Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Remove Top Navbar from a Blogger/Blogspot Blog

Blogspot or Blogger by Google is a great blessing for all those bloggers who want to speak their heart out to the Internet World! With no setups, or other complications, a person is all sett instantly to start writing their blog :)

The by default Navbar which is on the top of a blogspot blog is sometimes not liked by a blogger. I also removed it because I didn't like it. Just a little CSS is all that is needed for this. Lets do it now.




Steps to remove Navbar from Blogspot blog

Go to your blog's settings page, and click "Templates". Click "Edit HTML" and then "Proceed" to edit the code of your blog.

In the code, scroll to the code where information about skin is written. Under it, paste this code and you're done! :)

#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}




Happy Blogging!!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Win US$100 in the Contest by MyCoolGigs.com for Freelancing

While surfing on Facebook, I came to know about a contest by mycoolgigs.com, a cool Micro-Job website where a user can buy/sell their services from $5 to $25. These services are called Gigs. A user can post a gig like say "I will write an essay in English for $10", or "I will draw a photo of you for $20", or "I will optimize your website for $10", and so on, and the people who need your services will accept your gig and pay you for your services. Sounds cool, right? :) It is really a great opportunity for Freelancers, isn't it?



All you have to do to take part in this contest is Register for an account, and post atleast one Gig which you're willing to do. There are also options to earn more points, and you can read them on the link of the post.

For the link, you can click here.

But remember, the deadline to take part and write the gig is 16th November 2012. So hurry up!! :)

All The Best!!!!

Friday, November 2, 2012

IObit Advanced System Care v6 Pro Product Key

Today, while I was on the Facebook page of IObit Advanced System Care looking for an official program by IObit to get a working genuine key for v6, I came to know that the promotion scheme is no more. I like Advanced System Care and everything it does! The version 6 was released on 13th October 2012 with total change of User Interface, and other improvements. It also fully supports Windows 8! :) Sounds too great, right?

As per their official announcement, the new changes in version 6 are:
+ Added Full Support for Windows 8
+ Added More Language Support
+ Updated Database for Surfing Protection
+ Updated Database for Driver Manager
+ Updated Database for Privacy Sweep
+ Improved User Interface
+ Fixed General Bugs




A user can always use Advanced System Care for free, but there is a Pro version, which provides added support and many tools which can not be used in free version.

In case you don't have ASC v6, you can install it from here.



Coming back to the story of the search for its key on IObit's Facebook page, I started looking in the comments and found someone who had commented
a working key. I used it, and damn!, my ASC v6 got its key!! Thanks to IObit for the key!!

To use the key, follow these instructions:

1. Open Advanced System Care v6.

2. Click "Purchase Key" on the main screen and insert the key CC52B-28CB1-DAF12-A96D6

3. Your Advanced System Care Pro is activated! Thanks to IObit for such a great software. :)

In case of any errors or troubles, let me know. :)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Spybot - The All In One Solution for Most Malwares and Sick Web Bowsers Toolbars like Sweetpacks, Funmoods and Babylon

As the amount of malwares is increasing day by day, I get to hear about a number of new toolbars which don't get uninstalled from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer (IE), and other browsers, almost everyday. I have myself experienced the troubles these toolbars cause, and also, the risk they pose to our system's privacy and security. So now I am going to write about this wonderful software(a number of 1's and 0's, as per the programmer who programmed it), which can be used anywhere, anytime, and that too, FREE of cost! :)


Risks Posed by Web Toolbar based programs/Malwares


Well, I will call them all malware for sure, because all such softwares that give you fancy emoticons, smileys, and offer to provide you 'this' and 'that' are just a kind of bait, set to trap your system's security and privacy! Toolbars like SweetIM, Sweetpacks for Facebook, Funmoods, and many many other toolbars get installed in your web browsers and have access to your chats, and all related stuff!

While you're feeling happy for the awesome emoticon you just saw because of Sweetpacks, or Funmooods on Facebook, it is highly possible that the same toolbar can note down your chats and attack your privacy.

Kids are the easiest targets for this, and they download and install such toolbars without suspecting anything. Well, I'm not saying that Funmoods or related toolbars do this, but I simply DON'T TRUST them! A fancy smiley is not worth the security and privacy of my system.

Using Spybot- Search and Destroy

Here comes this awesome software which is freeware, and still does wonders which many paid softwares won't be able to do!! All you have to do is run a scan or "Check for Errors", and remove all the entries or whatever it instructs you to do. Simple, right?



