.

What Should I Do To Send one last message after my death?

Right now, login to Facebook with your credentials and install If I Die app.
Create a video or a Text message
Choose 3 of your friends or family members on Facebook so that they confirm your death. The moment these trustees confirm your death, the message is shared !! Until then, your messages are safely stored on a server.

Here is a short video describing the need for the app and how it works :

Recommended Reading: Find who undeleted you on Facebook

Google Chrome: Let the browser read out text on webpages

2012-01-20T23:47:00.001+05:30

How to listen to text on webpage without reading it yourself on Google Chrome.

We always come across long and interesting articles on the web but it is a pain and a strain on the eyes to read the whole article. Also there might be some distraction by the presence of ads alongside.

So, why read long articles straining your eyes while you can actually relax and listen to the text on webpages without reading it.

Here are some Chrome extensions which read out the content on webpages or selected text so that you can listen to the text on webpages without reading it.

1. SPEAK IT:

Speak It is quite a famous extension for Google Chrome which reads out selected text using Google Network TTS (Text-to-Speech) with language auto-detection. The extension is a beta version as of now, but still worked almost without flaws in our testing.

There are also options to set the volume and the pace of the voice.

Just install the extension and select a piece of text and click on the speak it button on the top of chrome and it does the reading for you.

Link: Install Speak It on your Google Chrome

2. SELECT AND SPEAK:

Select & Speak is another similar extension on Chrome which reads out the selected text on a webpage. It is almost same as Speak It – including the interface and settings.

But I personally liked this because there is an option to select the voice over accent as shown below:

Link: Select and Speak chrome extension

Here is the list of all Chrome extensions which speak out selected text on webpage.

These are two of the many extensions available on the Chrome store. Almost all seemed to be similar. So, why strain your eyes reading articles on webpages. Let Chrome do the speaking for you while you do some other work.

Recommended reading: Desktop sharing using Google Chrome

Search Google on Mobile phone without internet using SMS Text messages

2012-01-13T13:37:00.001+05:30

A Quick Tip for mobile phone users in India to make use of Google Search using an ordinary mobile phone without having internet connectivity.

The service has been for quite some time and the best part is that Google does not charge premium rates for using this service.

Normal SMS rates are applicable for this.

Google SMS search helps us find :

movie timings
nearest pizza restaurants
train schedules
cricket scores
definitions

and a lot more…. as shown below :

What should you do to search Google using SMS?

Send a text message with the search query (say movies delhi) to 9-77-33-00000 and the search results are sent via SMS back to your mobile.

So, just save this number to your mobile contacts and it might be handy in case you do not have internet connectivity and desperately need some info.

To find out a demo of how this feature works – Click Here use this Demo.

The service is available for all popular cellular networks including Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Reliance, Spice, Tata Indicom and Vodafone.

For more details about this service, visit the Google Mobile site.

Recommended Reading: Compare deals in India before buying Online

10 creative Facebook Timeline cover photos–part 2

2012-01-08T21:50:00.001+05:30

This is the second installment of our previous post on 10 Awesome Facebook Timeline Designs – part 1. Facebook has recently made its Timeline feature available for all users.

Here are even more creative designs used as cover photos found on various timelines on Facebook. The main intention of this article is to help you get more ideas about designing the cover photo for your Facebook Timeline.

Hope the above covers have helped you get some more ideas about how to design your photo. Time for some creative work now….

And yes... we will keep you updated about more interesting Timeline designs and cover photos soon.

Stay tuned to us by our Facebook page or subscribing to our email updates. If you have a creative design for your profile, do feel free to tip us your Facebook ID by contacting us.

Recommended Reading:

Find who unfriended or deleted you on Facebook

2012-01-07T10:59:00.001+05:30

Find who unfriended or deleted you on Facebook

Sometimes you might be noticing that your friends on Facebook are decreasing. That means someone of your friends have unfriended you or deleted you from their Facebook friend’s list. Here is a direct one-step way to find who unfriended or deleted you on Facebook.

Facebook sends you a notification when someone adds or accepts your friend request but does not inform you when removed from someone’s friend list.

WhoDeletedMe is a Facebook app which informs you who have been recently added or who have recently removed you from their friend list.

It also keeps track of the number of friends by month/week/day and sends an email when someone deletes you from Facebook friend’s list.

STEPS:

Open the website WhoDeletedMe
Login with your Facebook account
Check the details of who have added or deleted you recently

Recommended Reading: 10 creative and awesome Facebook Timeline cover photos

Enable Aero features in Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic [Tuesday Themes]

2012-01-03T22:55:00.001+05:30

For the users of Windows 7 starter and Home Basic – here is a new year gift. This is a simple & perfectly working way to enable all the Windows 7 features like Aero Glass, Aero Peek desktop customization etc., in Windows 7 Starter or Home Basic editions.

