Wednesday, September 30, 2009

“Microsoft Security Essentials officially launched” plus 2 more | Blogsolute

“Microsoft Security Essentials officially launched” plus 2 more | Blogsolute

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Microsoft Security Essentials officially launched

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 11:26 AM PDT

Microsoft Security Essentials, Security suite and antivirus freeware from Microsoft, has been officially launched today.  Not too noticeable changes in their interface but with minor fixes as of in Beta.

Although there are now many spinning antivirus applications, several of them really good, it is true that Microsoft Security Essentials has improved a lot since that distant first alpha release.

Microsoft Security Essentials Official

Microsoft Security Essentials Official

Just launched, the application will check for updates of virus databases available on the Microsoft website, then scan your system for viruses. A scan in Windows 7 RTM only took me 4 minutes for a 320GB disk (if it is not completely full and the initial scan is fast one).

Should have found a virus-which fortunately did not happen-is the option to leave the quarantined files, and as the system is clean, Microsoft Security Essentials has so marked and left the warning icon in the tray green system. Then, right click on the tab can reopen the options to schedule scans, or to define the action to execute in case you find any problems.

Another aspect intersante Microsoft Security Essentials is its real-time scanning of all files that arrive via email in JPEG, MPEG, AVI, or ZIP. And before each scan, the application is responsible for making a point of remedy to any problems later.

Microsoft Security Essentials can be used in Windows XP (32 bit) and Windows 7 and Vista in 32 and 64 bits, and although it is not an  revolutionary antivirus, no doubt we could say that fulfills its purpose of maintaining security.

More information and download: Microsoft Security Live Essentials

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How to activate Tata DOCOMO GPRS

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 10:39 AM PDT

Tata Docomo is enjoying success like anything! I guess all of you might have atleast one TATA Gsm sim card as of now. After the success of one paisa Tata docomo tariff plans , they have now shifted their concern towards the Internet and GPRS plans.

Users whose mobile is EDGE enabled can also surf using the docomo. As of now , Airtel was the Giant for the people who were using internet both on mobile and PC or Laptop but it seems that Docomo will overtake Airtel’s market and customers who actually were/are buying Airtel Sim cards for internet use only. Such portable net connections give users accessibility on their own wish and also one can activate, deactivate as per his needs.

Tata has introduces 15 Rs and 95 Rs limited data access plan for which you have to recharge your docomo sim cards with Rs 15 and 95 special EVD recharge which are available at your retailer. Please note that validity of Rs 15 is for 3 days only with the free usage of 20 Mb and that for Rs 95 plan is for 1 month with 100 Mb of free data usage.

How to install setting on my mobile phone?

For the setting you just need send "INTERNET" to 52270 which is toll free number for Tata Docomo users. Within 5 min you will receive setting message, just save that 'TATA DOCOMO DIVEIN' setting to your phone and you are done. Most of the people are confused with the APN. Let me clear you after activating your setting just select you APN as DOCOMO internet.

Didn’t get Settings? Set it manually, you can edit any of the previously available setting on your phone of any ISP follow the following steps:
1) Connection Name : select any name that you wants to ( Let us select "Tata docomo")
2) Data Bearer : GPRS
3) Access Point Name : TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET (Most important)
4) IP Address : Either select it as automatic or blank
5) Do not edit rest of the setiing, leave them as it is.

Now if you want to use Internet just simply connect data cable to your PC or laptop and start surfing using connectivity option from your PC suit of respective mobile companies. In the same fashion Bluetooth will also works. You can also do the same thing if you don't have PC suit just by creating Dail up connection.

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Ten MUST have Wordpress plugins

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 10:14 AM PDT

Wordpress is the best platform for Blogging and a constantly developing too. Plugins add extra fnctions or features making your site more productive. I am providing the list of top 10 wordpress plugins that every blogger must have.

Many of you may be using most of them but it will serve as good one for newbies and startup wordpress bloggers.

