Why Google+ has a winning Chance..

The world doesn’t need another social network. Especially when you have one that already has 750 million highly active users in it.

The reasons why Facebook overtook MySpace was because it was different and solved a different set of problems. Facebook introduced “real identity” to the web. And, the “newsfeed” created a whole new distribution channel for sharing on the web that now rivals with likes of search for traffic.

But, now with 750 million users, with 4 billion things being shared everyday, noise has taken over the channel. Therefore, you don’t get to see the content you want to see; Facebook decides what you should see. This becomes a fundamental problem that causes frustration and where Google+ got it right with Circles.

On my Facebook account I have 474 Facebook friends. These range from family, close friends, co-workers, passive contacts, and acquaintances. However, when I log into Facebook – my newsfeed isn’t relevant. I rarely see my family and close friends – it’s basically about everyone else. Not a week goes by, when I have to hide connections from showing up on my feed. And that’s the bigger problem of the social web. Everyone loves the concept of the social graph, but the real defining graph – is your “implicit graph.”

While it took me some time to get used to, I now understand why Google+ forces you to organize your social graph into circles: Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Following and any other circle you wish to create. The first two groups are your “implicit graph”, Acquaintances becomes your “extended social graph”, and Following becomes your “interest graph” much like Twitter. Even though, not many people are on it yet (10 million vs. 750 million)– I already love the organization of the feeds. It makes sense, I get to now control the information I want in the circles I create, and I get to see my implicit graph come to life on a social network. This is a key difference and behavioral insight that gives Google+ a real chance to compete with Facebook.

I’ve always been a big believer that the “social graph” was just our explicit graph – an index of our address book of connections. But, the Holy Grail is going to be whoever can ascertain our “implicit graph” to show the content, messaging, and social experience consumers really want. It seems Google+ will be bringing that to a social network.

Courtesy : www.TechProceed.comThe world doesn’t need another social network. Especially when you have one that already has 750 million highly active users in it.

The reasons why Facebook overtook MySpace was because it was different and solved a different set of problems. Facebook introduced “real identity” to the web. And, the “newsfeed” created a whole new distribution channel for sharing on the web that now rivals with likes of search for traffic.

But, now with 750 million users, with 4 billion things being shared everyday, noise has taken over the channel. Therefore, you don’t get to see the content you want to see; Facebook decides what you should see. This becomes a fundamental problem that causes frustration and where Google+ got it right with Circles.

On my Facebook account I have 474 Facebook friends. These range from family, close friends, co-workers, passive contacts, and acquaintances. However, when I log into Facebook – my newsfeed isn’t relevant. I rarely see my family and close friends – it’s basically about everyone else. Not a week goes by, when I have to hide connections from showing up on my feed. And that’s the bigger problem of the social web. Everyone loves the concept of the social graph, but the real defining graph – is your “implicit graph.”

While it took me some time to get used to, I now understand why Google+ forces you to organize your social graph into circles: Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Following and any other circle you wish to create. The first two groups are your “implicit graph”, Acquaintances becomes your “extended social graph”, and Following becomes your “interest graph” much like Twitter. Even though, not many people are on it yet (10 million vs. 750 million)– I already love the organization of the feeds. It makes sense, I get to now control the information I want in the circles I create, and I get to see my implicit graph come to life on a social network. This is a key difference and behavioral insight that gives Google+ a real chance to compete with Facebook.

I’ve always been a big believer that the “social graph” was just our explicit graph – an index of our address book of connections. But, the Holy Grail is going to be whoever can ascertain our “implicit graph” to show the content, messaging, and social experience consumers really want. It seems Google+ will be bringing that to a social network.

Courtesy : www.TechProceed.com

How To Lock Your Computer With USB Drive

Tired of people starting your computer when you are not around and messing up custom settings? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could lock your computer by just removing your USB stick from it? I’ll show you how you can use your USB stick, Flash Drive or Pen Drive what ever you call it to lock your computer, among other things…

Boot Lock

This trick will allow you to use your USB to BOOT into Windows. If someone tries to start the computer without your USB stick, it will display boot errors. Before begin, you playing with the BIOS and boot files of your computer may result in you not being able to boot into your Windows partition; so continue at your own risk!

Things you need: A 64MB or larger sized USB Stick, Windows Recovery Disk (just in case). Unhide hidden and protected files : Go to Tools > Options > View, check Show hidden files and un-check Hide protected system files.

From the drive where Windows is installed (normally C:\), copy the files boot.ini, ntdlr and NTDETECT.COM to your USB Stick.
Now, we need to go into your BIOS, so restart the computer and keep jabbing [F8] as soon as the computer starts.
Once in the BIOS, enable USB Drive as the first boot device. You might have to enable USB Legacy Support on older BIOSes.
Restart your computer, if all goes well, you should be able to log into Windows. If not, then unplug the USB Stick, return to the BIOS and change the First Boot device to your hard disk drive and repeat the steps above.
Once you are logged into Windows, go to your Windows drive and rename boot.ini to boot.bak.
To check if you have setup everything correctly, eject your USB stick and reboot the computer. You should get error messages on the screen such as Invalid Boot.ini” or “Windows could not start”.

That’s it !

100 Essential Skills for Geeks

As Geeks we are expected to have a certain set of skills that the majority of the population does not possess. This list is by no means complete, but I think it is a good sample of the skills required to be a true geek. I won’t pretend to have all the skills listed here. I even had to Google a few of them.

Like all good Geeks you should be able to utilize resources to accomplish any of these things. Knowing where to look for the knowledge is as good as having it so give yourself points if you are certain that you could Google the knowledge necessary for a skill.