By default, there is no provision to even change the theme , Aero Glass and Windows Flip (Win key + Tab) features on Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic. Now, you can enable all these with this patch created by a Mr.dUsha.

This little utility patches all the necessary system files to enable these aero features.

Using the patch enables the use of following :
- Aero Glass and colors.
- Aero Peek, Aero Shake and WinFlip 3D.
- Also third party themes can be used.

STEPS:
1. Download the patch. (download link at the bottom of the post)
2. Unzip it using 7-zip (download link at the bottom of the post)
3. Run the Personalization Panel.exe as Administrator. (Make sure all other applications are closed because Windows restarts – You might also have to disable your antivirus for this)
4. Click OK and wait for Windows to restart.

That’s it. Get ready for a surprise after the restart.

TO UNINSTALL:

To uninstall this, just run the same utility again and it will automatically rollback.

NOTE:
Uninstall any previous such patches installed in the system (like Winreview’s Personalization Panel or Personalization panel DWM controller).

Thanks to Shikarev for sharing this on Deviantart.

Download AeroPatch | Download 7-zip

Recommended Reading : Transform Windows XP, Vista, 7 to Windows 8

A-Google-a-Day daily puzzle

2011-12-31T17:07:00.001+05:30

A-Google-A-Day is a recent feature developed by Google to make its Search tool more interesting. Each day a new question is posed and finding the answer to it tests your Google search skills. Of course I like the initiative because it even helps us gain some knowledge too ;-)

The question keeps changing daily at 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time (GMT –5:00 hours) and the answer to the previous day’s question is also posted.

As the screenshot above shows, the question of the day is at the bottom and you also have HINTS to know what to search for.

Now the best part:

When you try searching for atleast a part of the question, ideally you should be shown some sites where the answer to today’s question is leaked. But Google filters those results and shows the other results just as if A-Google-A-Day did no exist – and this is what they call Deja-Google.

Now the Analysis:

Giving a slightly deeper thought into this work by Google, we can understand the hidden intention.

All it wants is to make us more comfortable (read habituated/addicted) to using Google and the various skills needed. So, more comfort => more regular visits => more visitors for Google => more page impressions => more dominance to Google => more revenue.

Now wondering what forms a major part of Google’s Revenues ?

Facebook official desktop Messenger app for Windows

2011-12-30T22:56:00.001+05:30

Facebook has announced the New Year gift. You can now chat with friends on Facebook messenger without actually keeping your browser open all the time.

The new Facebook Messenger for Windows is announced right now as a trial application and with the help of this app, you can

Chat and message with your friends on Facebook.
See the latest updates from your friends in ticker.
Get quick notifications about what’s going on

How to use the Messenger ?

Just download the setup for the app and install it. (Download Link)

After installation, a Facebook icon can be seen in the system tray

Right click on the icon and select Log-in. It opens the browser and then just login to facebook and close the browser – then you are signed on to the app.

To log out right click on the icon and select log out.

The app is still in trial stage so there is still scope for a lot of improvement. But you will like it if you are a regular Facebook user like me.

Read more about the official announcement on Facebook’s Messenger.

Download link for Facebook messenger.

Recommended Reading: 10 Awesome Facebook Timeline cover photo designs

10 awesome Facebook Timeline designs–part 1

2011-12-23T20:23:00.001+05:30

Facebook has recently made its Timeline feature available for all users. One of the most impressive features of this new design is the option to have a huge rectangular cover photo at the top of the profile.

Now, this very cover photo has been inspiring a lot of creativity and a lot of users have been designing their profiles with some interesting , funny and creative cover photos for their Timeline.

If you too want to have a creative design for your Timeline, scrolling down might help us get various ideas about the potential of a cover photo to inspire / showcase your creativity.

Here is the first installment of 10 very impressive , awesome , funny and interesting designs for your Facebook Timeline (Part -1):

UPDATE: More creative Facebook Timeline cover photos – part 2 published already.

Stay tuned to us by our Facebook page or subscribing to our email updates. If you have a creative design for your profile, do feel free to tip us your Facebook ID by contacting us.

Recommended Reading:

Use your photo as Windows 7 logon screen [Tuesday Themes]

2011-12-19T23:15:00.001+05:30

Welcome back to the Tuesday Themes section. This Tuesday we are happy to share with you a single – click method to change Windows 7 logon screen using Tweaks.com Logon changer. So, now you can as well use your own photo as Windows 7 logon screen.