1. All in One SEO Pack

Some features:

  • Canonical URLs
  • Fine tune Page Navigational Links
  • Built-in API so other plugins/themes can access and extend functionality
  • Provides SEO Integration for WP e-Commerce sites
  • Nonce Security
  • Support for CMS-style WordPress installations
  • Automatically optimizes your titles for search engines
  • Generates META tags automatically
  • Avoids the typical duplicate content found on Wordpress blogs
  • For beginners, you don’t even have to look at the options, it works out-of-the-box. Just install.
  • For advanced users, you can fine-tune everything
  • You can override any title and set any META description and any META keywords you want.
  • Backward-Compatibility with many other plugins, like Auto Meta, Ultimate Tag Warrior and others.

2. Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.

3. Google XML Sitemaps

This plugin will create a Google sitemaps compliant XML-Sitemap of your WordPress blog. It supports all of the WordPress generated pages as well as custom ones. Everytime you edit or create a post, your sitemap is updated and all major search engines that support the sitemap protocol, like ASK.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO, are notified about the update.

4. Add to Any: Share/Bookmark/Email Button

The E-mail tab makes it easy to share via Google Mail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, AOL, and any other web-based e-mailer or desktop program. The Add to Favorites button (or Bookmark tab) helps users bookmark using any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc.).

5. Akismet

Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog’s “Comments” admin screen.

6. WP Super Cache

This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts.

The static html files will be served to the vast majority of your users, but because a user’s details are displayed in the comment form after they leave a comment those requests are handled by PHP. Static files are served to:

  1. Users who are not logged in.
  2. Users who have not left a comment on your blog.
  3. Or users who have not viewed a password protected post.

7. Google Analytics for WordPress

The Google Analytics for WordPress plugin automatically tracks and segments all outbound links from within posts, comment author links, links within comments, blogroll links and downloads. It also allows you to track AdSense clicks, add extra search engines, track image search queries and it will even work together with Urchin.

8. Popularity Contest

Popularity Contest keeps a count of your post, category and archive views, comments, trackbacks, etc. and uses them to determine which of your posts are most popular. There are numerical values assigned to each type of view and feedback; these are used to create a ‘popularity score’ for each post.

The values assigned to each view and feedback type are editable and can be changed at any time. When you change any of these values, the ‘popularity score’ for all posts are updated immediately to reflect the new values.

9. WP-PageNavi

All the information (general, changelog, installation, upgrade, usage) you need about this plugin can be found here: WP-PageNavi Readme. It is the exact same readme.html is included in the zip package

10. GD Star Rating

GD Star Rating plugin allows you to set up rating and review system for posts, pages and comments in your blog. You can set many options for displaying the rating stars, and also add widgets into the sidebars for displaying top ratings and other statistics generated by the plugin. Plugin includes advanced settings panels that will allow you to control many aspects of rating. Plugin also supports multi ratings along with thumbs based ratings

This is not all, there may be some more important than these according to your type of site or specific use. But, the mentioned here can be used as primary functionality and for enhancement purpose.

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Latest Tips from MakeUseOf.com

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Cool Websites and Tools [September 29]

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 06:01 PM PDT

cool websites Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

 

(1) FamousLocations – If you ever wonder where your favorite movie or TV show was filmed, FamousLocations can tell you. It is a wiki style website that combines Google Maps with the geographic locations of where movies were filmed. Most of the data (location info, images and videos) on the site was contributed by dedicated community of movie/TV show fans. Read more: FamousLocations – Find Out Where Movies Were Filmed

(2) Mota – Recently launched cool website for selling your car in a quick and easy way. In "four easy steps" actually. Basically, it will ask you dozens of questions about your vehicle; they're as detailed as "Do you smoke in the car" and "Is the 'Check Engine' light on?". While you enter in streams of information about your car a counter style price up the top will change depending on your answers. Read more: Mota – Easy Way To Sell Your Car

(3) TweetAlarm – If you want to be notified when someone tweets about you, your brand, certain products or anything else that interest you, TweetAlarm can help. It is a dead simple online utility where you can specify your keywords and be alerted via email whenever they appear on Twitter. It is just like Google Alerts for Twitter. Read more: TweetAlarm – Get Custom Twitter Alerts Via Email