1. Properly secure a wireless router.
2. Crack the WEP key on a wireless router.
3. Leech Wifi from your neighbor.
4. Screw with Wifi leeches.
5. Setup and use a VPN.
6. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office.
7. Wire your own home with Ethernet cable.
8. Turn a web camera into security camera.
9. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point.
10. Understand what “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1” means.
11. Identify key-loggers.
12. Properly connect a TV, Tivo, XBox, Wii, and Apple TV so they all work together with the one remote.
13. Program a universal remote.
14. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone.
15. Benchmark Your Computer
16. Identify all computer components on sight.
17. Know which parts to order from NewEgg.com, and how to assemble them into a working PC.
18. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone.
19. Use any piece of technology intuitively, without instruction or prior knowledge.
20. How to irrecoverably protect data.
21. Recover data from a dead hard drive.
22. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network.
23. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows)
24. Remove a virus from a computer.
25. Dual (or more) boot a computer.
26. Boot a computer off a thumb drive.
27. Boot a computer off a network drive.
28. Replace or repair a laptop keyboard.
29. Run more than two monitors on a single computer.
30. Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop.
31. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head.
32. Bypass a computer password on all major operating systems. Windows, Mac, Linux
33. Carrying a computer cleaning arsenal on your USB drive.
34. Bypass content filters on public computers.
35. Protect your privacy when using a public computer.
36. Surf the web anonymously from home.
37. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and WordPress without Googling a how-to.
38. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi.
39. Create a web site using vi.
40. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device.
41. Hide a file in an image using steganography.
42. Knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything.
43. Share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple computers without a KVM switch.
44. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky.
45. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation.
46. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego’s.
47. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony.
48. Construct a costume for you or your kid out of scraps, duct tape, paper mâché, and imagination.
49. Be able to pick a lock.
50. Determine the combination of a Master combination padlock in under 10 minutes.
51. Assemble IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions. Bonus point if you don’t have to backtrack.
52. Use a digital SLR in full manual mode.
53. Do cool things to Altoids tins.
54. Be able to construct paper craft versions of space ships.
55. Origami! Bonus point for duct tape origami. (Ductigami)
56. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire.
57. Knowing how to avoid being eaten by a grue.
58. Know what a grue is.
59. Understand where XYZZY came from, and have used it.
60. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator.
61. Burn the rope.
62. Know the Konami code, and where to use it.
63. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song.
64. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows.
65. Solve a Rubik’s Cube.
66. Calculate THAC0.
67. Know the difference between skills and traits.
68. Explain special relativity in terms an eight-year-old can grasp.
69. Recite pi to 10 places or more.
70. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
71. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
72. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum – xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio.
73. Know the difference between radiation and radioactive contamination.
74. Understand basic electronics components like resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors.
75. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please.)
76. The meaning of technical acronyms.
77. The coffee dash, blindfolded (or blurry eyed). Coffee <brew> [cream] [sugar]. In under a minute.
78. Build a fighting robot.
79. Program a fighting robot.
80. Build a failsafe into a fighting robot so it doesn’t kill you.
81. Be able to trace the Fellowship’s journey on a map of Middle Earth.
82. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
83. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.
84. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
85. Re-enact the parrot sketch.
86. Know the words to The Lumberjack Song.
87. Reciting key scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
88. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word.
89. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock.
90. Be able to explain why it’s important that Han shot first.
91. Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss.
92. Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid.
93. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968.
94. Cite Mythbusters when debunking a myth or urban legend.
95. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed.
96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.
97. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self.
98. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers.
99. Talk about things that aren’t tech related.
100. Get something on the front page of Digg.

 

 

 

How To hack Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Hotmail passwords ?

Updated :: After receiving some harsh comments by some idiotic morons who don’t even bother to read the full post let me tell you I am not here advocating any hacking here ..Read the post carefully before commenting… don’t try this… this technique was used by some cheap hacker on ORKUT… I am just mentioning it so that you people don’t try it. If you try this you will lose your own password. There are many sites which says you can hack Gmail, Yahoo,  orkut or any other site just by following the steps like these I have given below.. Ironically you will get yourself hacked by following these steps.

Well, yesterday I was going through one of the hacking communities just for checking if any new hacking script has come up or not. I saw a topic named “How To hack Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Hotmail passwords ?” Out of curiousity when I opened it, it made me laugh aloud. I mean some anonymous guy posting a topic like that seemed totally absurd and that too a cheap phishing technique probably used during the early ninties

check out what was posted in that topic..

How To hack Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Hotmail passwords ??

~~~

It is possible and it is easy. This way of hacking into any kind of account was brought to my attention by my friend working in microsoft,in animation cell. you have to just…

STEP 1- Log in to your own Gmail/ Yahoo or hotmail account. Note: Your account must be at least 1 weeks old for this trick to work.

STEP 2- Once you have logged into your own account, compose/write an e-mail to: ############################# (removed the mail id which was written because ppl were actually trying it )..depending on which account you want to hack..These is the mailing address to the automated server that sends out passwords to users who have forgotten them. What you are going to do is trick the server into thinking that it is sending your password to you but it will send you the pass for the account you are trying to hack instead.

STEP 3- In the subject line type exactly: “userpassword retrieve” (case sensative, without the inverted commas)
STEP 4- On the first line of your mail write the email address of the person you are hacking.

STEP 5- On the second line type in the e-mail address you are using.

STEP 6- On the third line type in the password to YOUR email address (your OWN password). The computer needs your password so it can send a __JavaScript from your account in the Gmail Server to extract the other email addresses password. This works because you are sending your password to a machine not a person. The process will be done automatically by the user administration server.

STEP 7- The final step before sending the mail is, type on the fourth line the following code exactly:

2SUGm9qwM482SUGm9qwM48

~~~

This is a cheap technique to lure innocent people who want to learn hacking or want to hack someone’s mail.  These types of posts actually are posted in forums or some other sites asking people to send some details along with their own password to a email address which looks like an admin mail address. The truth is that the given email address itself is created by the person who posts the technique. So when people try to send the mail address they want to hack along with their own password they themselves get hacked because the password is sent to the person’s mail. So the Hunter gets hunted.

