Back Up Your WhatsApp History to Google Drive

Back Up Your WhatsApp History to Google Drive

What if your phone suddenly slips while traveling on a bike?

Obviously you will end up losing all your important personal data, contacts, especially your WhatsApp Chat Data.

Sounds bad, doesn't it? 

But, now you need not worry if your phone suddenly dies or goes bad. Here is some great news for all WhatsApp users! Simply back up your WhatsApp chat history to Google Drive - history of photos, videos, and chats and never worry if your phone suddenly got corrupted.

If you use Android smartphone, at least.

That's because WhatsApp tied up with Google Drive, letting you create a private online backup of all your data from the now Facebook-owned chat service.

The app will let you back up your entire WhatsApp chat history. This includes voice messages, photos, and videos, to Google Drive, giving you extra security that your data is safe if your phone goes blank.

Now, you can restore everything on a new phone or tablet with just a few clicks. But wait... the new backup feature will be gradually appearing out in the next few months, and will appear in your WhatsApp settings once it is officially available.

This new feature offers a seamless way to back up your data in the cloud with encryption for added security now with WhatsApp currently having more than 1000 million users, and most of them are on Android devices.

WhatsApp currently has more than 1000 million users !!!

Review: Writing and Publishing Your First Book: From First Idea to Overnight Marketing Success

Writing and Publishing Your First Book: From First Idea to Overnight Marketing Success

Writing and Publishing Your First Book: From First Idea to Overnight Marketing Success - How to Write, Edit, and Publish eBooks - is a godsend for those who have a knack for writing books and want to do so. But then there are many bottlenecks that need to be overcome.This book will systematically remove them for you. So if you have been wasting your talent or spent time in other pursuits then this will set that right. Yes... make money now with writing. This book delivers what it promises, and gives us the right information.

Did you know that writing can create additional income? Even to the extent that you can replace a full-time job by publishing books.

This book covers everything. From getting your ideas out of your head onto a paper, to editing, proofreading and finally on how and where to market your book.

The author provides fascinating information on sites that sell eBooks and what you can expect by way of expenses in signup costs and royalty payments. This information is definitely worth the price of the book!

I highly recommend this to any aspiring author. It is truly a must read for those who are bathroom writers (akin to bathroom singers)!

This world economy has slipped into a terrible shape and what we see is merely an attempt to bolster our past glory. A feeble attempt to maintain the old status-quo. But for how long? Expenses are skyrocketing while incomes have been stagnant or dwindling in some cases.

And then there are those who have no time to live a free life with their family. This book shows us all an opportunity to change. To start a real business using writing as a backbone, step by step. This book will lead by hand.

Of course selling eBooks at Amazon is covered (obviously Amazon is a big name), but the author goes much further.  And trust me, you will never be able to guess what  the first step is in order to start making money using your writing skills!

There is no rocket science here. The author re-assuredly guides us with our baby steps and makes us take the plunge.

Everyone can benefit from the steps given in the book and can expect to make decent if not great income from publishing. Start with Amazon and then go beyond. The world is the playground now...

Get the kindle edition here.
And the hardcover version of this book here.






Note: The links in this page are affiliate links.

Put your music collection online and stream it from anywhere - for free!

Put your music collection online and stream it from anywhere - for free! Yes you heard me right. Now you can use some free services to store your music online and access them anywhere from any device.

Music streaming is the hot new craze, what with many services already offering access to millions of songs for a monthly fee - but I am talking about your own collection.

If you have your own music collection on your PC that you have built painstakingly over the years, you can now put it online and stream it from anywhere for free.

Just imagine - you are driving in your car and forgot to upload your favorite songs in your pen drive or CD and now you have to travel with some boring music from the FM stations.

But having your collection online will allow you to download the tracks that you want and voila! you are now able to hear your favorite Bollywood blockbusters!

The best option is - Google Play Music:

Google Play Music  is a free service that allows you to upload up to 50,000 songs and stream them from anywhere much like what you do with google drive or Dropbox. Google offers the biggest storage option by far.

Just download the Google Music Manager application ( for Windows or Mac), install it, and sign in with your Google account.

