PC Geek

Clean Email Notifications with Notification Control

2012-01-18T23:19:00.001+05:30

We all hate the spam that we receive from the services that we sign up, and this doesn’t exclude Twitter, Facebook and other popular sites. They’re all around to monetize and by default, thrust you with emails to get you to their site. While it is possible to turn off email notifications by yourself, it can be a pain to have to navigate through tons of pages especially if you have a slow connection.

Notification Control lets you click on a link to a popular site (like Twitter, Facebook) to directly land on the email preferences page so that you can turn-off unwanted notifications by yourself.

If you follow this blog regularly, you’d also remember about My Permissions, a very similar service that provides you with shortcuts to app-permissions on popular web sites.

2012 is definitely turning out to be a year for aggregation-based like these which give the user with a shortcut to turn-off options which, otherwise can be pretty subtle.

Link: NotificationControl.com

Download Chromium Like Any Other Browser

2012-01-12T15:55:00.001+05:30

Chromium, the open source web browser based on which Google Chrome was built never really gained much traction like Chrome did. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that you simply cannot download Chromium like Chrome or Firefox and its download page is filled with tech jargon which is enough to shy away even savvier users. Thankfully, François Beaufort built a simple web-app from where you can easily download Chromium like any other browser.

The main advantage about using Chromium over Chrome is that you aren’t subject to Google’s Terms (which quite a few people aren’t happy with) and you get to use more recent builds which are already stable on Chromium.

Let’s embrace Chromium now, shall we?

Download Chromium (Source Francois Beaufort) (via TechDows)

Microsoft CES–Pogo Remix [Video]

2012-01-10T21:06:00.001+05:30

I usually try my best to not share videos on this blog, but I seriously couldn’t let this one pass. CES is a very popular event where tech companies participate and showcase their upcoming products and this year, Microsoft just gave their last keynote on a CES event, ever. The folks at MS put together this funny/awesome/weird pogo mix that comprises of some of the key moments in CES for the past 15 years. I’m pretty sure you’ll want to watch it more than once!

6 Great IFTTT Recipes

2012-01-10T01:25:00.001+05:30

Most of you probably know about IFTTT already and from the looks of it, many users have started implementing it in their daily life. For the uninitiated, IFTTT (If This Then That) is a free service that lets you integrate 2 different services to automate various tasks. For example, you can make IFTTT automatically add all the links on your Twitter timeline to Instapaper or Read it Later so that you don’t have to. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at 6 incredibly useful IFTTT combinations aka recipes.

While you can easily combine any two services on IFTTT and get your job done, there are quite a few ingenious combinations available ready-made. I’ve picked up some really good ones from for the purposes of this list.

1. Backup Facebook Photos to Dropbox

While you can update your photos on Facebook; it’s always nice to have a personal backup that you can look through even when you are offline. This is where Dropbox comes in. Using this particular recipe will ensure that any photo that you may have uploaded onto Facebook is automatically pushed to a pre-designated location on your Dropbox.

If you are also looking to save your tagged photos on Facebook, this recipe will come in handy.

2. Favorite Tweet => Instapaper

While it’s difficult to follow up on all the links on your Twitter timeline, you’ll always have that one article you want to read, but can’t. This is where a service like Instapaper comes in. Using this recipe, you can automatically push all your favorited tweets to Instapaper so that you can peacefully read all those articles whenever you want.

Read it Later users can make use of this recipe for the same functionality.

3. Find My Phone! [US Only]

Losing your phone somewhere in the house is very common problem and it becomes difficult when you don’t have a second phone from where you can call it up. With this IFTTT recipe, all you need to do is send an email with #lostphone to a particular address for a ring back in seconds. Sadly, any recipe involving phone calls work only inside the US for now.

4. Rain Forecast on SMS

IFTTT is a Godsend for those without a smartphone. You can easily receive notifications from all of your favorite services and even interact with them with just a text message. This particular recipe warns you if it’s going to rain in your location. I use a smartphone and I still find it pretty useful!

5. Email Attachment to Dropbox

This is for those who are stuck with corporate email accounts with very little/no space for email attachment. With this particular recipe, you can push all of your attachments to Dropbox, eliminating the need to archive them manually.