Some points before you comment here:

I am not a hacker so please don’t leave a comment asking me to hack that mail for you.  I am least bothered if your girlfriend / Boyfriend betrayed you,  I am not going to hack any emails for you. This Post was just to inform you guys that if you people try to hack Gmail / Yahoo or any other email through the above method your account would get hacked .

So Be careful  before you try all the nonsense that you read. Stop Searching for things like hacking Gmail, hacking Yahoo. These are well secured sites and you cant  hack through them just by following some lame steps given in a site or a forum. You cant hack just overnight,  It takes years to master the art of hacking so please please please stop thinking that you would be able to hack through accounts just by Googling it over the web.

99 of the best Windows freeware programs you may not know of

Because of the popularity of my previous article on TechProceed.com entitled 99 ways to make your computer blazingly fast, I’ve decided to write another list post with 99 items, but this time on Windows freeware programs that you may have not heard of.

If you search for “best freeware programs” or “top freeware apps”, you’ll get lots of lists, but mostly with programs everyone has already heard of: AVG anti-virus, 7-zip, Firefox, OpenOffice, etc, etc.

That’s all nice and fine, but what about all those little gems programs that work great, but don’t get all the headlines? In this article, I will try my best to mention as many small name freeware programs as I can that can help make you more productive!

As usual, I write for TechProceed.com, so I will be linking to old posts throughout if I’ve written about it or else I will link out to the main website for the program.

These are written in no particular order! Again, I’m sure there are hundreds of programs that I won’t mention, so if you feel I’ve really missed a great program, mention the name of the app and what it does in the comments!

If you like this post and think it would be useful to others, feel free to share it!

Here it goes :

1. We’ve all heard of 7-zip, WinRAR, and WinZip, but what about other great zipping programs like PeaZip, TugZip, and Jzip?

2. What’s the best Notepad replacement out there? Notepad++ right? We all know that! Ever heard of XML Notepad? It’s a free XML editor and works great! Or what about PSPad? It’s a very nice code and text editor also.

3. If you use Windows, then you know and love the Windows registry! CCleaner may be the most popular system maintenance tool out there, but what about other registry cleaners and tuners, such as Comodo registry cleaner and Eusing registry cleaner?

4. Ever accidentally delete a file that you really needed? You can try a program called Pandora Recovery to recover lost or deleted files or Recuva, a useful file recovery app. But that’s not all! Ever heard of Recover My Files?

5. Speaking of file recovery, ever accidentally delete all the pictures off your memory stick!? It happens more often than you would think. In that case, you can use Art PLus Digital Photo Recovery to get back deleted photos.

6. Ever forget your Outlook password? Or your email password for Eudora, Thunderbird, or some other email program? If so, you can use a cool program called Mail PassView to reveal passwords and account details for many email clients. You can also use PSTPassword to recover a lost PST password.

7. What if you need to get the password for your or someone else’s Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger IM client? If you’re looking for a cool instant messenger password recovery tool, check out MessenPass.

8. Since we’re talking about passwords, ever run into the case where you forget a password, but it’s still saved in your application, but it’s hidden? If you even run into that situation, use Asterisk Logger to reveal any password that uses asterisks.

9. Continuing on with passwords, did you know you could password protect EXE files? Yes it’s possible with a program called Empathy! Pretty neat eh?

10. What about password protected Excel files? I’ve definitely run into those and you can use a program called Excel Password Remover to get rid of any password-protected Excel workbook or sheet.

11. With all this password talk, ever thought about using a free password manager? Ever heard of Secure Data Organizer? What about Billeo Password Manager? Or Password Safe? Or KeePass?

12. Enough about passwords, let’s talk media players! We’ve all heard of VLC media player and Windows Media Player, but what about KM Player and GOM player, both are great media players for Windows. What about ALSong?

13. Those media players will take care of just about every codec out there, but if not, you can always use a program called CodecInstaller to help you determine which audio and video codecs are needed to play a video.

14. If you take a lot of home videos, you probably need to edit and stitch them together right? Don’t worry about Adobe Premiere, you can use other free programs like Windows Live Movie Maker, a product from Microsoft. If not that, you can also check out VideoSpin and BrushVideo, two great video editing programs for Windows.

15. Speaking of videos, there are many times when you need to convert from one format to another. You can use Pazera Free Video to convert videos to FLV or SWF format. Or you can convert DVDs to iPod format using Movie2X DVD Ripper or HandBrake.

16. But that’s not all! You can convert movies to MP4 format using ImTOO DVD Ripper or convert Powerpoint presentations to DVD video, flash, or PDF using free tools like authorPoint and CutePDF Writer.

17. Work with PDF files a lot? Ever heard of NovaPDF Pro? It’s a free program for creating encrypted PDF files. Or what about PDF-XChange Viewer? It has a bunch of features and is actually better than Foxit!

18. If you want to create PDFs fast, there are a bunch of programs like CutePDF, PrimoPDF, Bullzip, doPDF, and lots more! Check out this post on seven free PDF writers that you might be interested in. One more is PDFCreator.

19. Switching topics, I’m sure you back up your computer regularly right? If not, you should check out Easeus Todo Backup, a free program that lets you backup and clone your hard drives. Another program is Hinx Backup Easy. Ever heard of AceBackup?

20. If you just want to backup your data and not image your entire hard drive, you can use Karen’s Replicator to backup files and folders to network drives or external drives on a schedule.

