You are being Watched !!!

Do you know, when you use your favorite google apps on your favorite #smartphone, like google maps, someone other than you and the satellites, also knows where are you going to.
Or when you watch a video on youtube, someone knows which video you watched. There are other so many apps which tracks your each activity through your own smartphone. Sounds crazy but your smartphone is almost spying on you ;o)

Want to see yourself?

Check this


https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/

Or this

https://www.google.com/dashboard

Or check more details at

https://myaccount.google.com

How to convert an image into text or word doc

Recently I came across a situation where a friend has sent an image and I needed to extract the text from the image. Came very handy this website which I found on google and tried successfully -

http://www.onlineocr.net/

It's a very simple 3 step process where you choose the file to convert ( it could be even a pdf document which has the image), select the output and hit the convert button. Bingo! you are done.

Best part I like is that it displays the converted text on screen, which is very easy to copy and paste.

Solution to Problems in Free upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8

You can see the detailed instructions here
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial
from Microsoft itself.

I faced issue in upgrading to Windows 8.1, it just didn't show up in the Windows Store (Update Tiles)

Microsoft has a suggested solution at their website here

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/why-can-t-find-update-store

This worked for me through with a one more step.
Ofcourse you would need to update your PC or Laptop first with the available Windows Updates.
Then the upgrade option to Windows 8.1 should show up in Windows Store. When you click to install it, it might give an error again as it gave me. What worked for me was to disable the McAfee firewall, and then it worked flawless.

Carry your Applications with you

Portable Apps is an excellent Portable Apps website that offers a suite of applications that can be carried along on a portable drive (like thumb/pen drive, memory card or cloud drive). It's completely free without any time restriction.

Many applications and softwares are such as which you don't want to install on different PC's (Home, Office, Shared PCs, Cyber Cafe PC etc). Such commonly used softwares could be - Browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox)
- Office Editors (Like Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for text, spreadsheet and presentation
- Torrent
- Email (Thunderbird)
- Messenger
- Skype
etc
Just download the portable versions of these softwares and install them on your portable drive. Now simply plug in and use the applications.

Sorting in Gmail

Unlike Yahoo Mail or most other email providers, Google's Gmail does not specifically provide any option or feature to sort the emails.
I came across many options though for sorting emails in gmail, while looking for same on the Internet.
Here are some quick tips for sorting emails in gmail -

Sort Gmail by Sender

Use from:sender’s name in Gmail search box

Sort Gmail by Size

Use has:attachment in Gmail search box

Use has:attachment from:me label:sent to quickly sort emails having attachments sent by you. Can be used to clean and reduce the mailbox size.

Sort/Search by Unread Mails

Use is:unread in Gmail search box

Sort by file type

Use filename:pdf (mp3 etc) in Gmail search box

Auto Text Complete with AutoHotKey

I found it very useful for repeatiitve text or dates that are used frquently in emails -
AutoHotkey is a free, open-source utility for Windows. With it, you can:

* Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder.

* Create hotkeys for keyboard, joystick, and mouse. Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey.

* Expand abbreviations as you type them. For example, typing "btw" can automatically produce "by the way".

* Create custom data-entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. See GUI for details.

* Remap keys and buttons on your keyboard, joystick, and mouse.

* Respond to signals from hand-held remote controls via the WinLIRC client script.

* Run existing AutoIt v2 scripts and enhance them with new capabilities.

* Convert any script into an EXE file that can be run on computers that don't have AutoHotkey installed.

Send SMS for Free to any country

JaxtrSMS has introduced free Mobile Texting, Local And International.
You can send messages to all in your address book whether they have the app or not.
It goes direct to SMS inbox and behaves like regular SMS.
Also works on tablets PC's like Motorola XOOM, iPad, Samsun Galaxy Tab etc . Use your own number or buy a new global phone number.


How does it work?
Use JaxtrSMS to send and receive messages with any other mobile phone in the world forFREE.