(4) Customer Service Scoreboard For Top Companies – As the name suggests it is a website that lists customer service ratings of most popular companies in US. Ratings are based on the feedback provided by users online. Companies are rated (from 1 to 10) in 6 different categories – issue resolution, reachability, cancellation, friendliness, product knowledge and then are given points. Read more: Customer Service Scoreboard For Top Companies

(5) Fonolo – When you call a large company, it is a dread to listen and follow through all those phone menu instructions ("press 1 for English", "press 2 for Spanish", etc). Fonolo is a handy web service that lets you skip the phone menu instructions and connects you directly to your desired extension. Read more: Fonolo – Skip Automated Phone Menu Instructions

Submit Your Web App

 

These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.

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3 Cool Gadgets That You Can Build Yourself

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:01 PM PDT

Doc BrownIn the spirit of taking a hands-on approach to technology, I’ve decided to scour the popular tutorial site Instructables in search of cool hardware hacks to upgrade the gadgets you have to something more fun and decidedly more geeky.

I looked for beginner-friendly tutorials for cool gadgets you can build yourself, that don’t involve too much dangerous or difficult work, to help ease us into being confident enough to work on harder projects.

Beware: this article contains solder, wires, and all sorts of adventurous things. If you’re not willing to bust a couple of flash drives or glue a few fingers together, you might be better off simply marveling, and leaving the tools for another, luckier day.

The Lego USB Stick

cool gadgets you can build yourself

This is, hands down, my favorite hardware hack of all time, because not only is it whimsical and nostalgic (for me, at least, who loved building Lego landscapes as a child), but it is incredibly useful as well.

Materials:

  • USB stick. Preferably one that can easily be cracked open.
  • Lego. The tutorial writer used 2×4, 2×2, 1×4 and 1×2 sticks to make his USB. Use whatever combination of bricks to create a case that fits your USB stick snugly.
  • Clear silicone. The writer used this to set the USB stick in the lego brick and make sure it wouldn’t wobble around, but in the comments there seems to be commenters who tried hot glue with equal success. Just make sure the glue isn’t so hot that it melts the circuit board!
  • Metal Polish. This is used mostly for aesthetic effect, to make the block smooth and shiny, so you can easily do without it, if you’d like.  Someone in the comments suggested using a paste (not gel) toothpaste to rub out imperfections in the brick.
  • Super Glue. Like I said, be ready to glue your fingers together.
  • Tools: A knife to cut through the Lego. A soldering iron works too, but beware of burning your fingers! Pliers to rip out the inside parts of the Lego.

Projected Cost (given that you already have a USB stick): around $15. Silicone is almost $10 by itself, but if you’d rather use hot glue, there are plenty of places that sell glue guns for under $5.

Variations: Instructibles also has an eraser USB, but if you use some silicone or hot glue to protect the PCB (Printed circuit board), you could theoretically make a USB Drive out of anything. The commenters tried toy cars, NES controllers, and Altoid tins, among other things.

I myself someday want to put one in a small stuffed animal, so the USB connector is sticking out of its head or its butt (or… I could rip the head off and use it as a cap), so there’s plenty of ways you can innovate.

Taser

cool gadgets you can build yourself

Although this project has no practical use of any kind (unless you’re into corporal punishment), it’s a fun way to learn about circuitry and rewiring it. This project is relatively dangerous, and you could end up tasering yourself if you’re not careful, but there’s nothing like a bit of painful motivation to keep you going, right?

Materials:

  • Disposable camera, any kind will do.
  • Screwdriver to pry apart the camera and to discharge the capacitor. You might want to use a screwdriver that you’re not too fond of, because discharging the capacitor will leave a scar on it.
  • Wires: The writer just ripped some out of broken electronics, but you can find insulated wire pretty cheaply at hardware stores.
  • Wire Strippers: these are not necessary, because its easy to strip wire using a pair of scissors.
  • Electrical Tape: Using electrical tape would be the most efficient, since electrical tape doesn’t conduct a charge, but any type of tape that is not flammable could theoretically work.