21. Whether you know it or not, you probably have a bunch of duplicate files on your computer! It just happens. You can use Duplicate Cleaner to find and remove those duplicate files. You can also use other programs like Easy Duplicate Finder and Duplicate File Finder!

22. If you want to save more hard drive space, you should look into a program that will analyze hard disk space usage, like TreeSize or Space Sniffer. Other programs include FosiX Lite and WinDirStat.

23. Tweaking Windows can get you a decent performance boost if you know what you’re doing. Some programs that make it easy are TweakUI, MZ Vista Force, and Tune-Up Utilities. You can also check out a program called Handy Tweakers.

24. Been looking for a good free photo editor lately? Check out Photoscape, Irfanview, Paint.NET, or Phantasmagoria! If you prefer an online photo editor, checkout PicResize and Picnik.

25. Speaking of photos, you can create some cool photo albums using free software. Check out Jalbum and Vicman, both free tools to create web photo albums. Other programs include Photo! 3D Album and Thumb Studio.

26. If you’ve got a ton of pictures and videos like me, you might want to store your data online. MediaFire is a free online file storage service and so is Drop.io, Windows Live SkyDrive and Dropbox. You can even use Gmail for file storage!

27. Ever had to send a large file to someone, but your email client wouldn’t allow more than 10 to 20 MBs? You can share large files with friends and family using a program called Gbridge. Other programs include Docstoc OneClick, HTTP File Server and Fileai.

28. One really awesome notes application is Evernote. It’s free (there is a paid version too) and syncs with your mobile phone and the web. Never forget anything again.

29. If you have an FTP server or a website, you will probably need a good FTP client program like WinSCP, which supports secure FTP also. Another good program is FileZilla.

30. If you’re paranoid about your data, you might want to encrypt your computer hard drive with a program like AxCrypt or TrueCrypt.

31. If you want to be even more careful, you can actually create secured and locked text files using a program called LockNote.

32. If you want to hide specific folders in Windows, you can use a program called Free Hide Folder, which makes it completely invisible.

33. And if you want to hide just a few files, did you know you can hide files inside pictures using a free zipping program?

34. If you constantly use the same programs over and over, it might be a good idea to download a quick program launcher. You’ve all heard of Launchy, but what about RocketDock, FreeLaunchBar, JetStart, and Executor?

35. One of my favorite file and application launchers, however, is Find and Run Robot, aka FARR. Weird name, but awesome launcher.

36. Ever wanted to automate a certain task in Windows? Maybe you want to have your computer turn off every day at 10pm? Or certain keystrokes you want to record and repeat over and over again? Whatever the case, AutoHotKey is an awesome program for automating many tasks in Windows.

37. I personally don’t mind the Start Menu in Windows, but Vista Start Menu is a program that adds a crapload of features to your Start Menu like the ability to use tabs, resize the menu, and much more.

38. Ever needed to sync one folder with another folder on the same computer? If you need to keep two folders in sync, check out SyncToy.

39. If you need to sync data between two different computers, then you might want to check out a free program called Allway Sync.

40. While on the topic of syncing, sometimes it’s really useful to sync your bookmarks between computers also. You can check out a program called Zinkmo to sync bookmarks between different browsers and across multiple machines.

41. If you have a lot of bookmarks, you might be able to manage them much better by using Tidy Favorites. It’s one of the best bookmark managers out there and it syncs, backups, and helps you search through bookmarks!

42. If you have a lot of music, you might want to consider a music management program like Media Jukebox. Another good program is aTunes.

43. If you’re worried your computer might crash and you’ll lose all your music, you can back it up to an online MP3 file storage service like MP3Tunes. What’s cool about this rather than just backing up music files onto a USB hard drive is that you can access your media files from anywhere via streaming.

44. If you’ve recently bought a new computer, you can use a program called PC Decrapifier to get rid of all those useless programs that can come bundled with the PC and slow everything down.

45. After you have a computer for a while, there are always going to be programs that you don’t use anymore and that can be uninstalled. Revo Uninstaller will get rid of any program whether it likes it or not.

46. Even if you use Google for searching the Internet, there are many times when a site listed in the top 10 results is spammy or contains malware. However, I always like using extra tool such as WOT (Web of Trust) or McAfee SiteAdvisior to protect myself when browsing the Internet.

47. If you have sensitive data on your computer that you want to permanently delete from your hard drive, I would suggest using a program called Eraser.

48. Now if you’ve deleted something and need to get it back, then you need to check out a program like Undelete Plus, which helps you recover accidentally deleted files. (in addition to #4)

49. What’s one thing in Windows that everyone does all the time? Open and save files. FlashFolder is a really cool app that adds a small toolbar to your Open and Save dialogs so that you can quickly access favorite destinations on your hard drive.

50. The other most used feature in Windows is probably Windows Explorer. Direct Folders is a another program that enhances Windows Explorer by adding quick links to favorite folders and also a list of recently open folders.

51. If you’re looking for a straight-up Windows Explorer replacement, check out Q-Dir, which adds some useful features to the basic built-in Windows Explorer.

52. Vista Breadcrumbs is a cool app that gives you the Windows Vista style breadcrumbs look in Windows XP.

53. Do you have a lot of programs that load when Windows starts? Does it take several minutes for your computer to become useable? If so, check out Startup Delayer, a program that delays the startup of programs so that your computer loads faster.

54. In #27, we talked about how to share files by creating your own file server, but you can also use a cool program called Gbridge to share files between two computers easily.

55. In #39, I mentioned using Allway Sync to keep files on two computer in sync, but you can also use a program called FolderShare from Microsoft.

56. You’ve all probably heard of CrossLoop for remotely sharing your desktop, but you can also use Mikogo or Remobo.

57. Everyone knows that FastStone can be used to capture screenshots of your desktop, but you can also check out Screenshot Captor, Screen Hunter, PicPick, and uTipu.