6. Send Link to Phone via GTalk

In spite of all the awesome web services that we have today, sending a link to your phone doesn’t seem all that intuitive. With this IFTTT recipe, it is. After you activate this recipe for your account, you’ll have to add the IFTTT bot to your Google Talk friend list. After you’ve activate both the channels, you can ping the bot with the link whenever you are trying to send it to the phone and you’ll receive a text message almost instantly. Unlike phone calls, this service works globally.

That’s it from me. If you are already using IFTTT, why don’t you leave a comment below mentioning the combos that you use often?

Get More Out Of Google [Infographic]

2012-01-06T20:45:00.001+05:30

While many of us don’t have trouble Googling, we often end up with results that are mediocre especially when we aren’t sure about the exact keywords. This graphic from HackCollege lists some great pointers to improve your Googling skills.

Created by: HackCollege

Get Free Unlimited File Sharing with ‘Share’

2012-01-06T06:26:00.001+05:30

BitTorrent unveiled a new service called Share that lets you share files with pretty much anyone you want. While the service itself isn’t innovative, its USP turns out to be the fact that there are absolutely no size limits at all. Once you choose your recipients and start uploading files the data is cached in the server from where the files will be hosted for download. All of your data will be removed from the server after the download or after sufficient number of people in your recipient group get it for seeding.

In addition to this, you get to choose the people with whom you are looking to share stuff instead of making the file public. Social features like commenting on files are also included as a part of the service.

Get it here.

Secure Online Accounts with MyPermissions.org [Quick Tip]

2012-01-03T23:56:00.001+05:30

Every now and then we give account access permission to various applications that promise to fulfil something on the spur of the moment and while this is pretty harmless in most cases, malicious apps can misuse this permission to post something on Facebook/Twitter or any other site through which you let them in.

To be fair, most of the apps that we include aren’t really necessary after a few minutes and we usually tend to forget about removing access to them. Any savvy user will know how to revoke permissions and will do so regularly, but the majority of users still don’t understand how to get it done. This is where MyPermissions.org comes in.

The site gives you the direct link to permission revoking pages of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Instagram and Flickr. Merely clicking on the site links will take you to the appropriate page, provided you are already logged into the service in question.

While many of us don’t need this, it’s really nice to have all these links in one page without having to manually find out how to get it done. I’d suggest you bookmark this site and clean up your accounts at least once a month. Trouble remembering things? This ifttt trigger should help.

Site: MyPermissions.org

Get Facebook Messenger for Windows Now

2011-12-28T17:42:00.001+05:30

Some of you might have read a report back in November about Facebook working on a version of Messenger for Windows. The app itself is still in a private BETA, but the folks over at The Windows Club found a public link with which you can download and try it out.

If you have Windows 7 (not compatible with Vista/XP), you can download the app (direct link) and set it up on your PC. It’s behaviour is pretty similar to that of the website’s chat bar, but it’s definitely handy if you use Facebook chat often.

The app can be maximised to the side of the right screen (like you see on Facebook’s website and the screenshot above) while it can also work within a window like any normal program. This is the fourth version of Facebook Messenger after iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Source – The Windows Club | Direct link

4 Great Tools for Distraction Free Writing

2011-12-27T00:45:00.001+05:30

With all the social networking, video streaming and other entertaining sites, it’s insanely easy to lose focus of what you are ~~doing~~ writing. Thankfully, we have many options when it comes to creating ourselves a distraction free writing environment. After a bit of messing around, The following tools are really good at what they do.

Q10 [Windows Only]

This is hands down, the best distraction-free writing software that I’ve tried out. The portable version is what I use and storing the program’s files in Dropbox enables me to continue from where I left off, seamlessly. Those of you who love typewriters will dig this since you get the nostalgic tactile response as you type.

Write Space [Chrome Only]

Write Space is no different from Q10 except for the fact that it runs within Google Chrome. If you don’t have a Linux/Mac/Chromebook and cannot try out Q10, Write Space is a great option. Some of the key features of Write Space is the persistent auto save which ensures that you have your work all backed up safely in the event of an accident when you are working on something. When you open up Write Space, what you’ve been working on previously can be seen – this approach is opposite to how Q10 works. Instead of saving txt files, the content stays within the app. Write Space also includes pretty much every customization option of Q10.