Projected Cost: less than $10. The cost is a little higher if you need to buy wire, but insulated wire is extremely cheap, so even if you do buy it, the purchase shouldn’t push the cost of this project much higher than ten dollars. There’s not much you can add on to this project, except perhaps pimp the casing, but hey, maybe if the taser were bright pink, your friends will object less to being the objects of your experimentation.

The Amazing Harry Potter Wand

cool gadgets you can build yourself

Okay I admit, I couldn’t resist throwing this in. I’m a huge Potterhead, and I’m sure many people you know are too, so this would be a double threat: you can learn about basic circuitry and make a cool gift for a friend/family member/random child!

The wiring involved in this project is not complicated at ALL, and the most difficult part of the whole shebang is figuring out how you want to decorate your wand. But don’t worry, even if you’re not Ollivander, the end result will still be fabulous.

Materials:

  • LED Keyring. These are often given out for free at fairs or as promotional items, so this should be a rather cheap/easy product to come by. If not, you can buy one for two or three bucks. You could also buy just the LED bulb by itself.
  • 6Volt 4LR44 battery. The battery that comes with the LED keyring is a bit too bulky  for the wand, so you’ll need to get a thinner battery (which is where the 4LR44 battery comes in).
  • Solder + Soldering Iron. Used for soldering wires to the LED bulb; alternatively (and a bit less securely) you could use a copious amount of electrical tape.
  • Wire. Once again, you could tear apart an existing appliance, or you can just go buy a spool of wire.
  • Electrical Tape. To insulate the end of the batteries. Get one in a light color, so you can sharpie over it later. You’ll need to do this so you can differentiate between the positive and negative ends of the battery.
  • Paper. Lots and lots of paper. The wand itself is actually made of paper, double sided tape, and PVA glue, so you’ll need enough paper to make a wand about half an inch in diameter.
  • Paper Clips. The writer ingeniously used paper clips as the wand’s switch. Hopefully you have a couple spares lying around. If not, steal some from the office ;)
  • Glue Gun. Used to fill and stiffen the body of the wand, and also to firmly attach the LED to the drinking straw it will be fed through.
  • Decorating stuff: paint, emulsion, gold/silver leaf, even wood paint, if you so please. Anything that tickles your creative fancy.

This is an extremely fun project, and it’s relatively easy, as far as technical things go. If you wanted to make this family oriented, you could even pre-assemble the wand bodies for the children, and let them decorate it themselves. The cost per wand is approximately $5-$6, assuming you have all the tools already. If not, you’re looking at an additional fifteen dollars.

With these projects, I hope you’ve learned a bit about basic circuitry, and how it can be applied to turn several distinct components into a cool toy or device. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed Make Use Of’s foray into hardware-oriented articles, and continue to support us as we grow.

If you’d like to tell us about what you’d like to see from us as we improve our writing and expand our knowledge base, please let us know by leaving your comments below!  Oh and don’t forget to tell us how you got on with the above 3 projects!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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How to Get Started In Second Life in 10 Easy Steps

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 01:01 PM PDT

Second LifeIf you don’t yet play Second Life (SL) then I’m sure you have heard a thing or two about it.

Are you curious? Or do you think SL is crap? What is SL anyways and what does it offer?

SL is a 3D virtual reality, it’s an interactive graphics chat world, SL is a game and a playground, it’s all about sex, it’s a role playing game, people in SL have relationships and families, it’s an online community, it’s all about money, SL players spend real money, people with various skills make real money, SL can be experienced for free, SL is for geeks, SL allows the “socially handicapped” to connect, SL supports charity (e.g. Relay for Life), and that’s just a small selection. Maybe something caught your attention and interest here. Curious now?

Getting started in SL takes some time and patience. The initial learning curve may appear steep, but isn’t that true for everything new you try? With a bit of common sense it’s not that hard. The following Second Life step by step how-to guide should help

1. Start Slow!

Go to the Second Life website, sign up, download the client, install, and log in.

second life how to step by step


Your first login will take you to Orientation Island. Take your time to go through all the tutorials and get familiar with the software. It will help you tremendously in your future Second Life experience. You will also have to pass some tests before you may proceed to Help Island.