Well this can also be done manually – but it is not worth wasting so much time to change a logon screen. (Though easy, there are a lot of steps involved to change logon screen).

I recently found this simple small size software – named Tweaks Logon changer for Windows 7 – which does the job for us with a simple user interface.

STEPS:

Download Tweaks.com Logon changer
Run it. (No installation needed)
Click on “Change Logon Screen”
Browse for the image you want to use as the logon screen.
Select it – That’s all you are done.

Here are the screenshots :

The best part of using this software is, incase the image is larger than 245KB, it suggests us an option to automatically resize it or not as shown below :

Once installed, the following message is shown and you are done.

LINKS: Tweaks Logon Changer for Windows 7

Recommended Reading : How to transform Windows XP, Vista, 7 to Windows 8

NOTE: Before suggesting a 3rd party software, we thoroughly test it and only then recommend its usage if it is safe.

How to watch 18+ adult videos on Youtube without sign in

2011-12-18T13:25:00.001+05:30

You might have come across a warning while watching videos on Youtube asking you to sign- in to watch 18+ adult videos which contain either explicit language or violence.

[UPDATE – 21 Jan, 2012]: Refer to Method 3

Here is how to view such videos without sign-in. Read on.

STEPS:

Just keep track of the last 11 letters in any youtube video URL.

METHOD 1: (DOES NOT WORK SOMETIMES)

Copy the video URL (present in the address bar of the browser)
Here the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O07u7KdRVo0
Now just replace the word watch with watch_popup and now the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=O07u7KdRVo0
That’s it. You are done.

The above method is what you find all over the net. But this method might not work always. In such cases, use the below method.

METHOD 2: (WORKING)

Copy the video URL (present in the address bar of the browser)
Here the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O07u7KdRVo0
Here O07u7KdRVo0 is the video_id.
Now, use this video_id as the following URL http://www.youtube.com/v/video_id?fs=1
Now replace the video_id with the O07u7KdRVo0 to get

http://www.youtube.com/v/O07u7KdRVo0?fs=1

METHOD 3: (To be used for URLs with slightly different format - WORKING)

This method is for some URLs which have different format like below:
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DJaFVr_cJJIY
Such URL is same as the following URL except that the symbols are coded
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch?v=JaFVr_cJJIY
Just keep track of the last 11 letters –as said before.
So, finally to view such videos it is same as the method 2 – change the above URL to the following
http://www.youtube.com/v/JaFVr_cJJIY?fs=1

That is all ! Hope the article has addressed the issue. Do comment back in case of any problem and do share with us if you know other ways to access such videos.

Do remember that it is better not to sign in and watch videos as Google keeps track of your history even though the web history is disabled. Because there are sources which confirm that sites like Google use previous search history to predict the behavior and there by customize the search results, targeted advertisements etc.

Recommended Reading: Let Google Chrome read out news articles for you-How to?

Facebook Timeline now available for everyone

2011-12-16T09:56:00.001+05:30

Good news for Facebook lovers. The much awaited Timeline feature is now available worldwide starting December 15th,2011. Scroll down to know more details.

We previously had a discussion about the pros and cons of Timeline and finally it is live now. Here is the first look of how your profile appears immediately after activating Timeline :

7- day review period :

The moment we activate Timeline on our Facebook profile, a 7 day period is given before everyone can see the profile in the Timeline view. During this time we can arrange what all important events have to be shown or what should not be shown.

You may also hide some stories from Timeline as shown below :

Edit all your previous activities:

With timeline, now you have access to a new tool called Activity Log. Your activity log is a place where you can review all your posts and activity, from today back to when you first started using Facebook. Only you can see your activity log.

Just click on Activity Log present on top of your profile’s Timeline view and shows something like the following :

How to get Facebook Timeline ?

To get timeline, simply go to the Introducing Timeline page and click "Get Timeline" at the bottom of the page. Or you can wait until you see an announcement at the top of your profile.

Want even more good news ? Facebook Timeline is also available on Android and the mobile version at m.facebook.com

Okay… now the bad news :

Once activated, I think you cannot disable Timeline ! I have been searching for a link to disable timeline and try it out later. I also found some articles saying that after 22nd December all the profiles will be migrated to Timeline view.

Do share with us your experience of the new Facebook Timeline. Will be sharing mine soon.

Aakash android tablet goes on sale

2011-12-15T20:32:00.001+05:30

The much awaited Rs.2500 ($50) Indian tablet – Aakash – is now ready to go on sale as it is now available for purchase online – more details below.