OmmWriter Dana [Windows, Mac and iPad]

One of the striking differences between OmmWriter and the other tools mentioned above is the background. Q10 and Write Space give you a solid colour background while OmmWriter lets you use a relaxing background image while you get your writing done over it. OmmWriter gives you many beautiful fonts, sounds and backgrounds to work with and it’s well worth the 51MB download size.

FocusWriter [Windows, Linux and Mac]

FocusWriter isn’t much different from the rest of the pack except for it’s hover-to-reveal UI and it should be a great choice if you are using a Linux distro as you primary operating system.

That’s all I could try out. If you know an app that’s worth mentioning here, leave a comment and let us know why you like it.

Get Access to Soluto’s new Remote Access Software

2011-12-16T00:22:00.001+05:30

Soluto is a well-known anti-frustration software that helps users speed up their Windows PCs by cutting down unwanted processes in the background during boot-up. Although, it hasn’t been doing anything special till now, the user-interface and the information provided in the software has been extremely useful to amateurs and power users alike. Without resting on their past success, Soluto is now embarking on a new product that lets you provide remote support.

Unlike TeamViewer and other remote support software, Soluto provides you with easily readable information about the PC that you are looking to fix; so that you can make an informed decision.

I’m still playing with the software so that I can write a review of sorts, but if you are looking for something like this to setup at your parent’s place this vacation to make 2012 a bit more easier, this could be it.

Visit this link and use the access code pcgeeksentme to try this product right now.

List of Useful Windows Tools (from Scott Hanselman)

2011-12-06T01:49:00.001+05:30

Not often do we find a list of awesome tools for Windows users at this point of time when everyone is focussed on writing more about tablets and smartphone apps. Scott Hanselman’s list of helpful Windows software is one of the best (and diverse) I’ve ever seen and I’m pretty sure you’ll discover something great for your needs even after casually skimming through it. Also, don’t forget to bookmark it.

Scott Hanselman’s 2011 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

5 Tips to better use Safari on Windows

2011-11-26T03:20:00.001+05:30

I’ve been using Safari as my default browser (on Windows 7) for exactly a month and frankly, I’ve got a lot of good things to say about it. Before we get started with the article, you should remember that the Safari browser for Windows gets a step-motherly treatment when compared to the mac version. Many extensions aren’t compatible with the Windows version (XMarks is one offender that comes to mind right now) and at times, the browser doesn’t really play well with pages that are heavy with flash content. Despite all this I loved the browser for certain features like reading list, reader, the sexy font rendering (I know you can get it on Windows but since Google Chrome runs on a sandbox it doesn’t really work), the clean UI; although a bit clunky.

#1. Get Some Extensions

Many of us don’t really delve deep into this browser, but if you spend some time with Safari’s extension gallery, you’d notice that it has a decent number of well-developed extensions which work like they’re advertised. Here are my favourites.

LastPass
Shortly (for quick URL shortening)
WOT
Google Reader Tools
mailto: (gives you flexible options for the mailto: links)
rapportive
Button Bar
Facebook Photo Zoom

From that list, I absolutely loved Shortly, Button Bar and Google Reader Tools. Shortly for example provides you with almost any feature that you can expect for a URL shortener and it makes me wonder if it’s just a browser extension. Just take some time to look at all the extensions that they have got to offer and I’m pretty sure that you’ll like some of them.

#2. Manage Bookmarks

When it comes to bookmark sync, Safari is absolutely PATHETIC. XMarks doesn’t work with the Windows version and Apple hasn’t really provided a solution that lets you sync your browser data (like Google has). Nevertheless, you can sync bookmarks with the help of Dropbox. Just create a symbolic link for

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer

assuming that C is where you have your Windows installation. Fire up CMD as an administrator and enter these commands.

cd "C:\Users\<username>\Dropbox"

mklink /d “Safari_data” “C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer”

<username> is to be replaced with your actual user name.