Help Island is restricted to fellow newcomers and mentors. Pick up all the free stuff you can find and play with it. Don’t hesitate to chat with passers by or ask for help from a mentor. You never know, you might as well meet your first SL companion. In any case remain open-minded.

2. Drop the Newbie Look!

second life how to step by stepEveryone starts out looking more or less the same. There are different female and male avatars to choose from when signing up. These avatars are only good for the first couple of steps and are frowned upon by advanced residents.

To blend in you should demonstrate individuality in shaping your individual character. Start by editing your appearance and sculpt your avatar until you like what you see.

In the store at Help Island you will find a few alternative outfits, try them on and also browse the public Library, which is part of your inventory, for more clothes. Later I will show you where to find more free stuff, including shapes, skins, hair, shoes and clothes.

3. Work on your Profile!

Your profile gives everyone an impression of who you are. It’s part of your character. Leaving it empty doesn’t make you mysterious, it makes you look like the noob you are.

When in SL, right-click on your avatar and select > Profile… from the pie menu. Go through the different tabs and fill in some details about yourself. To view the profile of another avatar, just right-click on their body or name-tag and select > Profile… from the pie menu.

second life how to step by step

4. Work on your Skills!

Help Island offers tutorials on building and inventory management. You’ll find a sandbox, an area where you can drop items from your inventory or start building. Use it to get familiar with the tools you have, it’s free!

To start building, right-click on the ground and select > Create from the pie menu. From the menu that comes up you can select the type of object you would like to create, then click onto the ground again and the item will apear. Now go ahead and play with it.

second life online game

5. Know what is Expecting you!

On Help Island you will also find a lot of posters. Some give out information in the form of notecards. Just left-click them, accept the inventory offer (blue menu in the top-right of your screen) and keep the notecard that is being given to you. All of this is valuable information that you should not pass up on. My advice: read, read, read!

6. Explore

What is the first thing you would like to see in Second Life? A club, a park, people, a shopping mall? Whatever it is, by now you should know how to find it.

Use > Search button in the bottom of your viewer, jump to the > Classifieds, > Events or > Places tab and proceed to discover your first destination. > Showcase features some of the hottest locations in SL.

second life online game

When you think you’ve found an interesting destination click the > Teleport button to leave Help Island. Alternatively, you can use the Exit at Help Island which will send you to a welcome hub on the mainland.

In the next hour or so take some time to explore. Visit the landmarks you received on Help Island or find other adventures. Walk, run, and fly, collect impressions of land and people, and don’t worry too much about still looking like a newbie.

Remember to keep a landmark (> World > Create Landmark Here) of the places you might want to check out again later.

7. Collect Free Stuff

After seeing what is possible, you might want to pick up some new clothes and a nicer skin. Search the > Classifieds for “free” stuff in the > Shopping category. Many stores offer freebies for L$0 or Dollarbies at L$1. For now you don’t want to spend any Lindens, so go with the L$0 stuff.

second life online game

Many stores have special offers for newbies 30 days old or younger. This is your chance to lay your hands on high quality apparel and body parts for free. So watch out and take advantage of this opportunity.

In > Groups search for lucky chairs or dumpster diving to find groups dedicated to sharing places where you can pick up free stuff.

8. Collect Linden Dollars

Search for “money tree” in the Classifieds or even better the Places tab. While you are 30 days old or younger you can pick up Linden Dollars hidden in money trees. Other residents leave them there for new players.

second life demo

9. Get Involved

Talk to people around you, make friends, if you have some more time browse the events calendar (> Search > Events) and visit a party, join groups and try to have a good time. Meeting people and making connections or friends is the best part of SL. You never know where these encounters may take you. In the end you might open a SL business.

10. Get a Job

Unless you have met someone who has offered you a job, your quest starts with searching again. Browse all available jobs in the > Employment category of the > Classifieds section and reply to those that sound interesting. Remember to tick the “Include Mature content” box if you’re ready to explore all there is to offer.

And that’s it, welcome to Second Life!