You can download it from here.
And yes, after repairing errors, make sure you click "Immunize" button to inject anti-malware 'injections' in files and cookies.
In the image above, you can see the screenshot I have just taken and how easily you can get rid of toolbars like Sweetpacks, SweetIM, Funmoods, Babylon toolbar, Chameleon Toolbar, and any other related sick stuff.

And yes, Happy Halloween!! :D

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Get Google Chrome and Google back in Tiles of Windows 8

If you've recently installed Windows 8, and are still playing around with it, enjoying the tiles, you might be missing Google and our very own Google Chrome browser in them. Missing them, right? Well, Google has listened to pains of all people who have recently installed Windows 8, and has uploaded a video instructing you how to get Google and Google Chrome back!

In a Youtube video, Google tells how to get them back! Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGplftLI9Fo

The 58 seconds video takes you through the steps, and gives you a few seconds to dance too! ;)







The website www.GetYourGoogleBack.com will also redirect you to this video link. Enjoy!
And if possible, let me know your experience about Windows 8! :)

Domination of Smartphone Market taking Samsung towards the Sky

I just read that the shares of Samsung are soaring high, and its profits are going really well. Another importance of this thing is that Samsung's shares are rising when its rival, Apple's shares are hit. In case of Apple, it is said that its financial results failed to meet the expectations of its investors.

Samsung reported net profits for the quarter as $5.97 billion. This is obviously because of exceptional sales of its Galaxy series phones. The overall profits have risen by 91% as compares to the same quarter of last year.

"The business environment remained difficult with global economic uncertainties persisting amid the fiscal concerns in the US and Europe," said Samsung Senior Vice President Robert Yi.

"However, we continued to break our quarterly profit records," Yi said.



"We expect Samsung will deliver solid earnings growth with product leadership in the consumer branded business, smartphone and TV, and enhanced bargaining power in the component business, semiconductor and display panel," Citi said in a report.

Samsung shipped a total of 56.9 million smartphones out of the total 162 million smartphones sold globally. It is a 35% share, which is massive for a company.

Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S3 can be said to be the main force behind company's exceptional growth. And I'm already in love with Samsung's Note II ;)

Is this just the beginning of Samsung's march to conquer the market of Smartphones? May be, the recently lost judgement is providing Samsung with some kind of Nitro boost!! :D

Free Alternatives for Microsoft Office (Free and Portable)

Today I'm listing 5 FREE and Portable alternatives which you can use in place of Microsoft Office. This will be helpful if you don't want to purchase Microsoft Office, or simply want to run away from Microsoft products.

As many open source communities are usually against Microsoft's working and profit-making strategies, there are literally many alternatives to everything that Microsoft offers. And many such products are even better than Microsoft, after all that's the real power of Open Source! Biggest example of this is our Google Chrome!! It has literally made Microsoft's Internet Explorer run back home.

If you want to use an alternative to MS Office, here are the products which you should use. And again, these are portable too! That means you can simply use a USB drive to use them, which can be used in case you're stuck in a Cyber Cafe with no MS Office!


1. LibreOffice Portable



LibreOffice Portable is an OpenOffice based alternative, which is compatible with all file formats of Microsoft Office.
Simply download the installer, open the file, and extract it to any location (it can be a USB drive too)

Download LibreOffice


2. OpenOffice.org Portable



As LibreOffice is developed using OpenOffice, all the components are just the same as in LibreOffice. But, the total size of OpenOffice is about 3/4th of the size of LibreOffice files. In case you have trouble running LibreOffice, consider using OpenOffice.

Download LibreOffice


3. Kingsoft Office Suite 2012


alternative to msoffice kingsoft office suite

In case you're experiencing compatibility issues with LibreOffice or OpenOffice, this is the suite that will help you out. Kingsoft claims highest compatibility with Microsoft Office. The full version of Kingsoft is paid, although a portable and free version has Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets, which are respectively the same as MS Word, MS Powerpoint and MS Excel. I think these are just enough for most common uses. It is just 35.8MB in size.

Download Kingsoft 2012


4. SSuite Office Blade Runner



Blade runner is the portable version of SSuite's Office suite. It works as an alternative for MS Word and MS Excel, while other utilities such as email, instant messenger, pdf creator, etc. are also available with it. It is also free of cost.

