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