1. Recipient does not have to be a user
2. Send a text message to any other mobile phone, domestic or international.
3. Use your own phone number

Sorting in Gmail

Unlike Yahoo Mail or most other email providers, Google's Gmail does not specifically provide any option or feature to sort the emails.
I came across many options though for sorting emails in gmail, while looking for same on the Internet.
Here are some quick tips for sorting emails in gmail -

Sort Gmail by Sender

Use from:sender’s name in Gmail search box

Sort Gmail by Size

Use has:attachment in Gmail search box

Use has:attachment from:me label:sent to quickly sort emails having attachments sent by you. Can be used to clean and reduce the mailbox size.

Sort/Search by Unread Mails

Use is:unread in Gmail search box

Sort by file type
Use filename:pdf (mp3 etc) in Gmail search box

Android Phones Vulnerable to WiFi Attack

Folks over at Ulm University in Germany have determined that all Android phones running any version below Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread are vulnerable to attacks over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. And since only the Nexus S, and a few other devices have that update onboard, that pretty much means the entire Android user base (99.7%) is at risk.
The German researchers published their findings in a paper entitled "Catching AuthTokens in the Wild: The Insecurity of Google's ClientLogin Protocol." Vulnerability is specific to unencrypted Wi-Fi hot spots, where the team demonstrated an attack that gained access to all items of contacts, calendar events, and private pictures, including those currently being synced. This is done with an impersonation attack, stealing authToken (authentication tokens), markers used to communicate between the Android device and Google services.
By steal authToken, the hackers can theoretically access a variety of other Google services on the phone, at least those that use ClientLogin authentication protocol for its data APIs. The best solution is to upgrade to Android 2.3.4, but upgrades are hard to come by, with both manufacturers and operators lagging far behind the curve.
All is not so bleak though - switch-off automatic synchronization on your device, and don’t use apps, whenever you log on to unencrypted Wi-Fi. Or in other words, don’t log on to an open Wi-Fi network.

Source - http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-and-PDAs/997-percent-of-Android-devices-vulnerable-to_6791.html

Free SMS Reminder Service from Google

You might have been using google calendar for setting reminders for various events like Birthdays, Marriage anniversaries and other
important tasks.
There is much more to it though - Google also offers to send SMS to your cellphone to remind about the events setup in your calendar, absolutely free.

Though there might be several service providers available offering this service free, but as you can even integrate google calendar with your gmail, using google
calendar as free reminder service makes it more convenient.

It works with almost all telecom circles in India, like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea etc.

All you have to do is register your mobile phone number with google.
And next time when you add an event to google calendar, you can choose to receive the
reminder on your mobile phone as an SMS, anytime before the event.

Here are the steps to set it up -

Step 1. Go to google calendar settings -



Step 2. Register your mobile number with google -



Step 3. While adding an event/reminder to a date on google calendar, choose SMS as reminders option. You can choose to receive alert as an email and popup as well.



All set. Now jump on that important reminder as an when it comes to you SMS inbox.

Date Picker for Excel Sheets

Found a nice add-on for Microsoft Excel 2007 that allows you to add a date picker in a excel sheet cell.
It comes really handly when you need to quickly add a date (Current date or any other) in a excel sheet cell. This add-on gives some options to customize as well
like using a cell icon etc.



For details check out MS Excel Date Picker

Download add-on at MS Excel Date Picker add-on download

What is MAC address and how to find it?

What is MAC address?
The MAC address is a unique value associated with a network adapter. MAC stands for Media Access Control.
The MAC address (also known as the physical address) is your computer's unique hardware number. When you're connected to the Internet from your computer (or host as the Internet protocol thinks of it), a correspondence table relates your IP address to your computer's physical (MAC) address on the LAN. This is how the router knows where to send IP packets destined for your system. MAC addresses are also known as hardware addresses or physical addresses.

MAC addresses are 12-digit hexadecimal numbers (48 bits in length). By convention, MAC addresses are usually written in one of the following two formats:

MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS

MM-MM-MM-SS-SS-SS

The first half of a MAC address contains the ID number of the adapter manufacturer. These IDs are regulated by an Internet standards body (see sidebar). The second half of a MAC address represents the serial number assigned to the adapter by the manufacturer. In the example,

00:A0:C9:14:C8:29

The prefix

00A0C9

indicates the manufacturer is Intel Corporation.