58. If you think you might have bad memory installed in your computer, you can check for bad memory using memtest86.

59. Ever wish you could rearrange the list of open programs on your taskbar? Using Taskbar Shuffle you can drap and drop buttons on the taskbar to any position.

60. Speaking of the taskbar, you can use a program called TrayIt to minimize any application to the system tray instead of the taskbar, thereby freeing up space.

61. And if you want to spruce up your Windows XP taskbar, you can install Visual Task Tips, which gives you the thumbnail previews for running programs in the taskbar like in Vista.

62. If you’re like me, you probably have an IM account on GTalk, Yahoo, AOL and ICQ. If so, you can use Digsby to chat with all your buddies from all networks in one window!

63. One of the worst things that can happen to your computer is for it to become infected with Spyware. HijackThis is an awesome program that you can use to find and remove spyware, especially really nasty spyware.

64. Everyone has heard of Spybot for removing spyware, but another really good program is SUPERAntiSpyware.

65. In #14, I talked about free video editing programs, but you may also need to use a program like VirtualDub to convert a video to another format or to resize it, etc.

66. If you are one of those people that love to arrange icons all over their desktop in pretty patterns, you may want to use Icon Restore to save your desktop layout.

67. If you ever need a free CD/DVD burner program, check out CDBurnerXP. It also has a portable version you can run off your USB stick.

68. If you ever need to burn an ISO image to a CD or DVD, then you should use a free program like ImgBurn.

69. Burning ISO images is cool, but what if you want to create your own ISO image too? You can use Folder2ISO or LC ISO Creator to create an ISO image from a folder in Windows or from a CD or DVD.

70. Ever run into the problem where you are trying to delete a file in Windows and it says that the file is in use and cannot be deleted? You can use Unlocker to delete any file that is locked by a process.

71. Though you might not have to do this often, there are times when you need to change the file extension of many files at once. You can use Extension Renamer to batch change file extensions easily.

72. Speaking of batching, you can also use a program called ReNamer to batch rename thousands of files at once. Useful for digital photos that all start with the same nonsense text like DSC00203, etc.

73. But let’s not stop there. What if you have thousands of images and you want to perform some kind of change on all of them like resizing or adding a watermark or rotating? Use can use MODI to batch modify images. Cool!

74. In #19 and #20, I talked about software to backup your computer, but forgot to mention DriveImage XML, an awesome program you can use to create an image of your hard drive.

75. Windows Live Writer is a free program from Microsoft that you can use to write blog posts in a Word type of editor. It also has plugins that enhance the functionality.

76. Ever head of Blender? It’s a pretty amazing program and it’s free. It lets you create 3D worlds, 3D animations and 3D games. Check it out.

77. Format Factory is one my favorite programs out there because it’s a universal transcoder that can convert between many videos, audio and graphic formats.

78. Looking for a really good partition manager? Check out Gparted, probably the best not-heard-of partition manager out there.

79. With Windows, you normally have to keep your drivers up to date otherwise the OS can crash or blue screen. Use RadarSync to automatically find the most recent drivers for your system.

80. If you need to reformat your computer, you can use a program called DriverMax to automatically backup all your drivers and then restore them after the install.

81. Looking for a file on your computer? Default Windows search sucks? Well, why don’t you try out Index your Files or Everything, two really awesome Windows file search tools.

82. Wish your clipboard could store more than one item at a time? Well you should check out ClipX and Ditto clipboard extension, two cool clipboard manager programs.

83. Most people who work in offices uses Microsoft Outlook for their main email. If you do, you have to check out Xobni, an awesome program for organizing and searching your Outlook email.

84. Speaking of Outlook, ever heard of AttachmentOptions? It’s sweet. It basically lets you configure the list of “blocked” or “unsafe” attachments so that you can receive EXE files, .reg files, or whatever you want.

85. If you like to listen to Internet radio stations, you can use a program called FreeCorder to record music that you play off the web.

86. Since we’re talking about only Windows freeware programs, you might be interested in Disk2VHD, a program from Sysinternals that will let you convert your current PC into a virtual machine that you can then load into Microsoft Virtual PC.

87. If you do a lot of buying online, such as through Amazon, eBay, etc, or checking of your bank accounts, etc, you might want to check out KeyScrambler, a cool program that protects against keyloggers.

88. Ever had to split a large file into a couple of pieces? If so, check out GSplit, a nitfy utility for splitting and re-joining files.

89. Been in a situation where you needed to compare two files and see the differences? WinMerge is a cool program that will let you compare and merge two files.

90. As for merging, ever had to merge several Powerpoint presentations together? Well you can use PowerPoint Joiner for that.

91. Or what about merging multiple PDF files together? If so, check out pdftk, a toolkit that lets you merge, split, and repair PDF files.

92. Wish you could listen to your home music collection while at the office or away from home? Check out Sockso, a personal home streaming music server.

93. Most browsers will download stuff to a default download folder, after which you have to manually move the files to where you want them. Download Mover is a really nice app that will monitor a folder for new files and automatically move them based on the rules you create.

94. Have you ever wondered if there was a way to password protect EXE files? Let’s say you didn’t want your kids to ever open Yahoo Messenger without typing in a password. You can password protect programs using Empathy.

95. Ever needed to figure out the RGB value or hexadecimal value of a color that is on your computer screen? ColorPic is a nice utility that lets you determine the hexadecimal RGB color for anything on your screen.

96. If you have a lot of MP3 files, you probably need to edit the tags and metadata so that everything shows up properly in iTunes or Winamp. You can use MP3tag or Picard to edit MP3 tags.