Download SSuite Office Blade Runner


5. Softmaker Office 2008(paid, but shareware which you can use without paying)



"If you need a Microsoft Office alternative, which is also blazingly fast, friendly, and reliable, look no further", rightly says their official website. Although their latest versions are paid versions, there is a free-to-use version of 2008 which is available for download. It is available for Windows, Linux, Android Smartphones, Windows CE and Windows Mobile.

Download Softmaker Office


If you know about any other alternative, please let all of us know about it too! :)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Heart Touching Story About Life: NYC Taxi driver with an Old Woman as Passenger

I found this story on Facebook. It talks about life, about patience, and how it ends quietly in the end. I thought it is worth a share, so I'm sharing it here.


Here it starts:

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.



After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940′s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’

‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’

‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly..

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice..’The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired.Let’s go now’. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.

‘Nothing,’ I said

‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.

‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.

‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?




On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.


4 Ways to Increase Your Blog Traffic

Now with about 10 months of experience with blogging about different topics, I am now getting a traffic >200 per day. Yes, hard work pays!!

Looking towards future, I had to think about the best practices which I need to follow to increase traffic. Hence, coming up with what I have gained.



1. First way to Increase Blog Traffic: Content Is the King

As a blogger, you should keep one thing in mind: the better the content, the better your blog is. So, aim for special topics every once in a while, and let them be the face of your blog. Every once in a while here means at least once a week.

Just write down about the latest thing you just learnt, as we learn something daily whether we're aware about it or not. For example, I am now going to write about Drupal today, because i am just done with editing a theme in Drupal 7, and learnt many things while doing it.

ways to increase blog traffic tips

2. Be Regular with Writing Blogs

If you're serious about blogging, just make sure you're regular with it. Obviously it doesn't mean that you should publish a post at 4pm every day! But you should write a post every once in two days at least. The topic need not be something for which you will need to spend an hour. Just go to any Q & A website, see what people are asking for, what their general questions are, and pick up the one which you think is really simply according to you, and you have got what you can write in 20 minutes!! Sounds simple? Yes, it actually is. If you write two posts a day, that sums up to be about 15 posts per month. If each post brings 10 visitors per day, you're getting 150 visitors in just one day at the end of the very first month!! 10 visitors?? What if your posts are way too great(than I'm expecting) and each gets roughly 50 viewers per day??? You can do the counting part I guess! ;)


3. Get Social with people and Do Promotions

This part is also as crucial as writing a post is. Don't believe me? Well, you'll believe only after you actually do this.

Every once in a while, you read a blog post by someone here or there, right? Whether it is about a gadget, some technology, or just some jokes, we all like reading blogs. But then, we just move on to other things after reading the post. Instead of closing the blog, what if you write your thoughts in the comments section of that post? Won't that give you an extra backlink, and not to forget, some new visitors??

Well, be social with everything when you're a blogger. Write comments telling the author what you think about his/her post, and what you loved in that post.


4. Guest Blogging

Yes, this is about the old thing you've always heard about: write guest posts.

Guest posting gives you an extra edge to increase your visitors, and provides you with a backlink too. Although Penguin update by Google won't recognise your backlink as much as it would have done in the past, but for sure your reputation will increase and you'll get traffic when people who love your post will go to your blog to read more of your content!

To get a list of websites that want you to write a guest post for them, Google "Write for us" with a word about what your topic will be. This way you'll hunt for the best blog for that topic or niche.

In case you would like to write a blog for All About Life, just let me know ! :)



Monday, October 22, 2012

Top 5 PHP Frameworks of 2012 : A Guide to PHP Frameworks

Developers are always in a search for a Framework which works best with their needs and comfort level. While selecting a Framework also involves considering various parameters like Security, ease of use, and yes, Functionality with ease! With so many Frameworks, it is actually a little tough to decide which Framework to use for your projects. Here, I would like to give a try and list the Top 5 PHP Frameworks which I think are the most popular in PHP developers.






1. CodeIgniter Framework



The most favorite PHP framework is CodeIgniter. Its main features include Ease-of-Use, more power as compared to other Frameworks like Zend and Cake, and less time in developing your projects. CodeIgniter framework is the best when it comes to keeping the developer concentrated in functionality instead of writing codes. It includes most commonly used rich libraries for tasks that are commonly needed by developers. I will suggest you to start your PHP work with this framework.