I recommend that you set up the symbolic link before importing the bookmarks. Also, do this on all the PCs on which you’ll be using Safari and you should be able to sync without any problems. If you’ve doubts feel free to leave a comment.

If you are switching to Safari from another browser, you can find the bookmark import/export tools under File from the menu (can be made visible by pressing Alt).

#3. Make The Fonts Look Better

If you like the Apple Style font rendering on your Windows PC, you’ll notice that it isn’t available as soon as you install Safari since you’ll have to change a snretting to get to it. Read this article that I’ve written earlier for step-by-step instructions.

#4. Open Links in New Tabs

By default, Safari opens all your links in new Windows and it is annoying for those of us who are used to tabbed browsing (and Apple needs to change this, like right now). If you’d like to have normal tab behaviour like on other browsers, here’s what you have to do.

Open Preferences (Ctrl+,)
Go to the Tabs section and choose Automatically like highlighted in the screenshot above. This will open almost everything in a new tab except for pop-ups (like the Tweet Button, etc.).

#5. Make Use of Reading List & Reader

Reading List isn’t the best app in it’s category but it works flawlessly and I’ve been making ample use of it for the past month. Apple should definitely spice it up by providing a syncing feature between Safari Reading list for iPhone, iPad and your Mac or PC. The reader option which is essentially like Readability or Evernote Clearly works fine too.

With this blog post, I’m not promoting Safari or even saying that it’s the best browser. Like many claim, I simply don’t think that it’s that bad while it certainly has a great scope for improvement. If you use Safari already, share some tips below and enlighten us!

Gmail Tells You If You Use An Old Password & it Isn’t Great

2011-11-23T01:28:00.001+05:30

Techdows reported that Gmail gives you a notification if you use an old password when logging in. While this is a great thing if you haven’t logged into your account in months and someone changed your password, it opens up a new security breach for the normal user.

Let’s say you once used the same password for every site and someone told you not to do so. If you listened to this advice and changed just your email account’s password as a security precaution and left everything else unchanged the person who is trying to break into your account will get a clue as to what your old password was and might start trying it on your other accounts. I know, the possibilities of this happening is miniscule, but if you are still using your old Gmail password for other services, this is probably the best time to change it. If you find it difficult to remember lots of passwords, LastPass might be your answer.

For what it’s worth, Facebook notifies you when you use the old password to sign in.

List of Free Services to Send Large Files Online

2011-11-22T01:55:00.001+05:30

Comic Credit: xkcd

Every now and then, we need to share a file with someone over the Internet that’s too large to fit a Gmail attachment. At that moment, it’s difficult to think of a service that lets you get the job done. In this post, I’ll be listing services in a descending order based on the maximum file size that they allow so that you can quickly take a look whenever you need to share a big file.

File Dropper – up to 5GB
Minus – up to 2GB
JustBeamIt – up to 2GB
Gett Sharing – up to 2GB
YouSendIt – up to 2GB
WeTransfer – up to 2GB
DropSend – up to 2GB
FileSavr – up to 2GB
SendSpace – up to 1.95GB
ZShare – up to 1GB for registered users
Dropbox – up to 500MB (tutorial)
MediaFire – up to 200MB
WikiSend – up to 100MB
Data File Host – up to 100MB
Transfer Big Files – up to 100MB
Send6- up to 50MB
Windows Live SkyDrive – up to 50MB
Box – up to 25MB

As you can see, the list start from services that allow you up to 5GB till services that allow you as little as 25MB. If you are looking to share something larger than 5GB, a great option would be using a file splitter to split it into parts that are less than or equal to 5GB (for File Dropper). You can also create a torrent if you are sharing a very large file (say, over 10GB).

I’m pretty sure that you’ll need this list when you are in a hurry someday so don’t forget to bookmark it.

How to fix your Hacked Facebook account?

2011-11-16T01:20:00.001+05:30

Unless you don’t have friends on Facebook, you’d know that lots of Facebook users have become victims to a particular scam that hacks your account and posts really inappropriate images on your wall (which is totally visible to all your friends or even the public in some cases). If you are one of these victims, here’s what you have to do to get back access to your account and fix all the inconvenience that has been caused by your account to others.