97. If you have just one monitor for your computer, you can use a virtual desktop manager like Dexpot to have several desktops on one computer. Another good one is 360 Desktop.

98. Have you ever had to copy a folder in Windows that had a bunch of sub-folders and files? You can use Unstoppable Copier to copy folders without any annoying Windows pop up messages.

99. Ever want ted create your own photo mosaic like they do in TV commericals? AndreaMosaic is cool program that will use your current photo collection to create a great looking photo mosaic.

Whew! That was probably way more than a hundred freeware programs, but hope you enjoyed it! I’m sure there are lots of great programs I missed, so if you have a favorite freeware app, add it to the list via the comments! Enjoy!

ONE STORY THAT EXPLAINS LIFE!

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due 2 infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983.

He received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: “Why does God has to select u for such a bad disease?”

…to this Arthur Ashe replied:

50 million children started playing tennis,

5 million learn to play tennis,

5,00,000learn professional tennis,

50,000 come to the circuit,

5,000 reached grand slam,

50 reach Wimbledon,

4 to the semifinals,

2 to the final

and

when I was holding the cup I never asked God ‘Why Me?’

and now in the pain I should not be asking God ‘Why Me?’

37 Seconds To Read: May Change Your View For A Lifetime

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room’s only window
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man could not hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days, weeks and months passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.
It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, ‘Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.’

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy.
‘Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .’
The origin of this letter is unknown, but it positve energy expands when you share this.

Jessica lal Case Summary

11 Years of fight for justice. 11 years which saw jessica’s family pitched against rich and powerful. Witness turning hostile ,trial court acquitting the accused including manu sharma , highcourt finding him guilty and now finally supreme court uphelding highcourt’s judgement.

Jessica lal murder case is case study of how a normal citizen can finding hard to get justice against powerful people . Jessica lal muder case is also case study of how our judiciary system still delivers inspite of loopholes in the system. Jessica lal murder case is also case study of power of media and normal citizens. Above all jessica lal murder case is case study of how determined family can keep in fighting for justice and keep hope alive for all other Indian citizens in our legal citizen.

Announcing the verdict , “The Delhi High Court has given cogent and adequate reasons for reversal of acquittal given by the trial court,” the bench said. “The presence of accused is proved by ocular evidence of prosecution witnesses.”

Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lal welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict. “It’s not impossible to nab the culprits. We should not lose faith in judiciary. I would like to thank god, my family and media for this justice,” she said.

Jessica Lal’s soul might be able to finally rest in peace.

43 Ways to Start Making Money Right Now

I often hear people saying that they’d like to start making some extra money to complement their full time job, but they don’t know what to do.

I know there are a lot of things one can do, especially with basic computer skills, so I sat down and wrote a list of activities I could do to make some money right now.

Many of these tips will certainly not make you rich, while other have some great potential. The goal of this list is to inspire you to act and do something right now. It’s better to start with something small than to not start at all. I hope you enjoy.

1. Sell used stuff on ebay. Chances are that you have lot of stuff you no longer use in your home. Why not making a list of all the stuff you have in excess and then selling it on ebay?
2. Compile online surveys. Online surveys are a quick way to make some money.  Keep in mind that most websites only works for US residents.
3. Put adsense on your website. Adsense is the fastest way to make money from your website. And if you don’t have a website, you can always start one.
4. Post your resume. Wherever you are a writer, blogger, designer, programmer, etc, there are many websites like elance.com where you can find some part time work. Give it a try and post your resume.
5. Write for ehow.com. Ehow is a how to articles directory. You can write as many articles as you want and receive money when someone visits your articles and clicks the ads.
6. Teach English via skype. If you are a native speaker, you may find someone who’s willing to pay you for simply having some conversation over skype. Just do a quick search on google to get an idea.
7. Post your photos on istockphoto. Stock photo websites like istockphoto can bring you a lot of money. Some people are even making a high 6 figures income from it.
8. Search for free adwords/yahoo/msn coupons and use them to make money through affiliate marketing. I recently received an adwords coupon from google, so the first thing I did was to run a campaign and link to an affiliate website with my referral id. Quick money, zero risk.
9. Coach or teach others. Do a list of your top skills (hint: you have many) and teach them to other people. If you are good at something, there’s always someone else that wants to learn it, so take the opportunity to make some money and to learn something new at the same time.
10. Submit your design to sites like 99designs.com or zooppa.com. If you are a good designer or video maker, the ways you can make money online are infinite. Using websites like 99designs or zooppa you can submit your work and earn some real money.
11. Sell your own product. You can follow the step by step process described in the four hour work week and start your online business in no time.
12. Do baby sitting. If hanging around with a baby is no problem for you, consider doing baby sitting.
13. Offer to do some errands for your neighborhoods. Everyone’s busy, but you are can alleviate their days by doing some errands for them like going to the groceries store in the afternoon.
14. If you know a foreign language, offer to do translations. There are many companies who would benefit from a native speaker for doing some translations. Often you can get a serious work from this, so do some research to see what’s available.
15. Make money with clickbank.com. Create an account at clickbank.com and find a genuine product to promote through your website, or build a dedicated website if you are good with SEO (you can always learn).
16. Petsitting. Offer to take care of your neighborhood pets when they go on vacation, or take their dogs for a walk while they are at work.
17. Offer computer assistance. You may be surprised by how many people don’t know how to do basic stuff like setting up an email account or uploading a video on youtube. Offer them your help for a  small fee.
18. Build websites for small companies. You don’t have to be a programmer to make websites. There are excellent content managers and templates you can buy for making small websites. You can also outsource the complete process of course.
19. Write a book. This is huge, but it may be worth it. Write about something you really care about, and then knock every door until you find some publisher who’s willing to publish your work.
20. Start a blog. If you have something to say, start a blog. It might take a while before you start to see some serious money, but they’ll eventually come if you do things right.
21. Sell a blog. Of course you can also sell a blog. Blogs are sold every day and many people make and sell blogs as a part of their day job.
22. Work in a bar. If you like clubs, bar and night life, consider working in one of it in the weekend.
23. Sell your gold. Maybe you have an old bracelet that you really have never used. That could be a quick way to make some bucks.
24. Gardening. If you are not afraid of doing manual work, you could take care of someone else’s garden.
25. Clean house. If you don’t like gardening, you can always clean homes.
26. Sell your old books and DVDs. Are you really going to real all those books again (I would)? If not, consider selling them on ebay or craig list.
27. Cook for others. Your job would be to buy, cook and freeze food for others to enjoy. Only do this if you are a good cook.
28. Direct selling. Many companies will be more than happy to give you part of their revenues if you refer to them new clients. You could give presentations of a product to your friends or go door to door.
29. Personal shopper. If you have good taste and you love shopping, there’s nothing better than being a personal shopper.
30. Deliver pizza. This is an old school way of making money. Be sure you are not afraid of driving fast if you want to do it.
31. Waiter. Try to get a part time job as a waiter and you’ll likely get nice tips from customers if you are working in a nice place.
32. Rewrite ads. If your grammar is good, take a look at ebay ads and if you notice one that sucks, offer its owner a rewrite for a 1% or 2% fee. Only target big items of course.
33. Rent your car. If you don’t use your car every day, you could rent it to some friend.
34. Drive people to the airport or station. Same as before, there’s always someone who needs a drive to the airport.
35. Take a look at craiglist for job ideas. There’s always some odd job you could do on craiglist. Take a look at your city’s listings every once in a while and catch every opportunity you can.
36. Have a garage sale. If you are moving to a new house, do a garage sale to get rid of your old stuff.
37. Sell umbrellas on rainy days. Be the right man in the right place at the right moment
38. Buy and sell tickets. If your country laws permit it, you can buy tickets in advance and then resell them on ebay once they are sold out.
39. Forex trading. I’m not a forex expert but you may want to take a look at it if you want to make some extra dollars per month trading currencies.
40. Tutoring. If you are good at math, english or something else, you can tutor kids during weekends or summers.
41. Market research. Many market research agencies are paying people for conducting market research. This is also a great way to brainstorm new business ideas.
42. Do a part time job. A part time job is often the easiest way for making some extra money.
43. Ask for them. If what you really want is more money, perhaps you could simply ask for a raise?