Download: www.codeigniter.com/downloads/

Know more on their official website: www.codeigniter.com/


2. Symfony Framework



Symfony is the framework for PHP based web projects. The main job Symfony does is to help you with easy creation and maintenance of your web applications. It aims to replace the repetitive tasks in coding, and obviously, very easy maintenance of your web application.

Download: www.symfony.com/download
Read more at their official website: www.symfony.com/


3. Zend Framework


Zend is a powerful PHP Framework which is secure, reliable, and allows Web 2.0 web applications. Zend Framework's important feature is that it is enrich with APIs from Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, Flickr etc.
It is powerful, fast and scalable for any type of PHP projects.

Download: http://framework.zend.com/downloads/latest
Read more on their official site: http://framework.zend.com/\




4. CakePHP Framework


CakePHP is another popular PHP framework for web application development. It follows the principle of MVC and helps to extend most aspects of your Web Application. It is also simple to learn and keeps the entire code consistent and logical.

Download: https://github.com/cakephp/cakephp/zipball/2.2.3
Official website: www.cakephp.org/


5. Yii Framework


Yii Framework is a kind of next-generation PHP framework. It is a bit faster than CodeIgniter and Zend Frameworks. It starts with a fully functional website and impressive website already running, which you can configure and change according to your needs. It has many features which are very easy to do. That's the reason popularity of Yii Framework is on the rise nowadays.

Download: http://www.yiiframework.com/download
Official Website: www.yiiframework.com/

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Startup Troubles: Listing and Selecting which Programs and Services should be run when Window starts up

A friend of mine today had this problem in her Windows 7 system, where whenever the system boots up and she logs in to the system, the system hangs up in a maximum of 2 minutes. I have myself encountered many such cases before on my own system too, but luckily, got through them by this and that. So I thought I should now write a post on these "this and that" things.

Talking about the reason why this happens, I will say there is some conflict between some programs, or a startup program has some trouble in getting launched. Also, if you have more than two Antivirus programs, this is the most likely reason for the freezing up of your computer system. Both the antiviruses get into a conflict, and thus end up freezing up the computer! That's why it is always recommended to use just one Antivirus program in a computer. If your computer starts up, but freezes or hangs after Windows loading in a minute or 2 or even less(mostly less than a minute), most probably you can get rid of this trouble by changing the Startup Programs.

Troubleshoot Hanging or Freezing Problems when computer starts up or Windows loads

As you won't be able to see the startup entries as the system will hang before you get there, you need to switch to "Safe Mode" and then continue the following steps. First of all, Press F8 before Windows logo appears, and just after your BIOS information is displayed to start the "Safe Mode". You have time of about one or two seconds to press F8, so Good Luck! After that, you will see options of how you want to load the windows: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Start Windows Normally, and so on.
Just select "Safe Mode" and press enter.

Now after logging into this mode, click Start and type msconfig and click on "Startup" tab(For Windows 7). In case you're using the good old Windows, please visit here to see Startup Programs. In the window that will open, you will be seeing the programs that start up when Windows loads. Remove/disable (prefer disabling it, so that you're safe in worst case) the entries that you think might be causing the trouble. In case you're not sure about an entry, just let me know its name and I will suggest you what to do with it.



In case you have two antiviruses, or had recently installed some program after which this trouble started occurring, go to Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs and Uninstall the program or any one Antivirus program.


Monday, October 15, 2012

What are Startup Programs? How to view them in your Windows system

What is a Startup Program in simple words?

Starting with the point, a Startup Program is a software (yeah, we call it program too!) which is loaded into the memory of your computer whenever Window loads up. These programs are loaded just when you successfully sign in to your account and Windows starts(they are the reason your cursor shows rotations and animations).

Are Startup Programs bad guys?

No no, these are not bad things! These programs are of great utility, and help us a lot in loading required programs into the RAM before we need them, thus saving our time and increasing a user's productivity. But yes, as there are two faces of a coin, these programs also end up slowing your system's booting. Sometimes, users have to wait for some seconds before they can start using their computer because startup programs are being loaded into the memory and during this time, if a user opens any other program, it will only result in more slowdown of the system and complicate the processes.

How to Control Startup Programs?