1. Change Your Password

Before you do anything else, login to Facebook and change your password. Click on the arrow on the top right as show in the screen shot above and choose ‘Account Settings’. After the page is loaded, click on ‘Edit’ parallel to Password under the General tab and change the password.

P.S. If your password has been changed and you can’t login, this link should help getting back access.

2. Revoke App Permissions

One of the major reasons why Facebook accounts get hacked is providing account access to fraud apps that posts on your behalf (or like Twitter, takes you to a mock-up of the Facebook login page to get your credentials easily). To revoke app permissions, here’s what you have to do.

Go to Account Settings just like how I’ve shown in the previous step and move on to the Apps section in the settings page. Then, click on the x parallel to any app to which you’ve provided permission to in the past 7 days, unless you absolutely know that the app is legit.

3. Remove the posts

Delete the posts on your wall that wasn’t left by you. These posts are mostly filled with links and disturbing pictures and there’s a good chance of them being removed already if your friends reported to Facebook before you could check..

4. Protect Your Computer

Prevention is better than cure and making your computer smarter is always a good idea. Get yourself an account on WOT and install their browser add-on (available for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera). This software will alert you whenever you are visiting a site that has a bad reputation.

For Windows Users:

Ensure that you have a proper antivirus software installed and updated. If you don’t have one, I’d recommend getting either Microsoft Security Essentials or Panda Cloud Antivirus (both free for non-commercial use). A thorough scan is also recommended to ensure that the Facebook fiasco hasn’t left behind anything on your PC.

If you use Windows, turn on the Windows Updates and get the latest service pack for your version of the operating system - SP3 if you are on XP, SP2 if you are on Vista and SP1 if you are on 7 are the latest versions as of this writing.

Conclusion

Some of the images on Facebook were brutal with sexual imagery or animal cruelty and some of your friends might have had a difficult time stumbling upon those NSFW images in a public environment. Leave a status message apologizing for everything that has happened. Also, make them aware by sharing this article on Facebook.

How To Get Desktop Notifications on Firefox?

2011-11-13T22:07:00.001+05:30

As a Firefox user, if you’ve always envied the desktop notifications on Google Chrome, here’s some good news. An add-on will now let you replicate the same feature on Firefox. Here’s how you can get it.

Get the HTML5 Desktop Notifications add-on from Mozilla’s gallery. This works only on sites that support notifications and Gmail is the most significant one I can remember.

Now, head over to your email settings page and enable desktop notifications (under General tab in settings). When asked by your browser, allow the site to give out notifications. If you don’t see this option on Gmail, restart your browser/reinstall the add-on.

After you’ve done this, you’ll see notifications for new messages on Google Talk and/or New email depending on the settings you’ve enabled on Gmail. This add-on should work with any website that supports desktop notifications provided you allow it when asked.

HTML Desktop Notifications [via TechDows]

Echofon for Windows is out!

2011-11-10T21:28:00.001+05:30

If you are looking for a Twitter client with clean interface and without much bells and whistles, Echofon is the one to go for. Previously, Echofon was available only for Apple’s devices and Firefox and now, they’ve just launched a beta for Windows users. Download the software and give it a spin. With multiple accounts and syncing with their iPhone app, chances are that you’ll fall in love with it!

Download Echofon BETA for Windows

Get Dropbox Download Stats with "300 Milligrams"

2011-11-10T16:04:00.001+05:30

I used my Dropbox public folder extensively when sharing files with friends on Facebook groups, but one feature that I wanted was download analytics. Although a lot of users can live without it, some will really appreciate it.

Back in January, I shared a little tip where you can use URL shortening services to track clicks on your Dropbox download links and now there's something even better.

"300 Milligrams" has put together a great tool that'll help you track the number of downloads (not just clicks) of the files in your Dropbox public folder.

Neat, isn't it?

Twitter Account Hacked? Here’s how you can fix it.

2011-11-03T12:56:00.001+05:30

Of late, many of my friends on Twitter have been sending Direct Messages to me that goes like “found this bad blog about you” and other similar lines that’s bound to intrigue anyone. Clicking on the link takes you to a site that looks exactly like Twitter’s homepage requesting your login credentials. Innocent users believe that their session has expired and provide their login details after which the sham site redirects the user to the real site as if they just logged in.