How do I find my computer's MAC address?
It's quite easy to find your PC's MAC address -
The list below summarizes options to find a computer's MAC address:
* Windows 95 and newer: winipcfg
* Windows NT and newer: ipconfig /all
* Linux and some Unix: ifconfig -a
* Macintosh with Open Transport: TCP/IP Control Panel - Info or User Mode/Advanced
* Macintosh with MacTCP: TCP/IP Control Panel - Ethernet icon

Also check this link
and this link.

Data Recovery Software with free License

In addition to one of my earlier post on Data Recovery tools for free, Here is another option to recover your lost data.
iCare Data Recovery Software is dedicated in most frequently data recover like formatted hard drive, MBR (Mast Boot Record) corrupted, bad boot sector, drive inaccessible, partition unreadable, partition deleted, software operation failure like Partition Magic caused data loss, Ghost failure, virus attacked, etc.
iCare Data Recovery can easily recover files from wrong formatted drives, unexpectedly file deletion, raw drive or raw file system, virus attack, partition deleted, software crash etc. It can recover any deleted files like photos, documents, mp3, outlook file, presentations, and it also works with any type of storage media like hard drive, removable hard drive, digital camera sd card, usb drives, ipod, memory card etc.

You can download the full version of this software from here - Download the Full version here

And the License code is : “2K1XB2X964MPHOCJ8M1RYIJF0OVHFOFH”

Edit your PDF Files for Free

If your looking for basic editing of your PDF files, Open Office comes very handy. Extremely easy to install and use.
Open office version 3 and above support editing of PDF files. You can download the latest Open Office here. As of date, the latest release is Open Office version 3.2.
Once you download and install Open Office, you would need to download and install 'Sun PDF Import Extension'. It can be downloaded here. To install for windows, you can simply download and dbl-click on the downloaded '.oxt' file. Or else you can open new document (or spreadsheet etc) in Open Office -> go to Tools -> Extension Manager, and install it.
Open 'Draw' (File -> New -> Drawing), then in Draw, simply open the PDF file to edit it.
Best part about Open Office PDF editor is, it retains all the original formatting.

Run Command In Windows

A comprehensive list of various Run command.

To access go to run (Win + R )