Just sync your music folders and it will automatically copy/build that music collection in Google Play Music.

It will monitor your music folder in the computer and automatically upload any new music you add to your PC, to your google account.

You can also upload songs directly from the website using the browser. You can then sign into Google Play Music on the web, via the Android app, or the iPhone or iPad app and stream music while on the go.

An amazing bonus is that the mobile apps let you download songs for offline listening too; you can just cache them without having to plug back into your computer.

To upload music more quickly, Google Play Music will “match” your local song to a song on Google’s servers (much like what Shazam does to song identification). If Google already has a copy of the song, you’ll get that one without uploading it fully.

If you want an offline copy of your music again, the Music Manager application allows you to re-download your entire collection.

We will look at other options in a future article. 

Help - Networking = Not working (Try the 8 port router)

Question from Ananth Subramaniam:

Hi CG Kish. I need your help in a matter that is technical. I need a six-port wired router (do they exist?). We have a total of 5 staff who need to access the Internet and our office server via LAN and I don't want to have to install two 4-port routers just for two extra systems.
The only problem is that I can’t seem to find a 6 port router. All I can see are 4 port routers in Amazon as far as my eyes go. Do you have any suggestions as to where we might be able to procure one? We cannot use Wi-Fi, therefore are opting for a wired router.


Editor's answer:

Hi Ananth. I have a suggestion for you. After doing a bit of research, I was able to zero in on a wired router that has 8 Ethernet ports.

It’s the TP-LINK TL-R860, and it comes at about $30 at Amazon as of date.

But wait... there is a small limitation with this one. The limitation of this router is that the data transfer speed is limited to 100Mbps on every port.

That should be more than adequate only if most of your PC work involves internet access.

But as you have already said that your staff need to share files with each other and also use the office intranet server, I think you would be better off using an 8 port Gigabit Switch+Router/Modem combo.

You can connect your 6 computers (5 staff's PC plus your PC) to the Gigabit Ethernet switch, and then provide internet to everyone by connecting the switch to the internet modem through a regular router (since you already own a router I think you need not buy one again).

Using this setup your staff can easily connect to the Internet with no visible loss in speed while also allowing them to access the office server at a decent speed that’s supported by the Gigabit switch.

Bottomline -  Choose the second option of an 8 port switch/router/modem configuration that will well serve your needs and in future if you plan to add a PC or two, it will still help and save you the cost of another router!

I hope this helps Ananth. Best of luck!  And do let me know how you went about solving your problem,


Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Review: DreamHost - 200% faster Web Hosting

Many bloggers fail and enter a state of oblivion, because their hosting lags behind in speed and functionality.

There are hosting related issues, that do not seem to be taken care of adequately by their hosting providers which ultimately brings their ranking down, because Google hates downtime.

Your hosting is the life-line of your blog. So if it’s not strong enough, then it your blog or website may fail terribly.

In this article, we are going to talk about one of the best blog hosts out there that you can use to create a perfect site.

DreamHost - Web Hosting That's 200% Faster!

Slow websites are a pain. People don't have patience while clicking them and you lose all valuable traffic. With solid state drives (SSDs) pages load 200% faster so that your website visitors are a happier lot! 

• Plans Starts at $8.95/mo & includes 1 free domain name.

The mark of a good host is one:

1. Who is ahead of competition and cost-effective too. 
2. Can answer your questions providing solutions for beginners or highly advanced programmers?
3. Makes it really easy to install blogs, forums, shopping carts, or any add-on features for your sites? 
4. Provides unlimited Email Accounts 
5. Has a web-based Control Panel
6. Has new Solid State Drives (SSDs) instead of the old HDDs

DreamHost does just this. One free domain is included with your account, and you can add as many domains as you want.

Want more? They include unlimited sub-domain hosting without any extra charge.

Are you wondering about space offered?  They offer 500 GB of storage and 5 TB (!!!) of bandwidth in the starter package that will take care of most people's needs, but if you require more than that they can provide it!

Mechanical hard drives are old school. With SSDs (solid-state drives), your sites perform better, and you’ll experience faster database queries and faster caching overall, so much so that you will wonder why everyone is not offering the same.