Before you know how to control the startup programs, you should understand this line carefully: "You might end up messing up with your system if you disable/remove anything that you see!"
Nice warning, right?
There are some really crucial services and programs which load whenever Windows starts, and you really can not afford to mess up with them, or you will end up with a broken system, and in worst case, you will have to re-install windows. So, you have to be careful what programs and services are you changing.
TO view the list of programs and services which load whenever your Windows loads, follow these steps:

For Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 98
1. Go to Start -> Run
2. Type "msconfig" and press enter.
3. In the window that will open, select Startup, and you have the list of startup programs in front of you!

For Windows 7
1. Click Start
2. Type "msconfig" and press Enter.
3. In the System Configuration window, click on Startup tab, and you have the list!




General Advice on Which Programs You can Safely Remove

In case your system is getting slow because of Startup Programs, I suggest you to consider removing Update Programs(like some media player updater, this updater, that updater), and programs that you know what they do, but you rarely use it. This way, the startup programs won't eat up your memory, and will instead be helpful to you.

In case you need advice on which program to keep or delete, just let me know the program name, and I will be more than happy to help you out!


Friday, October 12, 2012

How To Remove or Uninstall Babylon Toolbar from Web Browsers

Continuing the crackdown on sick toolbars that just get installed in our systems without your permission, it is Babylon's turn today. These toolbars get installed when a user installs a freeware which has bundled Babylon Toolbar with it. Most probably, the freeware software providers get paid for bundling Babylon toolbar in the packages. The thing Babylon toolbar does is it changes your default Search Engine Provider on all web browsers and your searches are then done by Babylon's own search engine, from which they might be making profits. But, why get installed in such a creepy way without user's permission?? Anyway, lets get back to our point. As Babylon doesn't get installed from Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs window, you'll have to manually remove it from anything it has infected.

Let's start with getting back our Firefox browser:


Babylon Toolbar stays as an Add-On of Firefox even after getting uninstalled from a system. Uninvited guest, right?
Follow these steps to remove it from Firefox and reset your browser:
1. Click on top-left button of Firefox.



2.Select Help > Troubleshooting Information
3. Click "Reset Firefox" on the screen.



4. Update your search preferences and you're done!


You should also delete files of the toolbar. To do this, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\ffxtlbr@babylon.com, and delete the ffxtlbr@babylon.com folder.


Remove Babylon Toolbar from Google Chrome


1. Click on wrench menu on top-right.
2. Click on Extensions tab, and remove Babylon and any related extension from there.
3. Click on Basics tab, and change your Search Engine preferences. Make sure to delete Babylon's "Search the Web(Babylon)" from there.
4. Now change your Start up or New page settings.

If you still can't remove it, let me know and I'll be more than happy to help you.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

How to Host Your Website at Cheapest / Minimum Cost

As till now, I have successfully hosted 3 websites on my own, I guess I should write about the experience and how one can easily host their website at a minimum cost. First of all, you need to have your developed website on your PC. The second process is to purchase your domain name, and then find a web host where you can host your website.

If you are developing your website on your own, then its really great thing to do. You can check my post about Web Designing here: All About Web Designing: Why I love Web Designing?.



Coming back to the point, if you're not a Web Designer, then you just have to select the cheapest Web Designing service provider. Usually, big brands charge much more than what a general web designing company will charge you. I understand that a customer just wants to ensure that he/she will get quality website, and for that trust, they only want to try big brands. But also, this is the choice which costs dearly too. So I suggest to avoid big brands and instead use services of freelancers, or other companies as they will charge you really low, and will provide the same quality. This decision can be tough, but that's where you can save really huge bucks. If you want me to suggest a company, I will say you should go for DreamingKnights.com, where you'll for sure get cheap website with really great quality.


After you're done with the website designing, lets go to the Domain purchasing part. According to your preference or needs, you can purchase .com, .in, .info, .org, and many other domain names, but here again, I will say more bigger the brand is, more it is taking up money for just a NAME! You can get the same exact domain name of your choice from other Domain Name Registrars too, and at really margin-able discount. I don't know why people go for big names in Domain Name Registrations when every other registrar offers exactly the same domain name and TLD at very less cost! (May be E-mails might be tempting for them, but if this is the case, be aware that you can have a free e-mail on gmail on your official domain name. More info in this post: How to Use Your Domain Name with Gmail to get an email like user@yourdomainname.com).

So to get a cheap domain name registrar, simply Google your required domain name by using "-" to omit big brands: e.g.: "-networksolutions.com", etc.

If you need my help to search for the cheapest price of any domain name on Web, I will be happy to help you find it out.