•Accessibility Controls : access.cpl
•Accessibility Wizard : accwiz
•Add Hardware Wizard : hdwwiz.cpl
•Add/Remove Programs : appwiz.cpl
•Administrative Tools control : admintools
•Adobe Acrobat (if installed) : acrobat
•Adobe Designer (if installed) : acrodist
•Adobe Distiller (if installed) : acrodist
•Adobe ImageReady (if installed) : imageready
•Adobe Photoshop (if installed) : photoshop
•Automatic Updates : wuaucpl.cpl
•Bluetooth Transfer Wizard : fsquirt
•Calculator : calc
•Certificate Manager : certmgr.msc
•Character Map : charmap
•Check Disk Utility : chkdsk
•Clipboard Viewer : clipbrd
•Command Prompt : cmd
•Component Services : dcomcnfg
•Computer Management : compmgmt.msc
•Control Panel : control
•Date and Time Properties : timedate.cpl
•DDE Shares : ddeshare
•Device Manager : devmgmt.msc
•Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* : directx.cpl
•Direct X Troubleshooter : dxdiag
•Disk Cleanup Utility : cleanmgr
•Disk Defragment : dfrg.msc
•Disk Management : diskmgmt.msc
•Disk Partition Manager : diskpart
•Display Properties control : desktop
•Display Properties : desk.cpl
•Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) control : color
•Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility : drwtsn32
•Driver Verifier Utility : verifier
•Event Viewer : eventvwr.msc
•Files and Settings Transfer Tool : migwiz
•File Signature Verification Tool : sigverif
•Findfast : findfast.cpl
•Firefox (if installed) : firefox
•Folders Properties control : folders
•Fonts control : fonts
•Fonts Folder : fonts
•Free Cell Card Game : freecell
•Game Controllers : joy.cpl
•Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) : gpedit.msc
•Hearts Card Game : mshearts
•Help and Support : helpctr
•HyperTerminal : hypertrm
•Iexpress Wizard : iexpress
•Indexing Service : ciadv.msc
•Internet Connection Wizard : icwconn1
•Internet Explorer : iexplore
•Internet Properties : inetcpl.cpl
•Internet Setup Wizard : inetwiz
•IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) : ipconfig /all
•IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /displaydns
•IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /flushdns
•IP Configuration (Release All Connections) : ipconfig /release
•IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) : ipconfig /renew
•IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) : ipconfig /
registerdns
•IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /showclassid
•IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /setclassid
•Java Control Panel (If Installed) : jpicpl32.cpl
•Java Control Panel (If Installed) : javaws
•Keyboard Properties control : keyboard
•Local Security Settings : secpol.msc
•Local Users and Groups : lusrmgr.msc
•Logs You Out Of Windows : logoff
•Malicious Software Removal Tool : mrt
•Microsoft Access (if installed) : access.cpl
•Microsoft Chat : winchat
•Microsoft Excel (if installed) : excel
•Microsoft Frontpage (if installed) : frontpg
•Microsoft Movie Maker : moviemk
•Microsoft Paint : mspaint
•Microsoft Powerpoint (if installed) : powerpnt
•Microsoft Word (if installed) : winword
•Microsoft Syncronization Tool : mobsync
•Minesweeper Game : winmine
•Mouse Properties control : mouse
•Mouse Properties : main.cpl
•Nero (if installed) : nero
•Netmeeting : conf
•Network Connections control : netconnections
•Network Connections : ncpa.cpl
•Network Setup Wizard : netsetup.cpl
•Notepad : notepad
•Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) : nvtuicpl.cpl
•Object Packager : packager
•ODBC Data Source Administrator : odbccp32.cpl
•On Screen Keyboard : osk
•Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) : ac3filter.cpl
•Outlook Express : msimn
•Paint : pbrush
•Password Properties : password.cpl
•Performance Monitor : perfmon.msc
•Performance Monitor : perfmon
•Phone and Modem Options : telephon.cpl
•Phone Dialer : dialer
•Pinball Game : pinball
•Power Configuration : powercfg.cpl
•Printers and Faxes control : printers
•Printers Folder : printers
•Private Character Editor : eudcedit
•Quicktime (If Installed) : QuickTime.cpl
•Quicktime Player (if installed) : quicktimeplayer
•Real Player (if installed) : realplay
•Regional Settings : intl.cpl
•Registry Editor : regedit
•Registry Editor : regedit32
•Remote Access Phonebook : rasphone
•Remote Desktop : mstsc
•Removable Storage : ntmsmgr.msc
•Removable Storage Operator Requests : ntmsoprq.msc
•Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) : rsop.msc
•Scanners and Cameras : sticpl.cpl
•Scheduled Tasks control : schedtasks
•Security Center : wscui.cpl
•Services : services.msc
•Shared Folders : fsmgmt.msc
•Shuts Down Windows : shutdown
•Sounds and Audio : mmsys.cpl
•Spider Solitare Card Game : spider
•SQL Client Configuration : cliconfg
•System Configuration Editor : sysedit
•System Configuration Utility : msconfig
•System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) : sfc /scannow
•System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) : sfc /scanonce
•System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) : sfc /scanboot
•System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) : sfc /
revert
•System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) : sfc /purgecache
•System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) : sfc /
cachesize=x
•System Information : msinfo32
•System Properties : sysdm.cpl
•Task Manager : taskmgr
•TCP Tester : tcptest
•Telnet Client : telnet
•Tweak UI (if installed) : tweakui
•User Account Management : nusrmgr.cpl
•Utility Manager : utilman
•Windows Address Book : wab
•Windows Address Book Import Utility : wabmig
•Windows Backup Utility (if installed) : ntbackup
•Windows Explorer : explorer
•Windows Firewall : firewall.cpl
•Windows Magnifier : magnify
•Windows Management Infrastructure : wmimgmt.msc
•Windows Media Player : wmplayer
•Windows Messenger : msmsgs
•Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected) : wiaacmgr
•Windows System Security Tool : syskey
•Windows Update Launches : wupdmgr
•Windows Version (to show which version of windows) : winver
•Windows XP Tour Wizard : tourstart
•Wordpad : write

Check Strength of Your Password

Your online accounts, computer files, and personal information are more secure when you use strong passwords to help protect them.