Starting a Website Was Never So Much Easier and Quick... 

You can use any web software you like on your sites, with ease and comfort - perl, php, cgi, FrontPage extensions, MySQL and more - all up to date with simple interfaces for you to take advantage of. Do you have questions on how to use or work with these technologies?

Read the extensive help wiki or talk to the great customer service reps who will do everything they can to help you.

Click on the pic to see prices and plans at DreamHost.

More importantly DreamHost has a great up-time rate promising 100% uptime on their site, which is a very bold promise for a host to make.

This emphasizes the company’s nearly legendary server data centers and network infrastructure, so your customers will always see your pages.

They have a very very small downtime periods compared to others so that is a big plus.

DreamHost makes it easy to add a wiki, forum, a WordPress eCommerce blog, shopping cart, and photo management to your site. But that's not all.

At DreamHost, you are in control of your account. Get full access to number of features, manage your web mail, set up auto-responders, view detailed site statistics for each domain - and so on - and leave it at that.

Cons: A lack of security features keep DreamHost from being one of the top web hosting services. Site backup and restoration are not available under its shared plans, however, email spam protection and SSH come standard with the small business shared hosting plan.

Bottom-line: This web hosting service is suitable for small and medium websites and experienced web developers. DreamHost really blazes ahead of its competition with its hosting package. If you are dissatisfied, you have over three months to cancel and get a refund. That however may not happen, once you get used to the unique control panel and the phenomenal speeds.


Click here to sign up for DreamHost

Review: Headphones with sharing function - Amkette Tango FDD737BL

The chance that you may have never used an earphone to listen to music is almost zero. Like it or not, we  love listening to good music from not only MP3 Players but Cellphones and music websites with headphones and Earbuds (in-ear phones). If you want to try out a decent headphone that comes with superb quality rendering and also the ability to share with another friend I would suggest checking out the Amkette Tango FDD737BL Trubeats Tango Wired Headphone.


In fact, we see many people listening to music whilst doing almost anything. Wonder if Doctors did that while in the OT?!

If you want to try out a decent headphone that comes with superb quality rendering and also the ability to share with another friend I would suggest checking out the Amkette Tango FDD737BL Trubeats Tango Wired Headphone.

These headphones were designed with sharing in mind. 





The headband adjusts to comfortably fit little kids' heads and up, and the bright colored decals that they come in (totally 4 variants) will appeal to most everyone. And best of all, the sound quality is quite good featuring the bass-rich Trusound that will provide you with well balanced treble, high and low mid sounds. Its USP is the thumping bass that will make you feel like watching a live concert (popcorn not provided!).

Another thing I liked was the portability. You can fold it neatly and save some space in your bag.









Pros:

Mic: Integrated mic that supports internet calling via skype or hangouts in laptop /desktop No Muffled sound.Sharing: There is a aux out 3.5mm jack that you can connect to any headphone or headset or speaker system and listen with your friends/family. Portable/fold-able - Easy to slug it around.

Gold plated 3.5 mm angled input jack that allows to you connect with almost any media device.

  Cons:   While the quality may not be top notch as the high-end ones due to pricing constraints it does quite well with what best resources the company has put in for that price range. Seems like the only shortcoming in my view.   This product comes with 1 year Limited Hardware Warranty   Check out the Amkette Tango FDD737BL Trubeats Tango Wired Headphone here.
  
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.      

Print from your Smart Phone or Tablet

How to Print from your Smart Phone or Tablet

All of us agree that smartphones and tablets have invaded our lives in a big way. Nowadays smartphones have become faster and equally efficient as laptops and PC and tablets are slowly replacing the PCs and Laptops in a world where form factor and speed is essential.

There are umpteen improvements in day-to-day work in the form of enhanced software and intelligent software that decides what you really need. However one thing that I found missing was the ability to print from a laptop or smartphone and it took some time for technology to catch up.

The usual way to connect to a printer is via a USB cable connection after installing the drivers and using software that came pre-installed on the device.
If it is not possible, or if you prefer to print wirelessly, you’ll probably need to download an app written just for that purpose. That is advancement for you!