Datawind, the company which developed the tablet promises to deliver the tablet in seven days and right now it can be bought using Cash – on – delivery option.

About 30,000 tablets have been put up for sale online. The price chart is shown below :

As you can see in the above image, the Aakash tablet (basic model) is available for Rs.2500 while the upgraded version named UbiSlate 7 is priced at Rs.2999 ($60) and this upgraded version can be pre-booked now and will be available by the last week of January 2012.

Right now, it seems that Aakash is the world’s cheapest android tablet.

Features of Aakash tablet (just in case you missed) :

USB port (can also plug in a 3G dongle)
Micro SD card slot expandable to 32GB
Android 2.2
WiFi
GPRS (Embedded modem eliminates the need for external dongles and allows Internet access everywhere)
Can be used as a mobile phone (SIM card slot)
Monthly internet charges : Rs.98 / 2GB.

Personally I recommend waiting for the upgraded version to be out, as 366Mhz (processor clock frequency on the basic model) makes the tablet feel too slow and moreover the price variation is also not much between the upgraded and the normal basic version of Aakash.

LINKS: Aakash tablet official page

Recommended reading : How to compare online deals in India before buying

Transform Windows 7, Vista , XP to Windows 8 [Tuesday Themes]

2011-12-12T21:18:00.001+05:30

This Tuesday we share with you the latest Windows 8 transformation pack 2.0 which transforms your Windows XP or Vista or 7 to look like Windows 8.

The software provides the Windows 8 User Interface, Login Screen, Boot Screen, Metro UI, Aero Auto Colorization, Taskbar UserTile, wallpapers and other features to the existing Windows installation.

Screenshots:

Windows 7 transformed to Windows 8 :

Metro UI on Windows 7:

Windows 8 transformation pack installed on Windows XP :

Metro UI on Windows XP:

List of features :

Seamless installation and uninstallation giving users safe transformation
Easily configurable in single click with intelligence Metro UI design
Designed for all editions of Windows XP/Vista/7 including Server Editions
Genuine Windows 8 system resources with Metro touches
Smart system files updating with auto-repair and Windows Update friendly
Fresh start for Vista/Seven Transformation Pack users with updated Windows 8 themes and resources
Windows 8 themes, wallpaper and logon screen UserTile with current user auto-configured on login
Metro UI desktop emulation with pre-configured gadgets
Aero's auto-colorization feature

Requirements :

.NET Framework 2.0 - Required for system files transformation in Windows XP/Server 2003 x64 Editions Only.
.NET Framework 4.0 - Required for Windows 8 features like User Tile/Metro UI Desktop/Auto-colorization.

LINKS: Windows 8 transformation Pack 2.0 HomePage |

.NET framework 4.0 | .NET framework 2.0

Recommended Reading : Get Aero Auto Colorization in Windows 7

Compare deals before buying online in India

2011-12-11T20:36:00.001+05:30

Buying books or electronic gadgets online has become very common today as the online deals quote comparatively lower prices. But is it the lowest price being offered ? Here is a simple guide which helps us save some money while buying online.

When I recently came across a similar dilemma I came across an online comparison portal – MySmartPrice - which gathers the current prices of the product we wished to search for from a bunch of sites which are offering the product.

NOTE: The website only compares prices for online deals in India only.

Here below is a screenshot comparing the prices of The Google Story book and observe the price variation !

The site can compare prices of Mobiles, Books, Cameras, Laptops and Games. I personally liked the “Price List” feature which helps us get an idea about the price range of the articles.

For example, if you are planning to buy a laptop, the portal can help you get some idea about the configuration vs. price.

So, the next time you want to buy something (online or at the store) making use of a comparison tool might help save some money or at least give an idea about the cost variation.

Do share with us if there are any more such sites which enable comparison of prices of online deals.

LINK: MySmartPrice

Recommended reading: Find Stolen Camera Online

Facebook programming challenge to get a phone interview

2011-12-09T09:06:00.001+05:30

Solve the programming challenge being conducted by Facebook and get a phone interview.

Facebook is now hiring engineers by conducting an online programming challenge which is the first step to move to the next round i.e, phone interview.

PROCEDURE:

The first round is a timed event where question is given and code has to be written for it as soon as possible in one of the following languages - C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, C#, PHP. It is reported that the test could be of 1-2 hours duration.

There is also an option to download sample test cases and test if the code written is working fine or not.

To attempt the test, you need to login with your Facebook account.