Now you know how to eliminate extra charges involved with registration of Domain Names and in Web Designing, its time to move on to the last step: Web Hosting Providers. About this part, most novice users end up paying way too much that what they actually needed to pay(really!). I will tell you an example about this later in this post how a novice customer might end up paying for services for no reason at all. Usually, Web Service packages have monthly costs, and summing it up for a year for a basic plan, it turns out to be near 1300 INR(usually minimum package available for a year), or near US$30. You might be amazed to know that usually you don't need to pay for your hosting! Yes, there are many free hosting providers out there! They even support PHP, E-mail services, huge monthly bandwidths(even more bandwidth than what you get in a paid package), and about 1GB of storage space for your website. I do understand that huge websites can not run in this environment. By saying huge, I mean social networks, and websites with very high activity can not work smoothly in this setup. BUT, all websites are not this much complex, and I will say about 20-30% of the websites can be easily hosted by using free hosting providers.



I have myself hosted my domains like www.dreamingknights.com, www.fire2012.in and some other websites using www.000webhost.com. I am really in love with their services, and everything!! Also, it saves my bucks as now I don't have to worry about charges related to hosting of my websites. There are many other free web hosting service providers too, but I don't have any complaints(except the unavailability of auto-installer for CMSs) with 000webhost till now, so you're free to try others if you want to. As suggestions, I would like to suggest www.byethost.com and www.heliohost.org too.


If you have any thoughts about this, or would like to share your knowledge about how you save extra bucks, you're most welcome! I would love to hear from you!! :)

Sunday, October 7, 2012

How to Use Your Domain Name with Gmail like user@yourdomainname.com

As I was setting up e-mail id's for the newly developed website DreamingKnights.com, I wanted to use a means to use my own customized email address, instead of using a free name. But at the same time, I also didn't want to pay for this service, and was searching for a free alternative here and there on Internet. Another important thing I wanted to have was easy to use E-mail just like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and similar service providers do. Now, its time to share this little knowledge with everyone who might be struggling just like me to search for a free email service provider for their official email address using their own domain name, like: user@dreamingknights.com.

Finally, I found Google Apps, and it was just exactly what I wanted to have my official email address. In this, you get to use 10GB of inbox space, with 10 personalized email accounts, annd 5GB drive storage, all for free! Other services like Calendar, Docs, etc. are also there to help you and your employees to stay productive.



To get started, just visit this link and follow the steps on the website, or as always, I'm here to answer your queries.





You need to verify that you own the domain name for which you want to have your email id. For this, you will need to upload a file which Google will provide you inside your hosting space, for verification purposes.

Going further to next steps where you have to setup your MX Records on your hosting account, change the e-mail MX Records and make sure there is no forwarding in place for your emails.

After you're done, just go on to next steps as they are mostly pretty easy, and you're done! :)

Again, if you face any kind of issues, feel free to post your comment.


Saturday, October 6, 2012

ChameleonTom Toolbar Removal / Uninstall

Now, its time to help those computers which are struggling to remove another toolbar, called Chameleon. As mentioned in a previous post about removing SweetIM toolbar, now it is time to attack "ChameleonTom.toolbar".

The reason why you should remove this is really important! This toolbar automatically tries to get information like name and phone numbers of the user and forwards it to third party named Smiley media. So if you're infected by this, do make sure you remove it. It installs without informing you and installs another thing called FlvTube.Toolbar with it.


Now lets start with the removal process.

Use Windows Explorer to go to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\ChameleonTom". Now, delete the following files inside it:

about.gif
ct.htm
hoticon.ico
menu_en.htm
menu_ru.htm
UninstallChamTom.exe
wit4ie.dll
witapi.js
witmain.js
Chameleon Tom Web Site.url
Uninstall Chameleon Tom.lnk




Make sure you delete the "ChameleonTom" folder.

Now, run regedit.exe in Windows and remove all registry entries related to the toolbar. Delete the folliwing entries:


  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "wit4ie.WitBHO.1", plus associated values.



  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "wit4ie.WitBHO", plus associated values.