Note: Some wireless printer manufacturers include an app for printing wirelessly from a mobile device on their printers’ installation CDs. If that is missing you can try to download the app available as a free download directly from the printer manufacturer's website (your printer’s user manual should give you the Website URL).

The big question is - what to do if your Printer is not Wireless enabled?

You are in luck! What you need is a PC with Google Chrome installed with your user account and an Android Phone (from where you need to print something) with a free app for your Android device.

This method involves a free service from Google called 'Cloud Print'. 

First, configure the PC that has a printer attached.

1. In your Chrome Browser, sign in to your Google account (by clicking the menu button in the top-right corner).
2. Go to Chrome Settings.
3. At the bottom of the Settings page, click on 'Show advanced settings'.
4. Scroll to the section labelled 'Google Cloud Print' and click the button 'Add printers'.
5. A confirmation page will open. Click 'Add printer(s)'.
6. A Cloud Print web page will open where you can configure many options in your printer settings.
7. After you have installed a printer you can now use the 'manage printer' option that you will see here.

Next, set up the Android device that you want to print from.

1. Download and install one of the free Cloud Print apps. I tried the newly released Google Cloud Print app such as CloudPrint Plus or CloudPrint
2. Open the Cloud Print app and it should show the printer(s) that you set up on your PC.

You should now be able to print from any apps that allow sharing. Open a web page or document you want to print in any app, then click the Share button. Share the document to the Cloud Print app.

You’ll be able to send the file to the printer.  Because Cloud Print works over the Internet, you can use this feature to connect to a printer at your home or office or anywhere!

Note that you must be using the same Google account in Chrome and with the Cloud Print app after which your printer will be seen in the app. In case you did not know, the PC and/or the printer do not have to be switched on when you send the print command. The print job will be queued at Google Cloud Print until you turn the PC and printer on.

You can check what print jobs are waiting by clicking the Chrome “Manage printers” button mentioned above in step 7. If you do not want your printer to always be connected to the Internet, simply click the "Disconnect printers" button mentioned in step 8 above.

That is it! I hope you liked this nifty tip. Let me know if it worked for you or if you have a better suggestion. If this article helped you - please share it around socially!

Get the 64 bit version of the Chrome browser - it is fast.

Presenting the 64 bit version of the Chrome browser that saves your time.

Google released a 64 bit version of their popular Chrome web browser, and the current version is a lot faster and more stable than the 32 bit version (that we’ve all been using for so long by default)!

After using the 64 bit Chrome browser, I wanted to scream from the rooftops - this is one fast badass browser! 

There are many enhancements in the new version (such as a much crisper text on high-DPI monitors). 

But the best feature which I like the most is the increase in speed and stability as they are huge time savers in the long run. 

If your computer has a 64 bit OS, I strongly recommend installing the 64 bit version of Chrome ASAP. 

Rest assured that you will not lose any of your bookmarks or settings during the quick and silent upgrade process. 

Go to the download link at https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/. 

Simply click  on Download Chrome for another platform and follow the simple instructions.

Choose the Windows 8/7 64 bit version to download a setup file.

Note: If your computer has a 32 bit CPU you’ll not be able to install the 64 bit version.

How to log in to multiple accounts in same website (with Google Chrome)

If someone had to ask me whether they could sign-in into a website with different identities to check out  multiple Yahoo email accounts at the same time, I would have advised them to use a different browser for each account or go incognito in separate instances of a browser (not in a tab)

But now I would ask you to use this plugin for Chrome browser - an excellent extension called Multi-Account Login that lets you easily log in to multiple online accounts on the same website by using just a single instance of your Chrome browser. 

It is the answer to dealing with multiple sign-in identities. 

Previously one would have to open different browsers to login into the same website but with different identities in order to protect single sign-on cookies from clashing. All that is a thing of the past now. 

Here’s how to install and use the Multi-Account Login extension:

First, install the extension - visit this page and click the 'Add to Chrome' button.

Secondly to log in to more than one account on any website - simply click the green 'New Account' icon, in the upper right-hand corner of the Chrome window (as seen in the screen shot window).