After this incident, the user’s Twitter account will start sending out Direct Messages with a similar link to others while tweeting the infectious link as well. If you see this happening to your account, here’s how to fix it and make your account secure again.

Change Your Password:

This is quite obvious. Since someone knows your login details, it is highly recommended that you change your password. Click here to change it.

When setting up a new password, ensure that it isn’t a regular dictionary word and use a tool like this one to generate a strong password. Mnemonic can be very helpful in memorizing the password or if you are too lazy (like me) start using a password manager.

If your password has been changed by someone else, you can either reset the password or submit a support request stating your trouble.

Review Applications:

Almost every time you authorize a service to use your Twitter account, your are giving them permission to post tweets/send direct message on your behalf and the link malicious links that spread from compromised accounts authorize an application to access your account after learning your login details. To ensure that this doesn’t happen again, you should go to the applications page and click on ‘Revoke Access’ for any application that you do not recognize. Also, revoke access for applications that you don’t use anymore.

That’s it; Your account is now back to your control. To prevent this from happening again, here’s what you need to remember.

If you receive a suspicious direct message from someone, do not click on the link and ensure that you notify the person.
Whenever you see the Twitter login page have a look at the address bar and make sure that is is TWITTER.COM.
Think twice before authorizing your account access to any application.
Use a secure modern browser to be safe from other malicious links.
Using the WOT (Web Of Trust) browser add-on will alert you if a link is malicious.

8 Awesome Dropbox Services (Updated)

2011-11-03T00:38:00.001+05:30

I’ve always advocated the use of Dropbox here at PC Geek and while the service itself is very useful there’s no way to put all that cloud storage work the way you want it to. In this post, I’ll be listing some interesting services that work with Dropbox to get the job done.

1. If This Then That:

This service isn’t exclusively for Dropbox, but it helps you save a lot of important stuff into Dropbox. IFTTT helps you integrate two online services to save you a lot of trouble. If you haven’t heard of If This Then That, I recommend you read this blog post.

The only thing you can do with this service is automating backups on Dropbox. Let's say you're tagged in a photo on Facebook, if you had set up an IFTTT task; a backup of that photo can be found in the designated Dropbox folder thereby saving you all the hassle. This link lists some cool combinations that involve Dropbox.

2. DROPitTOme

If you wanted someone to directly drop a file into your Dropbox folder, you will have to set up a shared folder which is accessible to the person on the other end. Also, he/she needs to have a Dropbox account to take advantage of that. DROPitTOme lets anyone (with a link to your DROPitTOme URL) send a file directly to your Dropbox. Thanks to this service, you no longer have to persuade the other person to get a Dropbox account.

FileStork is very similar to DROPitTOme if you are looking for an alternative.

3. JotForm

If you have a website, using JotForm makes a lot of sense. It’s nothing different from a regular contact form except for the fact that responses (including files/attachments) are saved to your Dropbox instantly.

4. SideCLOUDload

SideCLOUDload allows you to send the contents of a URL directly to Dropbox without having to manually download it to your computer. The only limitation is that the file in the URL should be less than or equal to 25MB and you also get a bookmarklet to use the service anytime you want!

5. Epistle (for Android)

If you have an Android device, Epistle is a must-have. Epistle is a text-editor at the core in addition to which it syncs all your notes to a folder in your Dropbox account from where you can edit/add files on your PC using Notepad. It may not be as sophisticated as Evernote, but it’s very useful nevertheless.

6. Plaintext (for iOS)

This app is pretty similar to Epistle for Android and syncs all the notes to your Dropbox folder. Nocs is a great alternative to Plaintext.

7. SendToDropbox

Previously featured SendToDropbox lets you email files to your Dropbox account. This service is especially useful when you are at a location where Dropbox’s website is blocked since you can send an email to get the job done.

8. DropTunes

Ramesh suggested DropTunes in the comments section. This app lets you stream music stored in your Dropbox account; Although mobile apps would’ve been nice, the website is good enough for most users.