What is your experience with SL or other virtual worlds? Did you find this little guide helpful for your start into a Second Life? What’s missing? Leave your feedback in the comments!

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Four Of The Funniest Online Name Generators

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 11:01 AM PDT

namioHave you ever thought about getting yourself a non-official name change? A special nickname, that is.

Some people quickly get a nickname in college, others have to make do. If you’re looking for a cool funny nickname, the internet is a great place to be.

Plenty of name generators out there will give you all you ever dreamt of. But why stop there? Why don’t you get yourself a pirate, dwarf, or Jedi name?

Listed below are four of the funniest online name generators. Want more? – do a Google search for inspiration. If you can think of a naming concept, someone will have made a generator!

The Pirate Name Generator

Earlier this month we celebrated Talk like a Pirate day. If you forgot, just like me, here’s a way to make it up! You might not have a parrot yet, or a wooden leg (don’t worry, not all of ‘em real pirates did) – but here’s a way to earn yourself a real pirate’s name!

piratename


Enter your name and sex, and press go to generate one. If you’re unhappy with the name you got, try different combinations of your name, surname and/or nicknames.

From now on, I will be called Cap’n Bernard Bloodbucket. Arr.

Superhero Name Generator

Never had the stomach to conquer the seven seas? How about something a tad more modern?

Most of us grew up with the comic books of DC, Dark Horse and Marvel. All of us dreamed of being superheroes one time or another. Your powers have gone missing, but at least you’ve still got your Superhero Name! After all, the status is enough to scare away most baddies.

superheroname

Instead of using your own name, you can tweak your feature name using a few of the available options. Choose gender, publisher’s naming scheme, title, adjective, noun and suffix. Not happy with your name? Don’t worry, just hit the button again!

Vampire Name Generator

Vampires merge past and future. As a superior race, they’ll long outlive humanity – but until then, they’ll keep leaching a few more centuries. Although big fangs and long draping capes stand a little out these days, there’s still some more place for bloodsuckers at the corporate top of most ISP’s!

vampname

The generator picks names from a number of huge directories of first and last names. You can generate a modern name (and optionally specify gender), or remain retro. Generate 1 up to 25 names, and have your pick!

Music Star Name Generator

Ok, I’ll be honest – the former three name generators might’ve been a bit unrealistic. Vampires and superheroes probably don’t exist, and pirates only do in Somalia.

This one name generator might be a little more within your reach. Have you ever dreamt of a career in music?

music star

Getting a star name isn’t easy, but this site likes to help out. Enter your name and generate a Pop-, Rock-, Rap- or Country Star name. If you aren’t happy with it, you’ll have to try different combinations with your first, last and nicknames, because the site won’t give you another one.

Happy with your new names? Why don’t you post them in the comments section below? Other name generator suggestions are always welcome as well – I know there are plenty more out there!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Top 7 Easy and Free Web Hosting Services

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 09:01 AM PDT

00 Server roomLooking at the feedback I’ve got from my previous article about building a self-hosted Wordpress blog for free, and from personal experience, I can tell that good free web hosting services are hard to find.

Sure, you can get tons of results from search engines. But most of them turn out to be more annoying than useful. In the end, the results that we can count on are those which come from peer recommendation.

So, to help readers with their web-building experiments (and for my own future references), I tried to compile a list of good easy and free web hosting services. Many of the entries are readers’ recommendations, others are the remainder of the search engine results after filtering out the unqualified ones.

The elimination process

Before revealing the list, let’s look at several factors that made a few services good enough to not be eliminated from the list. Please note that I’ve tried my best not to play favorites, but my personal opinion might differ from others.

First, the features that make these web hosting services easy to use. One service offers different arrangements than the other one. But the ones that we are looking for must have:

  • an installer script (usually Elefante or Fantastico) for automatic installation of Wordpress (and other server-side applications)
  • access to a control panel for easier web management
  • the latest version of MySQL and PHP (at least not too old)
  • FTP access to upload and delete files
  • the ability to host our own domain (so we can use the CO.CC address or other personal domain).