After you click on the icon, a new tab will open in which you can log into a different account. 

Doing this again will allow you to login the same website with different IDs. That is all.

This extension is completely free for personal use.

Let me know if you have other suggestions. I would love to hear them.

Blank bookmark favicons in Firefox

Hi Kish (aka CoolGeek)

I have a strange problem that has been plaguing me for years now. I find it strange that there are many Blank bookmark favicons in Firefox, that have no icons (favicons) beside them, in my bookmark toolbar. I thought it was a problem that would go away by itself and after so many years I find that it has been there like a permanent scar on my Firefox browser window. 

I cannot see the small icons for many bookmarks - some of them are even the highly popular ones like gmail.com. I am not sure if there is even a solution for this as I have a feeling that it is more user-related than browser-related bug.

So is there a way to get the lost or blank bookmark icons in Firefox, in my Firefox bookmark toolbar?

Thanks - Hemant Sareen.

Most bookmark icons (favicons) are blank in Firefox - CoolGeek answers:

Hi  Hemant. Your problem is not something that has no solution. In fact I too had this problem some time back and when I researched the case of the missing favicons I found that they got corrupted after Firefox 3 and later versions of Firefox due to some changes in the way they are stored and exported..

Many years ago after synchronizing my FF bookmarks on other laptops I lost all my favicons. The only way I could restore those favicons was to open each bookmark to reload the favicon. It was a good solution then but now that I have more than 1000 bookmarks... that wouldn't work for me. 

Fortunately I found something that works perfectly for me :)

Bookmark toolbar shows missing favicons.

Then there are also some plugins that are culprits like Ad muncher that prevent sites from changing favicons resulting in missing or blank favicons.

Another reason I found out was due to user negligence. 

Make sure that you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode. Sometime you may tell Firefox to "never remember history" when you enter Private Browsing mode and select: Tools > Options > Privacy > History>Never Remember History" from the drop-down menu. See screenshot above.

Now that we discussed some possible reasons with regard to the missing icons let's see what we can do about it.

I have used this addon for Firefox that solves my and your problem immediately. 

Its aptly called  - 'FavIcon Reloader'. A small tool to reload/rebuild the Favorite icons.

How to install and use this addon:

Click on the Green Button that says 'Add to Firefox'

Visit this page in Firefox - Favicon Reloader and click on the green button that says Add to Firefox. See screenshot above.

Restart Firefox after you have given the OK to install this addon in the popup window.

After installation you will find the addon in the bookmark menu and in the context menu.

It finds those bookmarks that are without FavIcons and tries to fetch them from their web site.

Press the Play shaped button at the bottom of the addon window and wait for a few minutes (depending on how many bookmarks you have in your bookmarks folder).

It will start the process of downloading all the favicons for all your bookmarks and after its complete you can close the window.

I have tried that Addon and I must say that I am mighty pleased with it. This addon is exactly what I needed. I hope I have solved the case of the missing favicons!

 Feedback and comments are welcome! Share this article if you find it useful!

Microsoft Windows 10 will be released on July 29

Microsoft Windows 10 will be released on July 29.

The folks at Microsoft have just announced in a blog post that Windows 10 will be released to the general public on July 29. And it will be free during the first year!

Truth be told I was downright disappointed with Windows 8 and like everyone else on the PC planet I was wondering if I did the right thing in moving over from Windows 7.


Windows 8.1 seemed to resolve many of Windows 8’s quirks and issues, and after beta testing the “Preview” version of Windows 10 for quite some time I feel that, in my humble opinion, Windows 10 is the best version of Windows ever. Atleast something that made me happy personally. And I am sure you will be too.

If you desire to upgrade your Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 OS installation to Windows 10 (which I strongly recommend you to do), the upgrade process is quite simple to complete.

All you would need to do is install the “Windows Update” that will be released on July 29 to upgrade your OS to Windows 10.

If you like, you can tell Windows Update to install Windows 10 automatically by reserving your free copy of Windows 10 as of now. Just click the square little “Windows Icon” that would by now be displayed in your task bar. It should look something like this:

After you double-click the icon a box will box up asking if you wish to reserve your copy of Windows 10. To reserve your copy and instruct Windows Update to install it automatically upon its release, simply click the OK button.