Here is a small yet useful utility from Microsoft to check the strength of your password.

So each time you decide to change your password for any kind of account, you can use this password strength checker from Microsoft.

Time to sheild your Windows OS

Microsoft has announced new patches for "critical" Windows bugs that are actively being exploited on the internet, allowing an attacker to take control of your system remotely. Here's how to keep your Windows system protected -

1. Keep your WINDOWS OS updated
Verify that you have the most recent security updates from Microsoft and that AutoUpdate is on.

a) Start Internet Explorer and go to http://update.microsoft.com
b) Check the box at the top right to see Automated Update status. If needed, click to turn ON Automatic Updates from Microsoft.
c) Hit "Express" to install all outstanding high-priority updates.
d) If needed, be sure to reboot to finalize the install of the updates.

2. Keep your ANTIVIRUS and FIREWALL updated

3. Update BROWSERS and APPLICATIONS.
All softwares that interacts with the internet are updated regularly by the publisher as vulnerabilities are discovered. This includes products such as internet browsers, social networking software, mobile device operating system and apps (such as iPhone), Adobe products like Acrobat and Flash, and media players. Staying current with the latest versions is crucial to your system security.

Send emails using your own language

Quillpad is a free online Indian language typing tool. You can type in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Nepali. For example, when you type 'aap kaise hain' in Hindi, Quillpad will convert it directly into Devanagari script. If you write a word like 'vishesh', first sh should become 'श' and the second sh should become 'ष'. Quillpad will intelligently do that for you. No need to use shift keys or to memorize any key mappings. So 'राष्ट्रपति' can be written by typing 'rashtrapati' or 'raashtrapathi'. Quillpad can also predict if multiple words are possible for your input. You can click on the word to select from those options. In addition Quillpad allows you to type English words freely in between Hindi words. It intelligently transliterates them into Hindi.

www.quillpad.com/hindi
www.quillpad.com/kannada
www.quillpad.com/malayalam
www.quillpad.com/marathi
www.quillpad.com/tamil
www.quillpad.com/telugu

Type some word of your regional language in English. You will get the exact word in your language.

Example :

Type it as : eppadi irukkeenga?
You will get : எப்படி இருக்கீங்க?

You can copy and paste these words in any document or mail.

Recover deleted or lost Data from Hard Disk, Digital Camera, Memory Card or USB Flash Drives for free

There are times when you might have, intentionally or unintentionally, or may be accidentally, deleted your important images, documents or some other data from your computer's Hard Disk, Or say Photographs from your Digital Camera (Memory Stick, Memory Card) Or from USB Flash Drive.
Recuva comes to rescue in such situations. It is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!
Recuva is free to download. You can download it from here.

Gtalk (Google Talk) Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts------------->

* CTRL + Mousewheel up/down: Change the font size in a conversation window.
* CTRL + E: Center text
* CTRL + R: Right justify text
* CTRL + L or CTRL+J: Left justify text
* F9: Open Gmail to send an email to the person you talk to
* F11: Start a call
* F12: Stop the current call
* ESC: Close the current window

Conversation---------------------->

* Some smileys are converted by Google Talk: :-| :-O :-x :-P :-D ;-) :-( :-) B-) :'( :| :O :x :P :D :) :( :)
* To write bold text, type *your gtalk message*
* To write italic text, type _your gtalk message_

Startup parameters (go to Start/Run and type "c:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /one_parameter_from_the_list_below)

* /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk.
* /register: write Google Talk settings in the registry.
* /checkupdate: check for new version.
* /factoryreset: revert to default settings.
* /mailto email@gmail.com: send an email with Gmail.
* /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode.