Tricks To Speed up Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla firefox is emerging as one of the mostly used browser for online surfing purpose. Mozilla firefox provides handy features like simplicity and add ons and because these great features it’s the top most choice for every internet users. But this internet browser also have some thumbs down, its speed is significantly low than its top most competitor which is known as google chrome.

But there are some tricks exist by which we can speed up Mozilla firefox to almost 90%.

So here we start,

STEP 1: Open Mozilla firefox browser.

STEP 2: Type “about:config” without Quotes in address bar and press enter.

STEP 3: A warranty notice will appear, accept that notice

STEP 4: Search following entries in filter bar and make corresponding changes.

network.http.max-connections-per-server =32
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy =16
network.http.max-connections = 64
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = 10
network.http.pipelining = true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 200
network.http.request.max-start-delay = 0
network.http.proxy.pipelining = true
network.http.proxy.version = 1.0

STEP 5: Right click anywhere and select new >Integer in right click menu, Name it nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set its value to 0.

STEP 6: Now restart Mozilla firefox browser and access internet with a high speed.

There is another trick exist by which we can also increase browsing speed of our browser. Trick is simple and can be implemented by only clearing cache memory of any browser. Cache memory is a type of primary memory which works between central processing unit and Random Access Memory. It’s a very fast type of memory and browsers also use some part of this memory to perform tasks at a rapid rate.

How to clear cache memory:

If you are using firefox browser than,

1) Open firefox and Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete.
2) A window will open, from drop down menu Select time range to clear to “Everything” and mark on “cache”.
3) Click on “Clear now” and you are done.

If you are using Google Chrome browser than,

1)Open Google chrome and Type “chrome://chrome/settings/clearBrowserData” without Quotes in address bar and press enter.

2) A small window will open, Now select “The Beginning of time” from drop down box. And mark on “Empty the cache” and finally click on everything.

Note: Cache is a small size memory and clearing it only once is not enough, you have to clear it several times during a browsing session to maintain a high internet speed.

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5 Best Yahoo Messenger Tricks

Yahoo messenger is an instant messaging application which provides features like chatting, photo sharing, file sharing, PC calls and so on. Everyone knows that it’s a Facebook era but because of yahoo messenger efficiency millions of people is still using yahoo messenger. Today we are sharing an article on “Best Yahoo messenger tricks” for frequent yahoo messenger users.

1) Find Invisible Users on Your Yahoo! Messenger list:

As like Facebook, Yahoo messenger too provides a way by which people can hide themselves from annoying friends. If you want to find someone who is hiding from you on yahoo messenger, then this yahoo messenger trick will come handy. To find invisible friends on yahoo messenger just go to this site and type the yahoo id of your friend, after this the actual status of the user will be revealed.


2) Run Multiple Yahoo Messenger on the Same Computer:

Creating account on yahoo is free of cost, And many of the peoples might have two yahoo messenger id. If you are one of them and want to operate both the id’s at a same instance of time then this yahoo messenger trick is surly help you to do so. To run multiple yahoo messengers on same time, follow these steps:

i) Download multiyahoo.reg from this link.
ii) After download, Double click to execute it.
iii) Once done, open yahoo messenger and login with first ID.
iv) After successful login with first id, Again open yahoo messenger by clicking on the messenger icon and log in with second id.

3) Yahoo Messenger Trick to Get an Invisible Name on Chat Rooms:

To hide name on yahoo messenger, Just go to edit profile and then click in the nick name, and finally type a Alt + 0160 (ASCII value for space) and save it.
Once done, go to chat room and you will notice that your name is invisible.

4) Change the Yahoo Messenger Title Bar:

We can change the title bar text of yahoo messenger by editing ymsgr.ini file.
Follow the below yahoo messenger trick to change the text that appear in yahoo messenger title bar.

i) Go to program files\yahoo!\ and open ymsgr.ini file.
ii) Then at the end of the file, Type this:
[APP TITLE]
caption=YourTextHere
iii) Replace YourTextHere with whatever you want to say.

5) Access Yahoo Messenger Chat While offline:

We can easily access chat logs of yahoo messenger by using yahoo message archive decoder. You can download archive decoder from here. Archive decoder decodes the yahoo messenger archive files (.dat files) and presents them in a readable format. The best thing about archive decoder is that we don’t need to login in order to decode messages.

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How To Be Safe On Facebook

Facebook users are increasing day by day now it has more than 1 million active users. As the facebook popularity increased, facebook hacking too increased tremendously. According to a popular magazine more than 600,000 facebook accounts get hacked daily. Today we are sharing some tips on how to be safe on facebook. Every facebook user must have to follow these tips to stay safe on facebook.

So here are some tips to be safe on facebook:

1) Choose strong password: Choosing a strong password always keep facebook account safe from brute forcing or dictionary attacks. Brute forcing is a process of guessing password by trying many combinations of words. It's a slow process and become much slower if you use a password which has combinations of characters, numbers and special symbols.

 2) Keep eye on address bar: At the time of entering facebook credentials, always keep an eye on address bar of browser. Many hackers use phishing pages which are exactly similar to original facebook login page to grab the credentials of a facebook user. Don't provide your password to any other domain rather than facebook.com

3) Choose different passwords: Always choose a different password for your primary email address and facebook account. This helps when you want to recover your account from hackers. If both the passwords will be same than a hacker can easily change both passwords after gaining access to one of them. If your primary email address password is different, than a hacker can't able to change it and you can easily get back your hacked facebook account by clicking on forget my password link.

4) Hide mail address from Profile: Hiding email address from facebook account guarantees that no one can see your real email address which you are using for signing in. and a hacker can't able to send you phishing links and malicious software to gain your facebook password.

5) Enable secure browsing: By enabling secure browsing, any facebook user can be safe from man in middle attacks. MIM attacks are used by hackers to interpret information between user browser and facebook servers. By using secure browsing the data from browser to server is sent as encrypted message that can't be read by hackers. To enable secure browsing, Go to account settings > Security tab > Enable Secure Browsing. Once secure browsing is activated, protocol in your address bar will changed to https:// instead of traditional http://

6) Choose an unpredictable security Question’s Answer: Security Questions plays an important role in any accounts security, It's always important to choose an unpredictable answer of security question, many hackers use social engineering or dorking to get an answer of security question. Let's say you choose a security question "What is your father's middle name?" on facebook. Then a hacker can easily get answer of this question from you. The task becomes much easier if hacker knows you personally.

7) Don't add unknown peoples in friend list: facebook having a 3 friend's security vulnerability. A smart hacker can easily get access to your facebook account, if he adds 3 fake profiles to your facebook friend list. So its safe to keep some distance from unknown peoples on facebook.

8) Enable login notifications: Facebook provides a great facility by which you can get sms notifications when your facebook account is accessed. To enable login notifications, Go to account settings > Security tab > Enable login notifications by Marking Text message/Push notification box. After you enable login notifications, you will get SMS each time when your facebook account opens by you or any other person. If you didn't access your facebook account and got a login notification sms on your mobile than its recommended to quickly access to your facebook account and change your password.

9) Don't download anything from untrusting sources: Many free softwares comes bundled with a lot of viruses, key loggers and Trojans. These kinds of malicious softwares can harm your computer as well as can transfer data including passwords and other important details from your computer to hacker's machine. It's recommended that you don't download things from torrents, forums and any other untrusting websites.

10) Keep antivirus updated: In order to be safe on facebook always use license version updated antivirus. A patched antivirus can't be effective in fight against hackers.

11) Change password frequently: if a white hat or ethical hacker will hack your account then I am sure that he will not change your password. He only uses it to spy on you. If you change your password frequently then you can get back your facebook account from these kinds of hackers.

12) Keep firewall on: keeping firewall on is important to be safe from port scanning and Trojans attacks. If your firewall is off then hacking your computer will be just a piece of cake for a hacker.

13) Don't provide facebook Password to other sites: Many peoples have a habit to provide same password at the time of sign up on other sites which they used for facebook. If you do so, then it's very easy for webmasters to get access to your facebook account.

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How To Find out the Friends Who Un-friend You On Facebook

Nowadays Most of People are using Facebook like social networking sites to interact with new Peoples from all over the World. These kinds of sites offer various features which makes this interaction effective.Facebook, The king of all social networking sites offer a feature of Poke, twitter provides a feature of tweets and google plus provides a +1 feature as a brand tag.

But the thing that all these giant social networking sites leak is that "They aren't still having an option for unfriend notification". For. I.e.: Yesterday you saw 416 friends in your friend list, but today you find only 412 friends in your friend list than these social networking sites will not offer a way by which you can find out the name of 4 Peoples who had unfriend you on Facebook.

         But there are still some Facebook tricks out in market by which we can easily find out the name of the friends who had unfriend us on Facebook. Actually we can do this trick with the help of a third-party application by which we can even get the unfriend notification when a friend unfriend us.

Here are Some easy Steps

1) Go To who.deleted.me

2) Signup using your Facebook account.

3) For the first time it only records data and doesn't show any name of friends who had deleted you before you used this service. Now onwards when you use this application this will tell you the name of the Facebook friends who had deleted you on Facebook.

How Who.deleted.me works?

Who.deleted.me having their own Facebook application, which tries to get the names of all the friends from your Facebook friend list when you login for the first time. Next time when you login for the service it extracts the names of all the friends from your friend list and compares it with the first list. If the list has any difference then it will show the names of the friends who had deleted you on Facebook.

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A Simple Trick for Picking (and remembering) a Good Password

Pick a line from a book you enjoyed  OR something that resonated with you enough to stick in your head.

Throw in some dictionary attack protection, like a string of numbers or special characters, and you’ve got yourself one monster of a password that would take a hacker significantly longer to guess than the passwords we’re all used to using.

It’s easy to remember, compatible with cryptic password hints that don’t completely give it away, and quite secure (so long as you don’t pick something you’re going to be quoting on Facebook).

You can use this to break away from a bad password reuse habit.

Note : Don’t forget to write down the website with the book you got the password from to jog your memory in case you forget.

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Change User Password Without Knowing the Current Password in PC

If you want to change the user password of Windows in your computer but you don’t know the current password, there is an easy way to do this. First of all, the user that you are on has to be an administrator user. To determine what type of user your are logged in with go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts. At the bottom of the window you will see the different users that are on your computer. Find your user and under the user name it will say what type of user account you are. Your user needs to be a computer administrator to change the password without knowing the current password.

Let’s get started!

1. Click on the Start button and select “Run”

The Run window will appear. Type into it the text, “cmd” (without the quotes). Click OK

2. The CMD window nd will appear. Type “net user”

A list of all the users that are on the computer will appear.

3.  Type the following: net user *

For example, if the user I want to change passwords for is Mike, I would type in:
net user Mike *

4. Press enter and you will be asked to type in a new password.

Type in your new password. The cursor will not move nore will it seem like anything is happening but your new password will be entered.

5. You will be asked to confirm your new password. Enter it again and press enter.


Hope you have enjoyed this trick:)

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Samsung Braces for Next Battleground With Google

Samsung made itself the brand to beat in the crowded smartphone space by backing Google’s Android software –- 96 percent of the South Korean company’s shipments ran on the platform. Now, it’s planning a high-end smartphone powered by Intel-backed open-source platform Tizen.

The new phone, out as soon as August, is good news for those geeks and independent-minded consumers of the tech zone who are crying out for open-source gadgets. Maybe less so for Apple and Google, who face another challenger in the battle to dominate the platform for global mobile communications.

But Samsung had best beware. Growing competition from Samsung as a maker of high-end smartphones has already turned Apple from its most-valuable customer to an increasingly bitter rival. Does Google’s move into handsets after last year’s acquisition of Motorola put the writing on the wall for that relationship too?

Samsung’s efforts to lessen its reliance on Android by designing its own software Bada – “the sea” in Korean – haven’t yet produced a credible alternative. Nor have phones powered by Microsoft’s OS. Enter Tizen.

“This is just sort of a safety net,” said Doh Hyun Woo, an analyst for Seoul-based Mirae Asset Securities. “But if Google dominates the market just like Microsoft did in the PC market with more than 90 percent share, it may prove the total opposite,” with Google possibly holding this over Samsung’s head.

The big question for Samsung and Google – and Apple, too – is whether consumers learn to live with multiple operating systems, or whether one comes to dominate and the rest are left to wither (who remembers Betamax?).

Watch this space for developing open-source news.

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Live Blog: Facebook Event

Please refresh your browser every few minutes to see my updates.

11:15 a.m. Facebook’s searchable event has come to an end.

11:12 a.m. Hey, Zuck! Remember that company you agreed to spend $1 billion on? Will we be able to search for Instagram photos? “That should be on the list of things that we will hopefully one day get to,” Zuckerberg said.

11:09 a.m. Facebook added search suggestions on the right of the screen based on user testing, Stocky said. “Like all products, we have a way of testing it with users.” Facebook has to adjust to people having been trained to formulate search queries in weirdo computer speak, like, “friends new york,” Zuckerberg said. Facebook’s search was designed to handle queries that sound like something you might say out loud, not just to a computer.

11:06 a.m. Zuckerberg said Facebook held exploratory talks with Google about the search engine. “Microsoft was more willing to do things that were specific to Facebook,” Zuckerberg said. “That was the biggest stumbling block.” He added: “That is, at least, where the discussion fell apart the last time that we talked to [Google] about it.”

11:04 a.m. The new Facebook search will only work in English for now, Zuckerberg said. Facebook “had to draw the line” about what it wanted to accomplish, and natural-language computing is tough, Zuckerberg said.

11:03 a.m. People aren’t going to stop using Google in favor of the search box. Sure, the Facebook search will include results from Bing, Zuckerberg said. “We don’t have any concept that people are going to come to Facebook to do Web search,” he said.

11:01 a.m. My colleague Brian Womack asked whether there was any consideration whatsoever of working with Google on the Facebook search tool. “I would love to work with Google,” Zuckerberg said with a smirk. “We would love to work with any search company … as long as the companies are willing to honor the privacy of the folks that are sharing their content on Facebook.”

10:57 a.m. So … you run a public company now, right? How is this going to make money? “This could potentially be a business over time,” Zuckerberg said. The search engine will follow the same philosophy that made Facebook a money-losing business — until it wasn’t. ”You build a good business over time by building something people want,” Zuckerberg said.

10:56 a.m. Uber tech blogger Robert Scoble asked if developers will be able to tap into Facebook’s search engine for their applications. Not at the start, Zuckerberg said. “We have years and years of work ahead of us.”

10:54 a.m. First question is about privacy. Expect many more of these. Zuckerberg said no new data is being surfaced in the search engine that’s not already available somewhere in the rest of the Facebook site.

10:53 a.m. After a brief video set to the tune of a Sigur Ros song, Zuckerberg concluded the presentation. “Graph Search is the kind of product that we love to build at Facebook,” Zuckerberg said. “What you’ve seen today is a really different product from what’s out there.” Facebook executives will begin taking questions from the journalists in the room.

10:50 a.m. Don’t expect to use the new Facebook search feature any time soon. “We’re going to start rolling it out very slowly,” Zuckerberg said. “We need to start getting data on how people use it in order to improve the product.” Facebook will turn search on for more people “over the coming weeks and months,” Zuckerberg said.

10:48 a.m.  ”There’s one more thing,” Zuckerberg said. Like the old Facebook search engine, the new one will integrate with Microsoft’s Bing. So if you search for weather, Bing steps in.

10:46 a.m. Zuckerberg took the stage again after the demo. ”This is one of the coolest things we’ve done in a while,” he said. Zuckerberg emphasized the privacy protections, and said the company will allow people to tinker with their settings before the feature rolls out. “We’re going to put an encouragement on the home screen of everyone’s account,” he said.

10:44 a.m. Now for the requisite bit about privacy. “We realized that people are going to care about what shows up about them in search,” Stocky said. Pay careful attention to this lesson, kids. You’ll probably be walking your parents through this at the next holiday get-together. On the site’s “privacy settings” page, users can see what shows up in search and turn things off selectively.

10:41 a.m. Many of these features don’t seem very useful unless you and your friends use Facebook religiously. For example, Rasmussen types in: ”restaurants liked by my friends in India.” How many Facebook friends do you have in India?

10:39 a.m. Rasmussen took over for the “places” portion of the demo. His expertise in building Google Maps surely came in handy with this. Facebook’s place search appears to be the feature that aims most directly at Google’s Maps and Zagat. The tool enables users to find restaurants based on friends’ recommendations. “But it doesn’t have to be limited to your friends,” Rasmussen said.

10:34 a.m. The “interests” portion of Facebook search offers lots of recommendations. Stocky searched for movies and television shows his friends have “Liked” on Facebook. The page also lists programs that are similar to the shows his friends like, based on other data. “For people like me, who spend hours staring blankly at my Netflix queue, this is the solution to that,” Stocky said.

10:30 a.m. More use cases: Rasmussen was planning a hypothetical hike, and searched for: “Photos of my friends taken in national parks.” And in case you want to see pictures of your friends when they were babies or had awesome feathered hairdos, search for: “photos of my friends taken before 1990.”

10:25 a.m. OK, this is starting to make sense. Let’s say you meet someone at a party, and can’t remember her name, but you know some other details. Search for, say, “people who are friends of Lars and went to Stanford.”

10:20 a.m. Stocky and Rasmussen ran a search query to find out which of their friends like both “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.” Hopefully there are more uses for this besides organizing “cosplay” parties.

10:19 a.m. Zuckerberg gave the example of throwing a “Game of Thrones” party. But he didn’t know who of his friends are fans of the HBO show. So he did a Facebook search. Simple enough. Rasmussen and Tom Stocky have taken the stage to demonstrate more.

10:16 a.m. The search engine is called Graph Search. Lars Rasmussen, a Google Maps co-founder, worked on it. (Bloomberg Businessweek broke that news almost a year ago.) “I want to emphasize how early we are in Graph Search,” Zuckerberg said. The initial version will cover content about people, photos, places and interests, he said. “These cases are really useful.”

10:13 a.m. “We spent a long time working on this, and we came up with an interface that we think is unique,” Zuckerberg said. “Filters.” A slide shows a page full of tags, like the old Delicious. The crowd is a bit confused for a moment. “No, that’s my joke,” Zuckerberg said. More nerd humor.

10:12 a.m. Zuckerberg’s first example to demonstrate the difference between Facebook’s social-networking search and Google’s Web search is, ”What is hip hop?” Something tells me he’s not a rap fan.

10:10 a.m. The third pillar of Facebook will be a search, Zuckerberg said. But this isn’t Web search, like Google, he added. “The search that we wanted to build is privacy-aware,” he said.

10:08 a.m. Zuckerberg’s version of nostalgia is pretty geeky. He said Facebook is all about “queries.” Zuckerberg introduces the concept of “the pillars of the Facebook product ecosystem.” News Feed, for example, is “what is going on in the world around you.” The second pillar is the Timeline profiles. He said Facebook is announcing its third pillar.

10:06 a.m. Zuckerberg said he’s excited to be hosting the company’s first news conference at its spiffy new offices. And he’s getting nostalgic on us, and will take us back to Facebook’s “roots.”

10:04 a.m. The stark white room here at Facebook’s Building 13 is full of journalists tapping away at keyboards. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has just taken the stage.

9:50 a.m. In about 10 minutes or so, Facebook will finally unveil its latest projects. Executives have remained mum about what to expect since the company sent out invitations last week. Investors are sure to watch this event closely for potential moneymakers, especially those catered to smartphone users. And the 1 billion or so people who check the site regularly should be curious to see how Facebook will try to suck up more of their time. I’ll be posting updates here from the news conference at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California — in between refreshing my News Feed.

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First Impressions of Facebook’s New Graph Search

If you follow directions, Facebook’s new search engine is pretty amazing. But veer off course, and the results reveal just how limited the tool is right now.

During an event today at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Facebook introduced Graph Search, a drastically revamped version of the social  network’s search function. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called this feature as important to the site as the News Feed on the homepage and the Timeline profiles. It’s also the most nascent.

The promise of social search is compelling. For example, I might be more interested in movies my friends enjoy rather than whatever gets the highest ratings from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

A tiny slice of Facebook’s 1 billion users were provided with a beta version of Graph Search today. For the past few hours, I’ve been testing the tool on my profile, sifting through my groups of friends.

When first clicking on the search box, which now takes up most of the blue toolbar on the top of the website, I’m presented with a personalized tour of the new search features. It starts by showing me how I can search for people who went to the University of Maryland (my alma mater). Then it shows my unique results and a bunch of familiar faces.

From then on, the search box presents six sample queries whenever I activate it, such as “my friends,” “music my friends like” and “restaurants nearby.” I can choose any of those, click to see more suggestions or enter my own search terms. Once on the results page, a list of optional filters guides me on how to further refine my search.

The search engine currently handles four main categories: people, photos, places and interests. There are lots of options within those groups. For example, I can find friends who like Coldplay (so that I can unfriend them), or I can look up pictures taken before 1990 or at the Empire State Building. I can also find movies my friends like or search by genres such as rock music, comedy films and Italian restaurants.

The results are surprising because there was previously no good way to unlock Facebook’s trove of data about my contacts. However, the system is a little slow. First, the natural-language processing needs to figure out what framework my query fits into, and then display that beneath the search box. Then it needs to dig through all of my data. Multiply that by a billion. To be fair, those are challenging tasks. “We have years and years of work ahead of us,” Zuckerberg said at the event today.

Facebook’s search engine, as in previous versions, can pull in Web results from Microsoft’s Bing. The pages look a little different from those you might see on Bing.com, and they include additional data that Facebook sprinkles on top, said Lars Rasmussen, a former Google executive who is a director of engineering on Facebook’s search project.

But if you were hoping to use this as your one-stop search shop, look elsewhere. The method for doing a Web search on Facebook is fairly cumbersome. If I type “weather,” the system suggests I check out the Facebook pages for the Weather Channel or Weather Underground, or people whose last names have the word “weather” in them. I need to click “See more” in the auto-complete list, and then scroll down before even getting the option to do a traditional search.

For Facebook, building its own Web-crawling technology is “nowhere” on the company’s list of priorities, Rasmussen said in an interview after the presentation today. This effort is about tapping into all the information Facebook has locked away on its servers.

In addition to making the whole process snappier, Facebook plans to add more languages, open it up to applications from outside developers and bring in more types of data. Facebook’s own events and messages apps aren’t integrated yet. A search for “parties next week” returns a suggestion for “people who party.” (The people on this list aren’t as cool as you might expect, judging by their profile pictures.)

“We need to start getting data on how people use it in order to improve the product,” Zuckerberg said. But that won’t be a quick process. “We’re going to start rolling it out very slowly,” he said.

During the news conference, Facebook executives emphasized their attention to privacy. Before the search feature is rolled out widely, users will be prompted to review their settings on what content is shown publicly, they said.

Facebook’s search engine is an impressive first effort, but like other recent entrants, it has a long way to go before you can expect to rely on it. Just ask Siri. If she’ll understand you, that is.

 

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Why Android is The Best Choice For Your Next Phone

The smart phone market is big business these days, and a number of massive multinational corporations are vying the top spot. Whilst Apple are the other main player in the field, many onlookers believe that their offerings are beginning to reduce in quality. It's all very well bringing out lighter, larger capacity items - but how much of their new product range is really revolutionary?

Are Apple's Days Numbered?

Apple used to be the smaller alternative competitor to Microsoft's juggernaut, but in recent times the company has seen its stocks rise to become the number 1 player in the market. Microsoft are expected to fight back, as they begin their assault on the smart phone battlefield - but Apple is still the biggest player in town. However, in recent months Apple's share price has started to fall, and many predict that this is set to continue.

Critics argue relentlessly about why Apple is set to decline, and reasons include stale product offerings which rely too heavily on a loyal customer-base. After all, sometimes when you've been number one for so long, resistance grows and people look for alternatives. Many critics feel this might be starting to happen to Apple.

Android - Racing Ahead of the Pack:

The main winner in all of this is Android. While two long-term rivals battle it out with multi-billion dollar budgets, the open-source platform has continued to grow. Make no mistake, backed by Google's billions - Android is no amateur operation. However, they have managed to capture a decent chunk of the market while offering not only usability and reliability - but FLEXIBILITY as well.

One of the major criticisms of Apple's product line up is that they keep users "locked in" and only able to use devices in a manner deemed appropriate by Apple. If you want to purchase Apps or Mp3s, you've got to use Apple's own store - and you can only buy things that the company have previously "ok'd". This flies in the face of how the consumer electronics market is heading, and Android has managed to capitalize.

How Android is Different:

By offering an open-source platform, Android allows the ability to work together and provide software and support themselves. If you want to make your own Android app, that's fine - you're free to do what you want. Apps are available for free from a number of sources. Although Android does have it's own Marketplace - you aren't forced to use it.

Another great thing about Android - it's not tied to one system or handset provider. That means there's competition involved even amongst Android supporting phones, which drives down prices and allows more people the chance to own one. As you've probably seen, Android phones are normally considerably cheaper than the newest iPhone equivalent. But that's not because they're inferior - many believe Android phones are BETTER.

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What Do I Need To Consider When Buying A Phone For Kids?

It's not uncommon nowadays to see even young children with a cell phone. And with pink phones, Hello Kitty phones and even specific mobile phone plans for kids it seems like children are the target of a lot of marketing too. But should you buy a phone for your child? A recent report stated that three quarters of UK ten year olds owned a mobile phone, so obviously many people think it is appropriate for young kids to own a phone. If you're trying to decide whether or not to get a cell phone for your kid, there are a few things that you need to take into account...

It's Not as Bad as You Think:

Firstly, don't be close minded about the idea. Just because your kid is pestering you for the hundredth time doesn't necessarily mean that getting a phone is a bad idea. There are a lot of advantages. For example, your child will be able to get hold of you any time he or she needs you, and vice versa. They miss the school bus? No problem. When it comes to safety and security having a phone may be a better idea than you think it is. As long as mobile phone use is controlled properly, then there's no reason that having a phone should be anything other than a benefit to you and you kid.

Be Careful with Financing:

Face it, there's a pretty high chance that your kid is going to lose, break, or drop his phone (probably down the toilet). For this reason, it's not only inadvisable that you buy an expensive device, but also think about financing. When you sign up for a phone plan and get a phone included in the contract you are paying for that phone month by month. You kid loses the phone after three months, guess what? You still have to keep paying for it until the end of your contract. No matter what cool hand set your kid might have his eye on, going for something robust and cheap but functional is your best bet.

Make Sure it's Protected:

And that means protected in every way, shape and form. There's no reason to give younger kids access to the internet, and even older ones should have some form of child lock to prevent them accessing unsuitable material. Text messages should be checked regularly to make sure that you always know what's going on. And watch out for the money.

In general, a pay as you go phone is a better idea, particularly for younger kids, since it's far easier to control spending on PAYG. Contract phones can rapidly become billing nightmares with kids, since they're frequently irresponsible about staying on top of calling minute and text message limits. Finally, you might want to consider a special kids contract for the phone.

Many mobile service operators offer special features for phones that will belong to a child, including the ability to limit service to certain hours of the day, meaning that your kid can't use the phone in school or late at night. Having a kid contract might be an easy way of controlling your child's phone habits...

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32 iPad Tips and Tricks

You know that your new iPad will let you easily watch movies, browse the Internet, or play games on the go, but there are many advanced features hidden beneath the surface of iOS that can improve your tablet computing experience even further. To help you become an iPad master, we've compiled a handy list of tips and tricks for new iPad users. Read on if you want to learn how to multitask, take screenshots, encrypt your backups and more. 

Set the iPad to self-destruct in 10 seconds:
Okay, not really--but you can set the iPad to erase all data after ten failed passcode entry attempts by checking the Erase Data option under Settings, General, Passcode Lock.  

Don't let AutoCorrect mess you up: If you don't like the option AutoCorrect gives you, reject it by finishing the word as you prefer, and then tapping the suggestion. If you want to use AutoCorrect's choice, just type a space or punctuation mark, or tap Return, the moment it pops up.

Create custom shortcuts for common phrases: Make AutoCorrect work for you by teaching iOS to transform shorthand (such as "omw") into common phrases (like "on my way") using iOS 5 shortcuts. Simply navigate to Settings, General, Keyboard, and select Add New Shortcut. Type the phrase you want to shorten in the Phrase field, and then type the shortened version you want to use in the Shortcut field.

Download the free iPad User's Guide: You may have noticed that your iPad didn't come with a big printed manual--that's not Apple's style. However, you can download the PDF version of the iPad User's Guide from Apple's website, or you can read it in iBooks if you have that installed (iBooks is available as a free download in the App Store). Make sure to download the manual for the version of iOS you're currently using!

Use the Side Switch: You can use the switch on the side either to enable and disable audio alerts (this doesn't affect video/audio playback) or to lock the screen's orientation in portrait or landscape mode. You can toggle which function is assigned to the switch by opening Settings from the home screen, selecting General, and choosing the function you want under the 'Use Side Switch to' heading.

Take a free guided tour: Apple provides video tutorials on setting up iTunes, as well as a complete rundown of all your preinstalled apps so that you can get a good look at how to use them.

Speed up your sentences: Double-tapping the spacebar while typing a message will type a period and a space.

Multitask in iOS: You probably already know that you can press the Home button twice to bring up a list of currently running or suspended apps. However, you can also swipe the multitasking bar left to right to quickly access audio/video playback controls, a shortcut to the iTunes app itself, an AirPlay button that lets you wirelessly mirror the iPad display on an Apple TV, and volume controls. Also, when you choose whether the Side Switch should mute alert sounds or lock the screen orientation (see the tip above), the function you didn't choose will appear in this shortcut bar.

Secure your backups: You can encrypt your iPad's backup data in iTunes. Just open the iPad in iTunes, click the Summary tab, and check Encrypt iPad backup under the Options heading.

Swap the search engine: Too cool for Google? You can change Safari's default search engine by going to Settings, Safari, Search Engine. Alas, you can choose only from Google, Bing, or Yahoo--no vintage Metacrawler for you.

Take a screenshot of whatever is on the screen: Press the Home button and the sleep/wake button simultaneously. The screenshot will automatically appear among your photos.

Selectively prevent automatic sync: Sometimes you don't want to sync your iPad when you connect it to your computer. In that case, hold down Shift-Ctrl (or Command-Option, on a Mac) in iTunes while plugging your iPad in, and iTunes will skip the automatic sync just this once. Alternatively, you can safely interrupt a sync by dragging the unlock slider on your device while the iPad is midsync.

Toggle 3G/LTE data roaming: If you're using a 3G iPad, you can turn data roaming on in the Settings, Cellular Data menu in case you want to try receiving cellular Internet through a different provider (fees may apply). You can also disable LTE service if you're trying to conserve bandwidth, and you can check your data usage by going to Settings, General, Usage.

Restrict mature content: Go to Settings, General, Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions to selectively apply controls on your apps, content, Game Center, and more. You can use this setting to limit mature content on your new iPad by disabling explicit-language recognition, blocking podcasts that have the "Explicit" tag, or blocking movies, TV shows, and apps that are rated for mature audiences.

Make your passcode more complicated: iOS defaults to a four-number passcode, but you can turn it off by going to Settings, General, Passcode Lock, Simple Passcode. Now you can use any full keyboard password to lock the iPad. The password also helps to encrypt your mail and attachments on the iPad, so you probably want to make it safer than a four-digit number.

Tweak AutoFill: You can choose to enable Safari's AutoFill feature under Settings, Safari, AutoFill. From there you can tell Safari to fill out forms automatically, either by using your specified contact information or by remembering the names and passwords from previous website login sessions.

Sync your bookmarks: You can use iTunes to sync your iPad's Safari bookmarks with your PC's Web browser. Open the iPad tab in iTunes, click the Info tab, scroll down to the Other heading, check Sync bookmarks with, and choose your preferred browser.

Email photos: The easiest way to email photos from an iPad is to open the Photos app, select a photo, press the button in the upper-right corner (the rectangle with the right-facing arrow, not the AirPlay or trash can button), and choose Email photo... to send.

Test your Web links: You can check a linked word's actual destination URL by touching and holding down on the link--it's a perfect way to sniff out phishy links.

Choose an app for email attachments: You can open a file attached to an email message by tapping the attachment in Mail, but if the default app isn't the one you want to use, simply press and hold and wait for a menu that lets you select an app.

Use your iPad as a picture frame: Not for physical photographs of course, but you can press the Picture icon in the lower-right corner of the lock screen to have the iPad display your photo stream as a slideshow.

Show traffic conditions: Open Maps, press the dog-eared page icon in the lower right, and then turn the Traffic overlay on. If your iPad has an Internet connection, Maps will show real-time traffic conditions in the displayed area. Green means traffic is going at the posted speed limit, yellow means traffic is slower than the posted speed limit, and red means traffic is stop-and-go.

Share podcasts with friends: Listening to a podcast that you think a friend would like? You can share the link while you're listening to it by pressing the Email button while it's open.

Don't forget your downloads: You can immediately see if your iTunes account is due for incoming downloads by opening iTunes on your PC, clicking the Store menu, and selecting Check for available downloads. This trick can come in handy if your download process is interrupted, or if you missed some bonus iTunes content that came with an album you purchased.

Turn on Universal Access: You can enable options such as closed-captioned movies, VoiceOver screen reading, zoom magnification, and inverted white-on-black text by selecting the iPad in iTunes, opening the Summary tab, and clicking Configure Universal Access under the Options heading.

Forget Wi-Fi networks: So you accidentally connected to a network once, and your iPad remembers it for life--whether you like it or not. On your iPad, go to Settings, Wi-Fi, and find the network under the 'Choose a Network' heading. Tap the blue arrow next to the network you want to remove, and tap the button on the top that says Forget this Network.

Customize your Spotlight searches: The iPad uses Spotlight for its built-in search functions, and you can tweak it to your needs under Settings, General, Spotlight Search. If you have a lot of data on your iPad, for example, you can selectively disable search in different categories (Contacts, Applications, Audiobooks, Notes, Events, Mail, and so on) that you don't use so that your desired results show up faster. You can also simply change the order in which the search-result categories display by dragging them up and down, so that your more frequently used search categories appear at the top of the page.

Turn off in-app purchases: Go to Settings, General, Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions to selectively enable restrictions for your apps, content, Game Center, and more. If you're worried about other people breaking your bank account on in-app purchases, just disable In-App Purchases under the 'Allowed Content' setting.

Switch up the fetching frequency: Your iPad automatically grabs new data, such as incoming email. However, the iPad also periodically activates apps that don't support iOS's Push feature so that they can go fetch new data--which uses the tablet's battery life. You can tweak your Push and Fetch settings in Settings under the Mail, Contacts, Calendars menu by toggling the Fetch New Data option.

Change your email signature: Don't be one of those people who leave the default 'Sent from my iPad' signature on all their messages. Change it in Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Signature to something more interesting.

Master multitasking gesture controls: Enable multitasking gesture controls in any iPad running iOS 5 or later by navigating to General, Settings and toggling Multitasking Gestures on. Now you can place four or five fingers on the screen at once and swipe them left or right to switch between open apps, or swipe up to display the multitasking bar. You can pinch your fingers together on the screen to return to the iPad home screen.

Sync your iPad wirelessly: To set up iTunes wireless syncing, plug your iPad into your PC, make sure both devices are connected to the same wireless network, and then boot up iTunes on your PC. On your iPad, navigate to Settings, General, iTunes Wi-Fi Sync, select the computer you want to sync with, and tap the Sync Now button. Your iPad should sync wirelessly with your computer, and will now do so automatically whenever you have it plugged in and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your computer.

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Do You Really Know How Far Your Goods Will Travel When You Order Online?

The Age of the Internet:

The internet has had a dramatic effect on the way most of us choose and buy a wide variety of products. Just a few years ago, our preferred method of shopping is likely to have been to pay a visit to our local shops, or, if we were looking to make a special purchase, probably to venture into a nearby city, or to an out-of-town shopping centre, where the biggest outlets with the widest choice of products could be found.

That idea has been strongly challenged in recent times, as most of us become ever-more accustomed to looking for what we want to buy online. For major purchases especially, we are happy to scour the internet to find the cheapest prices available.

But how many people, when they do this, give much thought to where the websites on which they find the best prices are run from, and therefore, how far their goods will have to travel to reach them when they finally click on that 'Buy Now' button.

My guess would be very few. We have become so intent on tracking down the best possible price for the precise product we want, that little thought is given to how it will eventually reach us after we take that split-second decision to make a purchase from a particular website.

Buying Online creates convenience:

From the buyer's point of view, shopping online breaks new boundaries in convenience, because it means we can compare products for all the criteria which we can possibly consider when we buy, and then look for the outlet which offers the product we find best meets our needs at the lowest possible price. And yet, when we do this, apart from exceptional occasions when a website will publish its full registered address, most of us will give little or no thought to where our goods will be shipped from, and therefore the task which lies ahead for the delivery company which will ensure that those goods, ordered in a fraction of a second, in turn reach us safely and in the shortest time possible.

This convenience is, of course, a compelling reason why so many of us now choose to shop for many of the things we buy online. But conversely, businesses of course are always looking out for locations from where they can operate while incurring the lowest possible overheads.

As a result, a company can have as many 'shop fronts' as possible, yet its online operation could equally be run from relatively unassuming premises, well away from the locations of these prestigious shop windows. Companies which already have large-scale premises which are used for storage of their products before they are sent out to their stores may, therefore, have a strong advantage over purely web-based companies when it comes to operating the online arm of their business.

But in truth, the motivation for shopping online is so strongly skewed towards seeking out the lowest possible price for the products that we want to buy, that the vast majority of shoppers won't care whether their goods are picked off the shelves of a posh flagship store, or come from a dingy warehouse operated from an industrial estate – provided they reach them safely, and in a reasonable time-frame.

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What is Cloud Computing?

You may have heard the term “Cloud computing” and wondered what it meant. Savvy IT professionals are aware that cloud computing refers to a system of servers that gives people access to computer services over a network, such as the Internet.

Cloud computing is taking off because organizations are realizing the many benefits it provides, including saving money on hardware and software, lowering the burden on IT department personnel and enabling companies to back up their vital data safely and securely.

In fact, cloud computing services are expected to generate almost 14 million jobs across the world by 2015, with many of these jobs coming from small-to-medium sized businesses, according to the IDC report “Cloud Computing’s Role in Job Creation.” What’s more, cloud computing could produce up to $1.1 trillion in revenue every year by 2015.

Remote Backups and Disaster Recovery:

If your company does not routinely make offsite backups of its vital data, what will you do in the face of a catastrophic hard drive crash? While prudent managers will at least set up extra servers to back up data locally, it’s important to maintain offsite backups as well, in case of a natural disaster, extended power failure, theft or other problems.

Cloud computing makes it easy to make multiple backup copies of your data, which you can then access via the Internet to recover information during a disaster.

While your competitors are struggling to regain power and reconstruct their databases, you can quickly restore your important files by accessing them via the cloud. Even if you have to evacuate the premises, such as during a severe weather event, your employees can use laptops or smart phones to access data via the cloud from a hotel, coffee shop or their office at home, thanks to cloud computing.

Save Money on Software and IT Services:

Organizations find that they can save money on software and IT services by taking advantage of cloud computing services. For example, instead of purchasing expensive licenses for a suite of office applications or a particular database program for your entire workforce, you can use software as a service (SaaS) on an as-needed basis. The software is always available via the cloud, and your employees access it through a standard web browser.

Your IT department won’t have to worry about updating software or applying security patches, as the cloud computing service provider’s IT department will take care of this task for you.

You can also purchase access to encrypted server storage space from a cloud services provider whenever you need it. Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting helps companies save money, as they don’t need to try to plan ahead and purchase additional server space for local use.

Access Data While on the Go:

Does your organization rely on travelling sales people and marketing specialists to drum up new business? If so, these employees are going to be on the road quite frequently. Instead of trying to bring copies of all necessary files with them on their laptops, they can access your company’s data securely via cloud computing.

When a salesperson develops a lead, he can input the data on his device while out in the field, and the information will be instantly accessible to everyone in your organization’s headquarters via the cloud.

Imagine updating important documents that everyone in your company needs to access quickly and reliably. For example, have you changed the terms of your standard contracts? Your legal department can put the updated files in the cloud so that employee will always be able to access the latest versions.

After examining the benefits of cloud computing, many people will want to consider implementing it for their own organizations. Whether you use cloud computing just to keep safe backups in an offsite location or rely on it for fast and reliable access to inexpensive software as a service, this technology is designed to make your organization work more efficiently and save your money. Cloud computing can give you a boost over your competitors, and that’s reason enough to begin implementing it to some degree at your firm.

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What To Consider When Choosing Cloud Backups

Every computer expert will tell you to backup early and often. However, sometimes there is insufficient space to backup and store all the data. Accidents happen and one loses data in a hard drive crash, which can be catastrophic when one is in the middle of a vital assignment. Sometimes your computer is stolen or the office burns down. We never really know what life has got in store for us, which is why data storage is crucial.

Cloud Backups:

Cloud backup is the name for data and information being stored in a secure data centre via internet. These data centres could be in any remote location in the world. Cloud storage takes away some of the stress about storage away from the individual who no longer needs to overprotect the device in which the data is stored. With cloud backups, the data is protected from accidental or intentional damage. Several issues come into play when considering the use of cloud backups. It is important to know how the service works, its limitation and its effects on the running of your enterprise.

Protect Against Leaks:

Among the major concerns for most organisations is data security. Data protection is absolutely paramount for individuals and, in the case of businesses, data leaks can have very serious repercussions indeed. For example, leaked customer contacts from a database could spammed with unnecessary mails or credit information used for other forms of cyber crimes. Files should be heavily encrypted before leaving the onsite storage. Encryption should be at least 256 bit or higher. Always ensure the service provider states their security policy before you begin to consider engaging their services in storing your data.

Know Your Limits:

Most of the service providers limit the sizes of data they can store by price; so your storage allowance depends on how much you pay. When deciding your cloud backup plan, take into consideration the size of your data and the quantity that is generated at a particular period of time. Check whether your provider can increase the available space if needed and at what cost. Some providers will limit the size of individual files, so be wary of such restrictions especially if you store large files such as videos.

A few service providers will limit the amount of data that can be uploaded or downloaded at any given time. Most of them will not. However, it is vital to know their policy so as to avoid the risk of being unable to access your information as quickly as possible in cases of damage to onsite storage. Initial uploads sometimes take quite some time. This is partly due to bandwidth limitation and partly due to the size of uploading files.

Access All Areas?

Consider whether the service provider allows you to access your files from other computers other than your basic computer. Web enabled access is convenient as one can access their files from any internet enabled device by logging into the providers website. You could download that bill, spreadsheet or statement way from office or home. If you would like to have automatic file upgrades, check whether the provider has software that monitors file changes. Otherwise, you would be forced to manually back up your files.

Final Considerations:

Where none catastrophic data losses are involved, it is often easier to restore data from a local storage in comparison to a cloud backup, so it is worth remembering this when assessing your cloud backup requirement. Another thing to bear in mind, especially if you pay per gigabyte or monthly, is reduplication services. Reduplication minimises the amount of data being stored because where similar files exist, it indicates the specific location of the data, rather than performing a double backup of your data. Overall it is clear that, wherever possible, it is prudent to have an online backup solution in place. It might cost more but in the long term it could save your business.

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What To Look For In A Web Host?

The Internet has become a mainstream means of communication and source of information. These days any serious business from a sole trader to a multinational corporation needs to have a website. Of course creating a site means finding somewhere to host it and this is an important decision. If your Web host is unreliable it reflects badly on your business so it’s vital to spend some time selecting the right provider. There’s plenty of choice when it comes to website hosting, Cape Town and other cities are likely to have many providers so here are some of the things you need to look out for.

Reliability and Speed:

Reliability is perhaps the most important factor; if your website is unavailable you’ve lost a vital part of your company’s operation. If you sell products directly online then this is even more important as all the time it’s down you’ll be losing orders. Internet users tend to have limited patience and if your site is down they’ll seek out a competitor rather than wait for it to come back.

Speed is almost as important. If your site takes too long to load or slows down during times of peak demand then again you’ll lose business as potential customers surf away elsewhere.

Bandwidth:

Bandwidth refers to the amount of traffic – the number of bytes of data – transferred from your site when people access it. Hosting companies often charge for bandwidth so you need to ensure that you understand what you’re paying for. If there’s a monthly limit – usually in gigabytes – make sure that this is going to be enough for your needs. If you’re expecting to see a sudden spike in traffic, as a result of an advertising campaign say, then make sure this won’t push you over your allowance and land you with extra charges.

Even if a host says it offers unlimited bandwidth there will usually be some sort of fair use limitation. Take some time to read the small print of what’s on offer to ensure that you don’t run into any hidden charges. It can sometimes be difficult to foresee bandwidth requirements so a transparent pricing policy will help you to manage your expenditure.

Storage Space:

Most hosts offer packages that have differing amounts of disk space. You may find that you need less than you think, ordinary websites are quite small in size. The only time you’re likely to run into limits is if you’re hosting large numbers of music and video files. Again beware of fair use limits on ‘unlimited storage’ deals that may well trip you up if you exceed them.

Technical Support:

Your website is a key part of your business so you need to be sure you can get support to help you deal with problems. Things often go wrong at the least convenient times so you need to make sure your chosen host offers 24/7 support. Check to see if their support staff members are available on public holidays too.

Scripting and Shopping:

Scripts are often used on websites to implement specific features, visitors’ books for example. Some hosting providers won’t allow you to install scripts without their permission so check to see if this is the case. It will slow down the implementation of a new site if you have to wait for the host’s approval before you can roll out changes.

If you’re planning on selling directly from your website then you need to ensure that the host supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to allow you to collect payments safely. Also find out if you’re restricted to using their shopping cart facility or if you can implement your own.

These are the key considerations but there are others too and it’s always worth checking reviews left by other users or asking the company if you can talk to some existing customers before you sign up.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 (Root, Recovery and Custom ROMs):

 Introduction:

After the Samsung Galaxy S3 was released, there were many rooting tools introduced into the market due to its increase in demand. Rooting the OS can help us do many custom operations like unlocking, customization of apps, different ROMs, custom kernels etc. Once you root your mobile, you can have better custom control over it where you can perform lot of operations. It is a tricky process and should be carefully carried out. If the processes are not followed exactly that might leave the phone damaged and dead.

While rooting the phone, make sure you are doing the processes safely by following the steps below. By rooting the phone, you are actually removing the mobile OS restrictions from the internal system of your device. After you finish rooting on your device, you can have complete access to the operating system and the internal system of your device.

Once rooted, you can customize your device’s system to,

    Install custom apps,
    Remove internal built-in apps,
    Modify internal settings,
    Add Custom recovery feature,
    Install Custom ROM firmware,
    Unlock you mobile.

So, with all these options after rooting we will be able to customize, optimize and power up the performances of your smartphone.

Rooting ~ step by step procedure:

Rooting process is the basis for any further customization options like creating recovery image, loading custom ROMs, and etc.

    Download the root folder from the following link and save it on your computer.
    On your preferred location, extract files from the archive.
    On your phone, navigate to Menu -> Settings -> Security and enable the “Unknown Sources” option.
    On your phone, enable the USB Debugging option from Menu -> Settings -> Developer options -> USB Debugging.
    Connect your device to the computer and transfer the folder to your device.
    Double click on RootDebugfs.bat file.
    Follow the on-screen instructions.

The rooting is done, once the above execution is completed.
Installing clockwordmod recovery ~ step by step procedure:
Once your device is rooted based on above instructions, the clockworkmod recovery can be installed on your phone. Ensure that you have at least 60% of battery prior to installing this recovery procedure.

    Download and install the ROM Manager app on your device Click here
    Launch the ROM Manager.
    Click the option named, “Flash ClockworkMod Recovery”.
    It’ll bring up a screen with the list of compatible devices, tap on your device name.
    The recovery will now be downloaded and installed on your device.

This procedure successfully installs the Clockworkmod recovery on your S3.

Samsung Galaxy S3 (Root, Recovery and Custom ROMs)
Creating a custom recovery image ~ Step by Step procedure:
After rooting an S3, custom recovery images can be created, as all Android systems have a recovery partition. This recovery image can later be used if the OS has crashed and to reflash the OS for device recovery.

    Launch the ROM Manager that you installed in the previous step and select Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and choose your device.
    When you select the Superuser prompt, choose the “Grant” option.
    The recovery image is created after it displays “Successfully flashed”.

Loading Custom ROMs ~ Step by step procedure:

Only if the device is rooted and a recovery image is created based on the steps mentioned above, Custom ROMs can be flashed into the device. All the different types of ROMs developed have their own differences, so try few and find which the best based on your usage.

    Select the ROM that you prefer based on your S3, then download it as a .zip file to your computer.
    Once downloaded, copy the .zip file without extracting, to the device’s SD card.
    Disconnect the device from the computer and open ROM Manager from your apps.
    Select the Reboot into Recovery option and the device would start rebooting after that.
    After entering into the recovery mode following the reboot process, use the volume buttons to navigate(selecting through options) and power button to select Backup and Recovery.
    Choose the Backup option and select yes for confirmation. This might take some time so you’ll have to wait till it completes.
    Select Wipe Data / Factory option ->Select Flash zip from sdcard.

Samsung Galaxy S3 (Root, Recovery and Custom ROMs)

    Select the copied zip(ROM) file from sdcard and choose it. Click yes for confirmation and wait for the process to finish flashing.
    Once it has finished flashing, Select Reboot System Now. It is the newly flashed ROM after the reboot is done.

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Best 5 Navigation Apps For IPhone

Apple Maps:

Many new iPhone users may be a bit upset with the functionality of the integrated Apple Maps within iOS 6. Many of the phone’s users have reported incomplete search results as well as a host of inaccurate instructions within the turn-by-turn features of the app. The last thing you want is to put trust into an inaccurate GPS system. The best thing to do is to wait until the software has been fixed and has become more reliable. The good news is that there are plenty of alternatives that you can use to get you to and from your destinations. Let’s talk about the 5 best navigation apps for iPhone and what you can expect from using them.

1.) Waze – Free:

One of the best things about Waze is that it is 100% free. This GPS app offers GPS navigation and it also has the function to display detailed traffic information. It is unique in that it pulls all of its traffic information from a user created resource. Now, this can be accurate and beneficial just as long as the other Waze members are nearby. If you live in a rather secluded area, you might want to look elsewhere for traffic details.
2.) GPS by Telenav – Free:

Telenav is yet another great free GPS app that has a lot of features. One thing that may turn off some potential users is that some of the more advanced apps require a monthly subscription charge. Users who vouch for the free service can expect to get turn by turn directions (without voice), landmark search, and up to date traffic and map details. The users who decide to go for the full version can expect voice functionality, rerouted directions based on road hazards or traffic jams as well as speed trap notifications.

3.) Motion X GPS – 0.99:

Motion X GPS is a very affordable GPS app that has quite a bit to offer. Users will have the ability to receive driving directions, walking, running, boating and other directions and heaps of other features. The app features turn by turn directions, but in order to unlock the voice assisted directions, you must dish out 9.99 a year. This may turn some people away, but it’s still one of the more affordable GPS apps that you can find.
4.) CoPilot Live Premium HD – 12.99:

CoPilot Live Premium HD is a high-end GPS app that has a lot of features and offers some great directions. This is only beneficial for those who live in the United States, as it only covers U.S. regions. In this app you will have access to a huge database of interests as well as turn by turn directions. Along with the great voice enabled directions, you can also expect to find a huge assortment of 3D and 2D maps.

5.) Navigon North America – 49.99:

This app is a bit on the pricey side, but for what you’ll get with the cost, you should be more than happy. You’ll have access to many U.S., Mexico and Canadian GPS maps that integrates Google search for points of interest.

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Good Games to Make a Healthy Brain

In school, you have to learn facts and practice skills in less exciting and even boring ways. In front of your computer, puzzle games can make the youth and the old alike combine entertainment with education. Knowledge can be obtained through fun games that inspire people to get involved actively in the learning process.

Puzzle games allow you to flex the muscles of your brain while having fun. Most people who are fond of playing these games are capable of retaining their old skills and mastering some new craft. Playing puzzles and brain games have favorable health benefits.

Sudoku and Number Games:

Studies have shown that playing with numbers are very helpful in maintaining the health of your mental faculties Sudoku is a very entertaining and challenging game that requires you to place the numbers 1 to 9 in blocks. You need to place all the numbers in a set without missing one.

You need to plan ahead to improve your concentrations and hone your memory. The level of difficulty depends on the number of clues. You have to be careful, though. Once you get the hang of it, you are sure to be hooked on this brain teaser.

Crosswords, Word Jumbles, and other Word Games:

This may look traditional for some, but crosswords never fail to provide a regular exercise for your brain. You have to at least solve one puzzle per day. Some clues are very tricky, while some are outright easy.

Verbal language is not the only skill you need to have in order to fill all the blank spaces. You also need to have general information on all subjects. There are sites that offer daily crosswords.

Word jumble games like text twist, word slinger, and scrabble are popular word games for everyone. Typing games to quicken your typing skills are also very helpful to the health of your brain. There are lots of word games in the net for you to enjoy.

Memory Games, Mahjong, and Finding Hidden Objects Games:

You can sharpen your memory by turning to memory game. These games help you think fast. Your capacity to remember the position of the cards is very important as the clock keeps on ticking.

The same is true with mahjong. You have to open all the tiles quickly before you run out of time. Finding hidden objects games widen your alertness and visuals as the objects are strategically hidden in a mish-mash of items.

School education is useful as it provides you with a diploma of information. However, to preserve the health of your brain, you have to complement it with online puzzle games. It pays to have a regular dose of number, word, and memory games that are also relaxing, challenging, and entertaining.

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How To Replace Laptop Accessories

There are a lot of important laptop accessories that can improve the whole function of a laptop. In some cases, these accessories should be replaced with the new one. It is very important for people to learn how to replace the laptop accessories in the correct way. This is very vital to avoid any problems or damages on the laptop in the future. In this article, there are several popular accessories and how to replace them with the new one. These accessories are chosen because they are very popular among all computer users. Almost all users have these laptop accessories.


1). Laptop keyboard cover:

This accessory is very popular because it can improve the protection on the laptop. There are a lot of different styles and models of this laptop keyboard cover. Most products are specially designed in order to prevent any scratches or damages on the original laptop keyboard. In some cases, this keyboard cover should be replaced with the new one.

 This product can tear because of the intensive or excessive use. People can simply open the keyboard cover before replacing it with the new one. However, they have to be very careful when opening this cover. Then, they have to purchase a new keyboard cover. They have to measure the keyboard size before purchasing the new keyboard cover. People can simply attach the new keyboard cover to their laptop keyboard. It is necessary to avoid the use of any water because water can damage the laptop.

2). Laptop power jack:

Laptop power jack is an important part in a laptop. This accessory is very useful to conduct the electricity for the laptop. This power jack is very fragile. It can break off very easily. When this situation happen, people should open their laptop in order to replace the broken power jack with the new one. First, they have to remove the battery back from the laptop.

 It is vital to unplug the power cord on the wall outlet. Then all screws should be unscrewed in order to open the laptop before removing the hard drive of the laptop. There is a laptop power jack inside the laptop body. This accessory is usually located on the motherboard. Replace the broken power jack with the new one. After replacing it with the new power jack, people can simply put all parts, including the motherboard, hard drive, battery, and any other laptop parts, back to the original condition.

3). Laptop batteries:

Laptop battery is another important part in a laptop. There are many problems that may occur in most laptop batteries. Most batteries can last for at least one year before getting any problems. When people have any problems with their batteries, they should replace them in the correct way. Replacing a laptop battery is not as complicated as what people thought.

People can simply remove the old battery with the new one. It is very simple to remove the battery from a laptop. In some laptop models, people can simply press the release button to remove the battery easily.

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Laptop Screen Cleaning Tips

Laptops are designed to be carried between locations and it's this portability which makes them an all-purpose machine. Even though laptops are made from tough components they can still be broken if dropped or if treated incorrectly. And one of the areas which is most prone to damage is the laptop screen.

Laptop screens should be treated carefully. They are essentially an active matrix display using either CCFL or LED lighting technology. This can be broken if dropped or the thin film protecting the display can be scratched if it is not cleaned correctly.

Some of the cleaning tips which should be employed when cleaning a laptop screen include:

Never use alcohol-based cleaning solutions:

It's a good idea to NEVER use any alcohol or solvent-based products to clean your laptop screen. The screen may not be made from glass and if it is instead made from a plastic-type material contact with alcohol or solvent solutions may damage the screen.

Don't use tissues or paper towel:

It's best not to use tissues or paper towel to clean a laptop screen. Both these products contain tiny wood fibres, which no matter how small, may leave tiny scratches on the screen if it is repeatedly wiped using these items.

It's best not to use water:

Although water is inert and is a good cleaning medium, using plain water on a laptop screen may leave watermarks on the screen due to the minerals inherently found within its make up.

Never spray the screen - always spray the cloth:

Microfibre cleaning cloths are the best things to use to clean the screen but if you are using a spray cleaning solution don't be tempted to spray the screen. Water sprayed onto the screen may work its way into the screen behind the screen bezel. There are lots of electrical connections behind the bezel which won't take kindly to being doused with water.

Don't rub too hard:

Even if you use a microfibre cleaning cloth the screen may be damaged or scratched if you rub too hard. If you have a stain on the screen it's best to let it soak by damping it with solution rather than trying to wipe it away at the first time of asking.

You can use commercial screen wipes:

If you want a quick and easy way to clean a laptop screen it's worth buying a tub of ready to use screen wipes. These will be sealed in a packet or a tub and will be slightly damp, so marks can easily be removed. These wipes will have been rigorously tested on screens already and will provide a safe and effective way to clean the screen.

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View Private Facebook Profile Picture in Full size

Some people on Facebook set their image privacy settings to "Only me".We will not be able to see their images in full size.Here is a simple work around technique using which you can see image in full size.

•     Go to the Timeline of the person.
•     Right click on the profile pick and choose the option open image in new tab from menu.

•     Then the image will open in a separate window.
•     Now just remove s160X160 from the url of the screenshot and hit enter.

• Now you will be able to see the image in full size.

 

 Hope you Enjoyed this post :)

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