Indian Mobile Prices (March 2010)

Model	Price

Nokia
Nokia N96	Rs.33000
Nokia E90 Communicator	Rs.32827
Nokia N97	Rs.29500
Nokia N97 Mini	Rs.24641
Nokia N85	Rs.21000
Nokia N86 8MP	Rs.20789
Nokia E72	Rs.19750
Nokia E66	Rs.18759
Nokia N82	Rs.17937
Nokia E75	Rs.17378
Nokia 6260 Slide	Rs.17308
Nokia E71	Rs.15750
Nokia N79	Rs.14241
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic	Rs.14000
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic	Rs.13518
Nokia 6700 Classic	Rs.12514
Nokia N73 Music Edition	Rs.11500
Nokia E63	Rs.10800
Nokia 6208 Classic	Rs.10005
Nokia 5320 XpressMusic	Rs.9900
Nokia 7610 Supernova	Rs.9100
Nokia 5230	Rs.9089
Nokia 3600 Slide	Rs.9000
Nokia 5220 XpressMusic	Rs.7254
Nokia 3120 Classic	Rs.7129
Nokia 7310 Supernova	Rs.7100
Nokia 6303 Classic	Rs.6690
Nokia 6300	Rs.6587
Nokia 3610 Fold	Rs.6453
Nokia 3500 Classic	Rs.5243
Nokia 5130 XpressMusic	Rs.5060
Nokia 7210 Supernova	Rs.4800
Nokia 2680 Slide	Rs.4000
Nokia 2700 Classic	Rs.3975
Nokia 3110 classic	Rs.3970
Nokia 2630	Rs.3400
Nokia 2760	Rs.3080
Nokia 2600 Classic	Rs.2952
Nokia 2330 classic	Rs.2775
Nokia 2323 classic	Rs.2250
Nokia 5030 XpressRadio	Rs.1940
Nokia 1661	Rs.1761
Nokia 1650	Rs.1760
Nokia 1208	Rs.1500
Nokia 1209	Rs.1402
Nokia 1202	Rs.1286
Nokia 1203	Rs.1258

Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1	Rs.35440
Sony Ericsson Idou	Rs.30148
Sony Ericsson C905	Rs.26800
Sony Ericsson Aino	Rs.24500
Sony Ericsson W960i	Rs.24000
Sony Ericsson W980	Rs.21100
Sony Ericsson W995	Rs.20432
Sony Ericsson G900	Rs.19500
Sony Ericsson K850i	Rs.19000
Sony Ericsson C902	Rs.18100
Sony Ericsson P1i	Rs.17100
Sony Ericsson C903	Rs.15870
Sony Ericsson W760i	Rs.15000
Sony Ericsson W890i	Rs.14800
Sony Ericsson C702	Rs.14700
Sony Ericsson Yari	Rs.13400
Sony Ericsson G700	Rs.13000
Sony Ericsson W910i	Rs.12450
Sony Ericsson W705	Rs.12200
Sony Ericsson T700	Rs.11500
Sony Ericsson K810i	Rs.11000
Sony Ericsson K790i	Rs.10500
Sony Ericsson W595	Rs.9900
Sony Ericsson K660i	Rs.9600
Sony Ericsson TM506	Rs.9600
Sony Ericsson W660i	Rs.9100
Sony Ericsson W580i	Rs.9000
Sony Ericsson C510	Rs.9000
Sony Ericsson W380i	Rs.7900
Sony Ericsson W302	Rs.7350
Sony Ericsson K550i	Rs.7000
Sony Ericsson G502	Rs.7000
Sony Ericsson S302	Rs.6500
Sony Ericsson F305	Rs.6100
Sony Ericsson W395	Rs.6000
Sony Ericsson Z555i	Rs.5700
Sony Ericsson S312	Rs.4800
Sony Ericsson T303	Rs.4600
Sony Ericsson W205	Rs.4300
Sony Ericsson W200i	Rs.4300
Sony Ericsson W350i	Rs.4300
Sony Ericsson R306 Radio	Rs.3800
Sony Ericsson R300 Radio	Rs.3150
Sony Ericsson T250i	Rs.3100
Sony Ericsson K330	Rs.2500
Sony Ericsson K220i	Rs.2400
Sony Ericsson J132	Rs.1770
Sony Ericsson J120i	Rs.1750