Now that you’ve been introduced to these services, you’ll be needing extra space on your Dropbox account more than ever. Make sure that you finish all the tasks listed at dropbox.com/gs and add a .edu email address to your account if you have one. Also, share your referral link on social sites and get people to notice it. If you have some AdWords credits consider advertising as well!

These are just a few of the hundreds of Dropbox based apps and if you know something useful, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

Windows 8 Release Date

2011-11-02T17:47:00.001+05:30

I don’t usually publish news here, but this one was just too good to avoid.

A leaked Microsoft roadmap suggests the release dates of Windows 8 and Windows 9. Here’s the extract.

Windows 8

September 2011: Windows 8 Developer Preview
January 2012: Windows 8 BETA
April 2012: Windows 8 RC
June 2012: Windows 8 RTM
August 2012: Windows 8 Retail

If you go through the roadmap, you’ll find more information about Windows Phone, Xbox, Internet Explorer and other Microsoft products.

The roadmap also suggests that Windows 9 could be out during November 2014. If this turns out to be true, you can expect the BETA version of Windows 8 during January.

Source: MSNerd (Via: GHacks)

Giveaway – WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

2011-10-29T19:46:00.001+05:30

Digiarty software is giving away free licenses ($35.95 otherwise) to WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe, which as the name suggests is an all-in-one (HD) video converter. All you need to do is download the software from here and use the license key AF-TUTNTOZV-HQMMKP to activate and make sure that you do it before the 10th November 2011.

Source

10 Tips & Tricks for Google Docs

2011-10-19T01:03:00.001+05:30

This is a guest post by David Lazar from PDFConverter.com

More and more people are flocking to Google Docs for all of their office suite needs, and it’s really no surprise with the way the service continues to evolve.

Now is a better time than ever to hop aboard the Google Docs bandwagon and check out all of the great new features that are being offered completely free of charge.

Google Docs does not have the restraints that desktop office suites have, in the sense that they need to wait a couple of years to introduce new changes once a new version of the suite is fully created. Google Docs continues to be a work in progress that is constantly changing and adding new features that are turning heads and making a lot of people switch completely from their desktop office programs to Google Docs.

Here are some of the latest and most significant features that Google Docs has added in its quest to offer the ultimate evolving office suite for all your needs.

1. Use Three Accounts At Once

A great new feature that Gmail offers is allowing you to switch between the several Gmail accounts that you might have, without having to sign out and sign in all the time.

In order to get this feature activated, go to My Account, which is located in the top right corner of your Gmail page. Now click the Edit button located next to the Multiple Sign-On feature, and switch it to On and click Save.

Now that you have done this, you will be able to switch accounts by clicking the dropdown arrow that is located next to your e-mail address at the top right of Gmail page. Click Sign in to Another Account to add a new account, to sign in a maximum of two additional accounts.

2. Make Things Easier With Templates

Just like Microsoft Office offers you many templates to get started on your documents, Google Docs Does the same. Whether you want to create a resume or a new financial spread sheet for your taxes, Google Docs has hundreds of different templates that you can choose from if you are looking for something that will give your document a nice kick-start and make everything easier for you.

Just go to the main Google Docs homepage, click on Create New, and then From Template. You can browse through the templates by looking through the most popular ones when clicking on Most Users or Highest Rating, and you can also browse them according to what you want, whether it is a document, spread sheet or presentation that you are creating.

3. Correct Your Most Common Mistakes Automatically

If you are one of those people who frequently misspell the same words all the time, you can make Google Docs automatically correct these mistakes for you as you go along.

All you have to do is select Tools and then Preferences, after which a dialog box will appear. This is where you will enter all of the words that you most commonly mistype – up top in the Replace field. You will then enter the correct spelling in the With field located right next to it.

4. Make Navigating Long Documents Easier With Bookmarks

When working with large documents, Google Docs makes it easy for you to define bookmarks and then create links that will allow you to jump straight to them.

First choose Insert and then Bookmark. In order to create a link to this bookmark, you need to highlight the word or phrase that you want to click in order to get there, and then go to Insert and then Link… Now all you have to do is to select the Bookmark radio button in the dialog box that appears and then select the bookmark that you created before.