But before giving the test, it is natural for us to wonder what kind of questions might be asked. Fortunately there is also a Sample Test (of 45 minutes duration) which contains one question.

LINKS: Facebook Programming Challenge | Sample Test

Recommended Reading: Social networks being used to Screen Job Applicants

Get Windows 8 Aero Auto Colorization feature in Windows 7 and Vista [Tuesday Themes]

2011-12-06T09:45:00.001+05:30

Windows 8 has a feature called Aero Auto Colorization which automatically adjusts the color of Windows, explorer and start menu based on the color of the desktop wallpaper. Here is a simple trick to get this Aero Auto Colorization feature in Windows 7 and Vista using a freeware utility called “AURA”.

Aura calculates the average color of desktop background image or active window icon and sets it as Aero Glass color. It works like color hot-track in Windows 7 taskbar.

STEPS:

1. Download Aura zip file and extract contents. (link at the bottom of the article).

2. Run Aura.exe

3. Select the option “Get color from Wallpaper” and install (Screenshot below)

Here is a video demo on Aura :

In case you don’t find the changes in color, increase the windows color intensity in Color settings by opening Personalization.

LINK: Download Aura

How to hide text inside an image

2011-12-04T01:51:00.001+05:30

A smart and powerful trick to hide your passwords and other important login information in an image.

Many of us might be having atleast 1 email account (with each provider – say a gmail and a Yahoo ID), 1 social networking account (say a Facebook and a twitter account and of course now a Google+ account), accounts with several other sites (say a bank account login, a work email ID etc.) and the list goes on with time.

It is quite normal for us to forget atleast one of these passwords or all together forget that we have an account at a site. So, we make a note of all such passwords at one place (like make our browser remember the passwords or store the login info in a password protected MS-Office Excel sheet).

But, not all sites enable password remember option – example : online bank account. So, we need a way to store our password at one place.

Now, here is an idea to store (hide) all such information in an image or a wallpaper !

STEPS to hide a text in an image :

1. Open your Notepad and write down the text to be hidden. (Saved it as text.txt in this example).

2. Select an image in your computer. Let it be an image which no one can suspect and which you won’t transfer to anyone. (here I select the netizens header image named thenetizens.png).

3. Copy the text.txt file and the image to a directory. (here New Folder on the Desktop)

4. Click on Windows Start button on the keyboard and the key “R” on keyboard at once to open Run dialog box. Type cmd in the box and press enter to open command prompt.

5. Navigate to the New Folder where both the files are put. Use the cd command to do so. (Here, as I use Windows 7, it shows my user directory by default and so I use the following commands: )

>cd Desktop

>cd “New Folder”

6. Now when you are at the directory where both the files are put type the following command. (Make sure of the order and also the spacing)

copy /b thenetizens.png + text.txt Secret.png

7. That’s all. You are done.

Now you may delete the two previous files : thenetizens.png and text.txt

If you double click on the new image Secret.png, it shows the old image only. Now right click on this image (Secret.jpg) and Open With > Notepad.

You find some characters and scroll to the bottom – Your secret text is found.

Hope this helps in hiding your text and other login related information under an image which no one can suspect.

Happy hiding !

Crack this code to become a spy

2011-12-02T20:54:00.001+05:30

UK Intelligence agency GCHQ has launched this campaign to recruit coders or ethical hackers as spies. So, here is a chance to become a James Bond !

The Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, has announced this on social networks with a question asking "Can you crack it?" along with time ticking.

The answer to the code has to be typed in as the keyword and if the correct answer is typed in, it redirects to a page showing a link to the agency's recruitment website.

Well trying out some URL combinations in the address bar also gives a result as below

Upon successful completion, this is the final page to be displayed :

It has been almost a month since the competition has begun and it will continue till December 12th,2011.

With cyber warfare potentially being the next generation of wars between nations, it is no surprise that the agency has resorted to such a code-cracking competition to recruit people.

This might be new to hear, but GCHQ has followed such methods for recruitment even before.

As BBC says :

In 2009, it placed video content, themes and downloadable pictures on the Xbox Live network which appeared during Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and other video games.

Two years earlier, it targeted gamers by placing digital posters in online titles including Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas and Splinter Cell Double Agent.

So, Can you crack it ?

Do share your opinions as to what you feel about the code.

NOTE: A gift to followers on our Facebook Fan page – the link to the page showing successful completion will be posted.

Solution to part #1 of the puzzle can you crack it

Hint for stage 2 of 3

Solution to part #2 of the puzzle can you crack it

UPDATE: Why crack it when you can get the link to the final stage directly ?

Final answer and stage to can you crack it puzzle.