Samsung
Samsung i8510 Innov8	Rs.40000
Samsung i8910 Omnia HD	Rs.27800
Samsung i900 Omnia	Rs.26500
Samsung M8910 Pixon 12	Rs.26000
Samsung i8000 Omnia II	Rs.25000
Samsung i7500 Galaxy	Rs.24000
Samsung M8800 Pixon	Rs.22321
Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO	Rs.22100
Samsung S8300 UltraTouch	Rs.21800
Samsung S8000 Jet	Rs.19000
Samsung i780	Rs.17500
Samsung GT-M7500	Rs.16000
Samsung 7603 Beat DJ	Rs.15000
Samsung TouchWiz	Rs.12500
Samsung GT-S7330	Rs.12000
Samsung Omnia Pro B7320	Rs.12000
Samsung B5310 CorbyPRO	Rs.11700
Samsung i200	Rs.10400
Samsung S5603 Star 3G	Rs.10050
Samsung D880	Rs.9900
Samsung U800 Soul b	Rs.8900
Samsung Corby Plus	Rs.8800
Samsung S5233 Star	Rs.8750
Samsung S3650 Corby	Rs.7800
Samsung D780	Rs.7700
Samsung Beat 3510	Rs.7600
Samsung J800	Rs.6800
Samsung Corby Txt	Rs.6675
Samsung L700	Rs.6300
Samsung Corby Mate	Rs.5900
Samsung C5212	Rs.5500
Samsung J700	Rs.5300
Samsung S3500	Rs.5200
Samsung Metro 3310	Rs.4600
Samsung J150	Rs.4300
Samsung B2100 Marine	Rs.4200
Samsung M620	Rs.4200
Samsung E251	Rs.4100
Samsung M200	Rs.3700
Samsung C3010S	Rs.3500
Samsung B520	Rs.3150
Samsung M150	Rs.2900
Samsung M120	Rs.2850
Samsung E2130	Rs.2800
Samsung GT-E1410	Rs.2700
Samsung Guru 2120	Rs.2700
Samsung E2100	Rs.2650
Samsung Solar Guru E1107	Rs.2200
Samsung Guru 1310S	Rs.2100
Samsung Guru 1160	Rs.1800
Samsung Guru 1210	Rs.1775
Samsung GT-E1117	Rs.1750
Samsung Guru 1125	Rs.1700
Samsung B130T	Rs.1520
Samsung B130	Rs.1480
Samsung B100i	Rs.1430
Samsung E1100	Rs.1425
Samsung E1070	Rs.1400

Motorola
Motorola Aura	Rs.84000
Motorola Q9h	Rs.17400
Motorola ZN5	Rs.15500
Motorola ROKR E8	Rs.11200
Motorola ZN300	Rs.7000
Motorola W270	Rs.2800
Motorola SLVR L9	Rs.2750
Motorola W388	Rs.2700
Motorola W218	Rs.2400
Motorola W230	Rs.2316
Motorola W181	Rs.1550

LG

Philips

Panasonic

Blackberry
Blackberry Tour 9630	Rs.30000
Blackberry Bold 9000	Rs.28100
Blackberry 8800	Rs.28000
Blackberry 8820	Rs.26200
Blackberry Curve 8300	Rs.23000
Blackberry Curve 8900	Rs.22200
Blackberry Storm 9500	Rs.19350
Blackberry Curve 8520	Rs.13850
Blackberry 8320	Rs.13400
Blackberry Curve 8310	Rs.12800
Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220	Rs.12000

Palm

O2

I-Mate

Fly

HP

HTC
HTC HD2	Rs.41000
HTC Touch Pro	Rs.32000
HTC Hero	Rs.29000
HTC Magic	Rs.25000
HTC Touch 3G	Rs.19900
HTC Touch Diamond	Rs.19000
HTC P3300	Rs.16750
HTC Tattoo	Rs.16000
HTC S710	Rs.13700
HTC Touch Viva	Rs.9900

Apple
Apple iPhone 3G	Rs.27500

Dopod

Spice

Intex

Usha Lexus

Micromax
Micromax GC700	Rs.12600
Micromax X500	Rs.5800
Micromax Q3	Rs.4000
Micromax X280	Rs.3700
Micromax X310	Rs.3600
Micromax X2i	Rs.3250
Micromax X250	Rs.2900
Micromax X225	Rs.2750
Micromax C2i	Rs.2300
Micromax X115	Rs.2250
Micromax X211	Rs.2250
Micromax X116	Rs.2150

Lava
Lava KKT-24	Rs.3750
Lava KKT-22	Rs.3500
Lava KKT-11	Rs.2850
Lava KKT-12	Rs.2850
Lava KKT-1	Rs.2600

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