Second, the free factors. Most of the time, free is not really free. Some services offer free hosting with ads, some take forever for the activation process, some others require users to make a minimum number of posts in some forum before becoming eligible for the service. The ones that we are looking for should be “as free as possible”.

Again, the list is compiled with “newbies” and “experimentations” in mind. For better features, bigger disk space, monthly data transfer (bandwidth), access to customer service and technical support, and peace of mind, you should go and get yourself a paid web hosting service. Try Resellers Panel for much cheaper resellers price.

The Survivors

Here are the ones that still stand after the showdown.:) In no particular order, of course. I’ll only mention the disk space and monthly data transfer for quick comparison purposes. Please refer to each service provider’s website for the full list of features as they will be too long to list down here.

Zymic

Gives you:

  • 5 GB disk space per account with unlimited account per users
  • 50 GB of monthly data transfer

easy and free web hosting

XtreemHost

Gives you:

  • 5.5 GB disk space
  • 200 GB of monthly data transfer

easy and free web hosting

Hosting-Engine

Gives you:

  • 150 MB disk space
  • 4 GB of monthly data transfer

easy and free web hosting

Host-Ed

Gives you:

  • 150 MB disk space
  • 4 GB of monthly data transfer

free web host hosting

Freehostia

Gives you:

  • 250 MB disk space
  • 6 GB of monthly data transfer

free web host hosting

PhpNet

Gives you:

  • 350 MB disk space
  • 15 GB of monthly data transfer

free web host hosting

000Webhost

Gives you:

  • 1.5 GB disk space
  • 100 GB of monthly data transfer

free web hosting web sites

Footnotes

I hope this list can help you start your first (Wordpress) blog or website (or park some of the domain names that you have).

I’m sure there are more options lurking somewhere out there, but these are the best that I could find within a few days of searching.

I also found out that some of these services don’t last very long. Many of the links that I found are dead. I guess that’s another side of free services that can’t compete with paid ones.

If you know of other good alternatives, please don’t hesitate to share using the comments below.

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Three Free Portable Software Uninstallers For Your Flash Drive

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 07:01 AM PDT

ThumbnailWhy is an uninstaller a useful app to have in your armory? Normally, the better designed programs come with an uninstaller of their own. They are designed keeping in mind ease of installation, upgrades, configuration and uninstallation. That's a complete package.

But not all in the scattering of software programs are made keeping in mind such best practices. But then there's the Windows default Add/Remove tool.

True, it's there but it sometimes fails as an umbrella solution. Though not entirely its own fault, as some programs are just not designed keeping good package management practices in mind.

But as some users will attest, it is notoriously slow and lacks some basic handling features like search and full featured seek and search tasks which make for easier program management. There have been instances where a quirk has rendered the tool defunct.


That's why it helps to keep another free software uninstaller app ready and primed for an emergency surgery on your system. There are in fact too many tools for the job. Selecting one is like checking out the surgeon who is best suited for removing a mass of tissue from your system.

For a long time my tool of choice has been Revo Uninstaller. But lately I have been hunting around for apps which I can just drop into my thumb drive. Call it convenience or call it a new found respect for portable software.

So here are three free, portable software uninstallers which just might fit the bill and the flash drive.

Revo Uninstaller Portable(v1.83)

1_Revo

Shifting loyalties from the big brother to his little one wasn't so difficult. The zipped version of Revo Uninstaller is in the same form albeit in a portable version. It downloads as an itsy bitsy 900KB package. Extract and drop into your flash drive.

I won't go into too much detail with Revo because it features the same layout of features as covered in the earlier review. My first impressions confirmed that, as I got the same listings of apps which the default Windows Add/Remove missed. It also features the same set of optimization tools like a registry cleaner and a junk cleaner. The utility of the Hunter Mode remains the same – point the cross hairs over an icon and you get all details and uninstall info on it.

Revo Uninstaller Portable is a free Win2000/XP/2003/Vista software.

MyUninstaller (v1.50)

2_MyUninstaller

Another lithe add/remove alternative not better than Revo but still quite handy…the 63KB package can be unzipped and used in a portable fashion. The NirSoft software lists all the installed programs (and updates installed under Windows and suites like MS Office) and other related info like product name, company, version, uninstall string, installation source, registry key, root key and default installer used.