For those of you who choose not to reserve your copy of Windows 10 and have Windows Update install it automatically, it will still be possible to update your PC to Windows 10 manually after its July 29 release.

Don't forget to check out Cortana, the world’s first truly personal digital assistant that helps you get many tasks done. Cortana learns your personal preferences, your mood swings and your requirements to provide relevant recommendations, fast access to information, and important reminders. Interaction is natural and easy via talking or typing. 

And the Cortana assistant works not just on your PC, but can notify and help you on your smartphone too if you have the windows mobile 10 OS on your cell phones. 

Oh... the mood swings part was just to get you excited btw... However it comes very close.

Buying an used SSD?

Buying an used SSD?

Can we buy an used SSD hard disk that is selling for a bargain? Think twice. While installing an SSD hard disk as the OS drive in your laptop is the best upgrade you can make in terms of the speed up and the saving of time, but in this case buying an used SSD is not a good idea.

There are several reasons why I will not suggest buying a used second-hand Solid State Drive:

1 – Limited Write count. SSDs can only be written to a limited number of times, and every write, uses up a portion of an SSD’s life unlike traditional spinning hard drives,. And since you can never know how many times a used drive has already been written to and what is its write count - before buying it -  you have no way of knowing how much life is still left in it

2- Dead cells count: Even though a used SSD might be working fine, it could contain non-working memory cells – a condition that tends to deteriorate once an SSD starts to fail in this aspect.

3 – New SSDs are affordable. While I accept that SSD’s are more expensive per Gigabyte of storage space than hard drives cost-wise, their prices have reduced greatly, of late. Decent sized SSDs are quite affordable these days and add the amount of time you would be saving!

4- Veracity - No one knows if the used SSD is second-hand or third-hand or even worse. After all the age of the SSD is not an indicator of its health. So better be safe than sorry.

In fact, you can pick up an awesome Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD for less than $200 on Amazon. The cost extra will certainly pay for itself in the long run.


Bottom-line: I feel that it is a much better deal buying a new one than paying for a used drive that might not last very long especially if it is the primary drive in your main laptop or computer.

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. Amazon prices are subject to change.

Clean out and speed up Windows with CCleaner

Does your PC run like a snail? How to make your slow computer/laptop run faster? It is simple. Clean out and speed up your Windows PC with CCleaner - a free program that helps me complete my daily tasks and keep my PC and laptop running quick and jitter-free. It is one of my absolute favorites from Piriform, an excellent company that produces a number of useful programs out there, free and paid.

In case you have not heard about it, CCleaner is akin to a maid for the system files and OS (Operating system) of your Windows PC and laptop or Macintosh, keeping it clutter-free and clean from temporary files, recent documents, cookies, obsolete data knowledge, cached' history…

In other words almost any “leftovers” that tend to make up and clutter your disc drive and bog down your system, sometimes to a grinding halt.

It will also clean up your registry of unwanted references and what I liked about it is that you are prompted to take a backup of your registry files just in case something goes wrong in future.

It is the top most programs that I install whenever I need to increase the speed of my system.

The speed of a computer will gradually reduce due to the silent junk that starts building up and in turn will reduce the space available for your important files. 

It will also result in unwanted delays due to obsolete paths and file-pointers that do not exist now but were created by you long ago. these leftovers stay in the registry and will increase the time it takes in performing simple tasks.

What does CCleaner do?

Safer Browsing - CCleaner erases your browser search history and cookies so any internet browsing you do stays confidential and your identity remains anonymous from trackers.

Clean registry - CCleaner’s registry cleaner clears out this clutter to make your PC
stable and efficient. Why is this important? Registry is the storehouse of your PC's functional codes. Like the DNA of your cells. Over some time it will accumulate waste and redundant data that is no longer needed. Usually when you uninstall any program the registry should also be theoretically cleaned but it does not happen that way. this results in obsolete references and paths that will bring your computer to a slowdown. So it is a good tool to speed up your registry.