  • "{14CD42DD-ABCD-3586-DCAB-40E3693E3737}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\"



  • "{20EDC024-43C5-423E-B7F5-FD93523E0D9F}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\"



  • "{75ED56AF-4DC9-4243-A30C-4EF4DD0CA28F}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\"



  • "{75ED56AF-4DC9-4243-A30C-4EF4DD0CA28F}" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\"



  • "{75ED56AF-4DC9-4243-A30C-4EF4DD0CA28F}" at"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\"



  • "{9732E648-5755-43ED-9003-9E835D22CFE7}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\

  • "{E7767193-0A2F-4AFE-BAF4-288366162E48}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\"

  • "wit" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\"

  • "wit4ie.DLL" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\"



Finally, I would like to recommend a software called Spybot-S&D which is free, and helps you to keep your computer clean of such things. You can download it from their official page here.



Samsung Galaxy Note 2 N7100 vs Galaxy Note 1 : The War of Phablets

Today, I'm in a review mode about the latest "phablet" launch of Galaxy Note II N7100 by Samsung. After having lost to Apple's infringement case, Samsung seems to answer everyone with its own amazing phones! We are excited to see what more it has to offer!

Now talking turkey, the Samsung Galaxy Note II or 2, is the successor to Note 1 which was launched in 2011.These smartphones are called "phablets" because they don't look like normal phone, and also they're not so huge to be called a tablet. As you might have guessed, the reason is their size is in between that of a phone and a tablet, thus creating a new category of smartphones for those who love big screens, but don't have that big pockets to keep tablets!

With Samsung Galaxy Note series, the trouble to have a "big pocket" ends! The Note series phablets are easy to fit in your pockets, and they offer everything that a tablet can offer. Powered by Android Operating System, these are customizable, powerful and thus, highly useful devices.

Now, its time to help you decide if you should upgrade to the Note 2 in case you already own Note 1, or if you should directly buy Note 2 or 1, considering the price difference between both. As of now, Galaxy Note 1 is priced at around Rs 30,000 (INR), and Note 2 is at Rs 39,900 (INR). So its really important if that extra cash you will be spending for Note 2 is worth it or not.

Lets talk about different features now.

Dimensions and Design


Galaxy Note II is more elongated and a bit narrower than the original one. Physical dimensions of Note 2 is 151.1 mm x 80.5 mm x 9.4 mm. Although, it is not much greater difference in size between two, as you can see in these photos.


galaxy note 2 vs 1


galaxy note 2 vs 1


The Galaxy Note 2 features 0.2 inch larger screen than its predecessor.



Hardware Specifications



 Galaxy Note
Galaxy Note 2
Dimensions
5.78 x 3.27 x 0.38 inches
5.94 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches
Display Screen
5.3-inch HD super AMOLED
5.5-inch HD super AMOLED
Processor
1.4 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9
1.6 GHz quad-core
RAM
1 GB
2 GB
Screen Resolution
1280 x 800 pixels
1280 x 720 pixels
Operating System
Android v2.3 Ginger Bread (Update to v4.0 ICS available)
Android v4.1 Jelly Bean
Camera (Primary)
8 megapixels auto-focus with LED flash
8 megapixels auto-focus with LED flash
Camera (Front)
2 MP
1.9 MP
Battery
Li-ion, 2500 mAh
Li-ion, 3100 mAh
Bluetooth
Version 3.0
Version 4.0
Colors
Black, White
Marble White, Titanium Gray


The 2GB RAM in Note 2 from 1GB of Note 1, is really an important addition according to me as it will enable the Note 2 to be eligible to receive updates to latest Android versions in future too. This is because there is high probability that other phones from a year now, will have 2GB RAM as a general benchmark, and it might result in making your older Note 1 stick to some older version of Android in case it doesn't get eligible to receive updates in future. Although, it is not gonna happen at least in next 2 years I hope.




The S-pen feature of Galaxy Note series has also got updated in Note 2 and is now easier to grip and longer, just to give users the right hold over writing. Other new features of Note 2 over Note 1 include S-Pen Quick Commands, improvement in Hand Writing capture, and a feature which alerts you whenever S-pen is not in the holster of the phone, thus helping you not to lose it.


Conclusion

I would say you should go for the Note 2 if you want to have better hardware than Note 1. Otherwise, Note 1 also makes up a great choice actually even though it is not the latest. In case you already own Galaxy Note 1, I will suggest you to wait for Note 3 or 4, as that might be a better option than to pay more money today on Note 2 for better hardwares.



P.S. : As I don't own any Note till now, I am going for Samsung Galaxy Note 2 soon. Will update this post after getting my hands on it. :)


Meanwhile, I would love to hear from you people: what is your take on Note 2? Lets discuss!