5. Create Web Pages With Ease

If you are someone who has no idea about HTML or web design, you can use the Google Docs word processor to create really simple web pages very easily.

Once you have created the page that you want to put online, click File, then Download As, and then HTML (Zipped) in order to download the data. You will then get a folder that will contain a single HTML file along and another accompanying folder of support files. Now all you have to do is rename the HTML file as index.html, and upload the file and the folder of supporting files to your server or designated website.

6. Back Up Your Files on Your Hard Drive

Some people prefer traditional Office apps because they can use it offline. It is really easy to back up all of your Google Doc files on your personal computer. All you have to do check the boxes of your files in the Google Docs homepage file listing and then just choose Download from the actions menu that will appear on the right.

This will take all the files and download them all together into one single .zip file. You can further copy them to Dropbox which will enable you to access it anywhere you go.

7. Insert Images With Ease

If you want to perk up your documents with images, it has really never been easier. All you have to do is drag and drop images directly from your desktop.

You do not even have to save images to your desktop; you can also insert images directly from the Google Image Search window. All you have to do is click on Insert and then Image on the menu bar, and then follow the simple directions from there.

8. Collaborate With Non-Google Users As Well

Google Docs does not restrict who you are able to collaborate with, which is what makes it such a useful tool. You can even allow people who are not Google account owners to not only view, but also edit your documents.

In order to share a file, you need to simply click the padlock icon alongside the document title, which is located at the top left of the window. When the dialog box appears, select Change alongside the Private entry in the list. Once the new dialog box sows up, select either Public on the Web or Anyone with the Link in order to denote who you want to give access to. If you want viewers to be able to edit the document as well, all you need to do is check Allow Anyone to Edit. Once you have done that, just click the Save button, and then copy and paste the link into the email you are sending out to people who you want to collaborate with on the document.

9. Increase and Clear Out Your Workspace

If you want to give yourself a larger workspace on the screen, all you have to do is click on View and then Full Screen. If you want even more room and take everything off the screen but your document, all you have to do is pressing F11 on your keyboard. This should work in all modern browsers.

10. Work With Multiple Currencies in a Spread sheet

When you are working with currencies, you will have to set a base currency format for your spread sheet. This can be done by clicking File and then Spread sheet Settings. Now all you have to do is change the Locale setting to the relevant country that corresponds with the currency that you are working with.

However, you can still mark cells to be formatted in a different currency by highlighting those cells and clicking the More Formats button, which is located on the toolbar. Now all you have to do is scroll down to the More Currencies pop-up menu and select the one you need.

Know a tip that’ll be a great addition to this list? Leave a comment below.

Find Out How Long You’ve Been Using Your PC With PC On/Off Time [Quick Tip]

2011-10-17T11:09:00.001+05:30

Ever wanted to know how much time your spending in front of your PC every day? Neuber has come up with a nifty little portable tool called “PC On/Off Time” that lets you find out how you’ve been spending time with your PC from the beginning (unless you recently cleared out everything to reinstall Windows). The best thing about this software is that it’s portable and does nothing to the system. You will also be able to get all the data accurately within seconds without having to install a solution and monitor everything.

Download PC On/Off Time [Via TechDows]

Remotely Access Another PC With A Chrome Extension [Quick Tip]

2011-10-08T17:00:00.001+05:30

If you’ve used a software like TeamViewer, LogMeIn or the Remote Desktop Connection that comes with Windows you’ll be familiar with remotely accessing someone’s PC.

A new extension titled Chrome Remote Desktop BETA just popped up in Chrome Web Store. I’ve given it a try and it’s pretty good although it’s a bit wonky when connecting to a PC using the Internet, accessing local PCs works just fine (I suspect this has something to do with my broadband connection). From now on, if you have to provide tech-support to someone instead of trying to get them to install TeamViewer, you can simply help them add this extension to Chrome and then get on with your job!

In addition to supporting remote access between Windows, Mac and Linux PCs this extension opens up remote access to/from Chromebooks as well.

P.S. The extension is around 20MB and may take some time to Install.

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA via GHacks