Faster start-up of the OS -  CCleaner helps you get to work, or play faster by letting you disable unneeded programs.

And a lot more depending on which version you are going to use.

This screenshot gives an example of some of the items removed by a recent scan of my PC:

I use CCleaner at least once a fortnight and I strongly advise you to do the same. You can learn more about this great program and download it for free at www.piriform.com/ccleaner.

Why Xiaomi Mi 4i lacks memory card slot

:::: Also known as MicroSD card slot ::::

Hugo Barra, vice president for international at Xiaomi, explains Why Xiaomi Mi 4i lacks memory card slot. For those of you who are ordering it online in a few minutes this may come as a surprise (I too was) as to why this phone did not come up with  a micro-sd slot.  Now it is clear after hearing what Xiaomi has to say about this.

• MicroSD card requires a large motherboard and a significant redesign of the device that would make it look bigger and less slimmer.

• A microSD card slot in the Mi 4i, meant a smaller (lesser than 3000mAh battery) in it. 

• SD cards can significantly slow down system performance and lead to apps crashing due to the poor quality of SD cards in the market, many of which are actually fake.

 ***********************************************************

These are valid reasons according to many people. Also, these are the same reasons why most of the high-end phones nowadays don't come with a microSD card slot.

Register for the MI 4i here.

However I personally find this as a big point to consider as I am yet to come to terms with a non microSD Phone. However its a personal choice and also there is always solace in the fact that this phone has OTG support for the OTG pendrives. So I may go for this one, for the sheer specs at this price.

Note: The links in this page are affiliate links.

How to disable access to the Control Panel in Windows 8

Dear Geek - Is there a way to disable access to the Control Panel in Windows 8? I ask this because I do not want my guest's kids tampering or fiddling with my computer's settings and I cannot give them guest user access since that would mean I would have to re-install some big software program all over again. Thanks in advance.

Nithish Rane, Aurangabad.

________________________________________________________________________

Dear Nithish - Yes. The answer to your question is positive and there is a way to do it. Just follow these steps and you are good to go.

• Press the Windows+R key combination to open the “Run” box or click on the Run command in the start menu (if you have it enabled).

• Type gpedit.msc in the Run box, and press the Enter key. This will open a Group Policy editor window.

• Go to User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Control Panel.

• Double-click on - Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC settings. A dialog box will open up on your screen.

• Select Enabled, and click the OK button.

________________________________________________________________________

That is it. Whenever someone tries to access the Control panel they will get the message that access has been disabled.

Whenever someone tries to access the Control panel they will get the message that access has been disabled.

MI4i - Budget friendly warhorse of a smartphone!

MI4i - Budget friendly warhorse of a smartphone. The phone that delivers value for money. If you are looking for an affordable phone with high-end specs then you need to stop looking any further.

First thing it is a very affordable for the specs that it is powered with. In fact more than a bang for the moolah. It comes with awesome features that usually are reserved for the 20+K segment.


Coincidentally I was about to order a high-end phone but thought to wait for a day to check in just in case. And I was pleasantly surprised to see this coming out!

I will be adding more details later in the days to come. Lets see some cool pics first:

Resolution = Full HD, 1920 x 1080 Pixels 'JDI Display', All New Sunlight Display, 441 PPI Size = 5 Inches

RAM Memory  =   2 GB RAM,
Device Memory =  16 GB ROM  (User available Memory - 12.77 GB)

User Interface = MIUI 6
Graphics   =  Adreno 405
OS  =   Android v5.0.2 (Lollipop)
Processor   =  1.7 GHz + 2nd-gen Snapdragon 615 64-bit Octa core


Register at Flipkart for your phone and get set to go!

Note: the links in this post are affiliate links.

Mi 4i - Drooling stuff for the Mobile lover.

Mi 4i - Drooling stuff for the Mobile lover. The phone that I have been waiting for a long time. I must say that I am a bit lucky in this regard. When MI4 launched I missed the bus. When Redmi 1s launched I missed the bus.

When MI4i launched today I made sure that I clicked the register button. Why?