MyUninstaller keeps tabs on the state of your system before and after the installation of some software. The software reports can be saved into a text file or HTML file. Program entries can also be directly opened to their registry entries. Delete multiple software in one go via the advanced mode.

The one apparent flaw I noticed was that the program is slow to start-up. But the help file offers a Quick Mode workaround in which the settings are saved to an INI file resulting in faster load times.

NirSoft MyUninstaller is a free Win98/Win2000/XP/2003/Vista software.

KUninstall (v0.3)

3_KUinstall

Three words – small, quick and powerful. The 322 KB portable, free software uninstaller has a clean cut interface for the job. It loads up very fast and works quickly to list all programs installed in your system. You can get some detailed info with a right click on a program entry like direct access to its website, its registry entry, its installation folder and other detailed info.

The Finder tool in KUninstall lets you remove or uninstall running programs by terminating the process associated with that program. You just need to click the running program and then click the finder on the interface of KUninstall. You can also drag and drop a shortcut of an installed program for a fast uninstall. Long list of programs can be scanned and filtered using the search box integrated in the portable software.

KUninstall is a free Win2000/XP software.

Installing is a cinch in Windows. But uninstalling sometimes turns into a game of blind man's bluff. Blame it on little program leftovers on the wake of an installed program. These three programs are just three alternatives which makes the chore a lot more user friendly. A clean system is a lot healthier system. If you believe that, also read Stefan's post on How to Uninstall Applications Efficiently and Remove Obsolete Files.

Finally give us some of your own pointers on how you keep your system clean. Which are your apps for the uninstall hatchet job?

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Watch Free TV Channels On The Go With KitePlayer

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 05:01 AM PDT

tvHeadHave you ever wanted to watch free TV on your laptop on the go? You say, sure there is Hulu (which we have covered extensively here) and other sites that let me do that.

But how about one site that aggregates all the others and lets you watch them via one program interface that you could run on say your media center station showing on your TV or your laptop on the bus?

I have lots of AVI files of various shows that I watch but what about when I want to find stuff that I don’t know I want to see? Like long forgotten television shows from my past? Or how about movies I have never even heard of? What do I do then?

Well I think I’ve found a good place to head over to and download their player to watch TV on my PC for free.

According to their site :

Kiteplayer is the first TV player to include HQ TV streams online. Free TV on your PC. Get instant access to over 1,000 full featured films, 500+ TV shows, full-length movie channels, sports, news, music channels

No Spyware – No Hardware Required. Kiteplayer software is free to download and you can always get the latest version by clicking here.


So I grabbed the downloadable and installed it. After a little next next next action I was looking at the screen below. It is very simple to understand even your grandparents could use this. I mean, you click on a category and then a show and it plays – I mean could it be easier? Sure they could pick the show for you! But what fun would there be in that?

watch tv on my pc free

I started clicking around all excited – like a kid in a virtual candy store. And what do I see after only a few clicks?

watch tv on my pc free

I saw ALF. Now I had not see this in about 20 years so I immediately clicked on it and blam just like that it was playing.I continued looking and saw other gems like Family Guy and the Simpsons.

I was about to move on and check out the movies when something else caught my eye:

watch tv on my pc free

Yup it was almost every  episode of X Men Evolution. Something I have been meaning to catch up on. And now that I take the bus to work in the morning this is all I need to make my commute pleasant!

So off to the movies:

how can i watch tv on my computer for free

I was expecting name after name of old movies I had already saw and I was pleasantly surprised with a list of titles I had never heard of. Let's see what else we  can find.

I jumped into music – specifically hip hop. This one was showing a little Cyprus Hills.

how can i watch tv on my computer for free

All in all there is a lot of entertainment here for everyone no matter what you like or hate.

What do you use to get your TV watching on – on the go? We would love to hear about it in the comments.

Editor’s Note : what you see on KitePlayer may vary depending on your IP address (where you are in the world).

KitePlayer.

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