First thing it is a very affordable for the specs that it is powered with. In fact more than a bang for the buck. The thing that I liked the most was the fact that it comes with dual 4G Sims. And it has notched the quality bar to stay ahead of its rivals for each aspect of the device.

I am happy that I waited for this as it was just this afternoon that I had come almost to the verge of clicking another phone at same price but lower specs.

Lets see some cool pics first:

RAM Memory  =   2 GB RAM,
Device Memory =  16 GB ROM  (User available Memory - 12.77 GB)

User Interface = MIUI 6
Graphics = Adreno 405
OS  = Android v5.0.2 (Lollipop)
Processor = 1.7 GHz+ 2nd-gen Snapdragon 615 64-bit Octa core
Resolution = Full HD, 1920 x 1080 Pixels 'JDI Display', All New Sunlight Display, 441 PPI Size =  5 Inches


Register at Flipkart for your phone and get set to go!

Note: the links in this post are affiliate links.

Why you must calibrate the colors on your computer monitor

Why you must calibrate the colors on your computer monitor.

Do your photos look different on your computer monitor than they appeared on your camera’s LCD display or when they are seen in another computer/laptop? 

If so, its time to calibrate the colors on your monitor.And not only now but once in 4-6 months.

How to calibrate your monitor’s display?

Follow these steps if your PC is running Windows 7:

1 – Go to the Start button.

2 – Click Control Panel.

3 – Go to Hardware and sound.

4 – Click Display.

5 – Click Calibrate color and follow the instructions on the screens that follow.

 

Follow these steps if your PC is running Windows 8/8.1:

1 – Click on search panel of the Start Screen, then type 'calibrate'.

2 – Select 'Calibrate display color' from the list of search results.

3 – Follow the instructions on screen, that follow.

Calibrating your monitor every few months is a good idea. Electronic products tend to get affected by heat and therefore these settings need to be re-calibrated often.

Fing - Find out who is connected to your Wi-Fi network

Fing - Find out who is connected to your Wi-Fi network. That too n the blink of an eye using 'Fing'. It is a wonderful android and iPhone App for analyzing your Wi-Fi network. 

A simple and intuitive GUI (Graphic User Interface) that helps you judge your security levels, detect unknown intruders and also resolve network issues.  

And most importantly it is free!

For me personally I am drooling over this nifty feature which states - Wake On LAN: Switch on your devices from your mobile or tablet! 

Upon installing and first run, almost immediately you’ll be presented with a list of all those devices that are connected to your network at that time.

The Fing app will display the name of the network as well as the IP and MAC address of every device that’s currently connected to it. See the screen shot.


Fing is available on several other platforms, including Windows, OS X and Linux and Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with retina and standard displays.Check them out!

There’s a whole lot of useful info that can be seen in Fing as well.

You’ll find the free Fing Network Tools app in the Google Play Store.

DELL S2240L 21.5" Full HD LED monitor

Look at the DELL S2240L 21.5"  Full HD LED monitor (and get surprised)

Looking for a Full HD Computer display that doubles as a TV with an HD set-top box? I see one option standing - the DELL S2240L 21.5"  LED monitor that can be used to connect to the set-top box by HDMI cable (not supplied). The quality is crystal clear and the state of the art screen dynamics makes it one clear leader.

This is not a PC only monitor.

Personally I keep putting off buying a monitor till I am personally satisfied with the specs. This one just gets everything right. The features in that price range is unbeatable. If you are looking for a FULL HD monitor, go for it. It comes with a DELL 3 years warranty and that speaks volumes about the quality.

Pros:

1. Full HD (high-definition) resolution (1920x1080)
2. Size 21.5-inch screen (16:9 widescreen format)
3. Tilt 4 degrees forward or 21 degrees backward. 
4. VGA connectivity. 
5. The HDMI portfor Graphics card or Set-top TV
6. ENERGY STAR power saving.
7. Reduce power consumption by enabling PowerNap.

Cons: 

1. No DVI input.
2. No USB input
3. No Remote (in case of set-top box connect) 

Get it here if you are in India.

If you are in the US get it here.

And read the reviews here in case you are not convinced yet...