The Complete Internet Pack: Must Haves For Safer, Faster and Efficient Browsing

Internet offers a wide range of services that spans between emails, chat, video calls, downloads, information and stuffs like that. A successful Netizen (a netizen is someone who uses internet) needs a whole array of tools to aid his path through the internet. Such tools will help him to get things done faster and makes browsing a pleasure.

Nomatter what kind of connection is yours, or how often you connect, there are some 'Must Haves' for every one. Infact, those with slower connection need them more.

The Must Haves can be classified into:

• Web Browsers and Browser Essentials
• Download and Upload Managers
• Security Tools
• Networking and Connectivity Tools
• Feed Readers
• Offline Essentials

Everything discussed in here are freewares and most of them have versions compatible with Linux and Mac.

Web Browsers
The Internet Explorer on Windows is a good Browser, but there better browsers which are much faster and safer than the Internet Explorer. And a good Browser is the primary Must Have for every Netizen.

• Mozilla Firefox recently Launched Firefox 3 series in beta. Firefox is fast, fully customizable and is the most recommended Browser for everyone. If you are a developer, Firefox offers lots of tools that might get your job done. Firefox supports plug-ins which can be downloaded online.
• Opera is another recommened browser. Its the best competitor to Firefox and is well suited for both Geeks and Newbies. Both Firefox and Opera supports tabbed browsing.
• Apple Safari is yet another cool Browser. Its from apple so it has got to look damn. Ranks three in comparison with the others, but consider this one if you are a normal internet user who wish to get rid of Internet Explorer. Safari supports tabbed browsing too.
  

Browser Essentials
Quality websites uses Java, Some Flash and Stuffs like that. You might end up in pages with cross marks all over, just because you dont have some softwares installed on your system. Here are some Must Haves

• JAVA Support - Websites with built in Java Applets need Java Runtime Support. Dowload this file and install. To know if you have JAVA right now, Open Contol Panel and Check whether you are having a Java Button there.
• Adobe Flash Player - Websites with embedded Flash Videos needs Flash Player. Dowload it here
  

Download and Upload Managers
Downloading is one of the most Important job done online. Every Browser has its own Download Manager. But a dedicated Download Manager improves Download Speed and can keep track of all the downloads irrespective of the browser. Download Managers usually have Resume Support, which means that you can pause a download and complete it later. Download Managers usually have a integrated Upload Manager too.

• Free Download Manager is the recommended Download Manager. We have been using it for years and it has been a Faithful Friend always. Download the Latest Version here
  
• uTorrent (read as mue-Torrent) is a Torrent Downloader. FDM also supports Torrent, but if you wish to have a dedicated Torrent Downloader, uTorrent is recommended.

Security Tools
Internet is the home to countless Hackers and Spammers. So Internet Security is a major concern. Basically you need protection from Viruses. You also need to monitor how your computer connects to the internet.

• AVG Antivirus Free is a free and effective Antivirus solution. AVG brings you regular updates so you can be sure that you are protected always. This is a highly recommended Must Have.
• Comodo Firewall Pro is an award winning Free Firewall. It lets you control the way each and every program on your system runs. If you are low on system resources, just install Comodo instead of a Antivirus, since Comodo can partly function as a Antivirus.

Networking and Connectivity Tools
Socializing with Friends and Relatives need a Chat client or a Video Conferencing tool or a Net Phone. The good thing is that, all these facilities are available in a single application, so you dont need to go in search of many.

• Yahoo! Messenger is one such tool which converges all facilites and is a Must Have. With Yahoo! Messenger, you can chat, talk, share pictures, view Webcams and even host a Web Conference.
• Though Yahoo! Messenger has everything within it, you might consider using Google Talk or Skype for connecting with friends in a purticular network.

Feed Readers
Readers are Softwares that bring website content direcly to you, right at the time the website is updated, so that you dont have to keep checking your favorite webpages for updates. Feed Readers work with Websites and Blogs that have RSS support. There are many online Feed Readers, which require no download, but the advantage of a offline Feed Reader is that you can read your Feeds offline.

• Feed Demon is highly recommended for Offline Feed Reading. It is light, Easy and Efficient. There are tons of other Feed Readers available, but Feed Demon is a Must Have if you have the habit of reading Blogs and Websites.
• Google Reader is a online tool that does the same job. This need no download and you can start using it right away, if you have a google Account. Signing up is a easy job.

Offline Essentials
There are some tools that everyone might need, to handle the files that are downloaded from the Internet. For instance, Data is transferred online mainly as zip files, so you need a decompressor to open such files.

• PowerZip can handle most common Compression formats. Its free, light and userfriendly. The interface might look bit old, but it gets the job done.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed for handling pdf files. Must Have because you will find pdf everywhere on the web.

The above mentioned Tools are just the Essentials. They will save your day in most of the cases. But if you have some specific requirements, you should consider downloading tools for them. The Right Tools For the Right Job is the thumb rule.

Adobe Acrobat Reader 9: Quick Review

If you fail to notice the Splash Screen, You might not be able to differentiate Reader 9.0 from 8.x series. The same level of Coolness and integrity is maintained.

The menus are all the same too. Virtualy there is nothing new for the naked eyes except for the Adobe.com inclusion. The tool bar features buttons to upload files to Acrobat.com. Onething worth mentioning is the awesome speed with which Acrobat Reader 9.0 loads. So if you wish to catch the Splash Screen, do it when you open it for the first time. It doesnt show up again!

The package includes Acrobat.com (Beta). This is an online tool and lets you do a lot of things online. List is attached:

• Share Documents
• Screen Sharing and Collaboration
• Convert Files to PDF (5 Files)
• Share Files
• Store Files Online

Direct Download Link (33.5MB)

Search Blogs Manually and Get Faster Add-free Results

The Blogger Navbar Has a Search Box in it, which delivers good search results. These Search results are faster than any other searche Engines and comes with no advertisments. The Navbar looks awkward on pages and most bloggers do not like it. Hiding the navbar doesn't violate the TOS so it is hidden on a large number of blogs (including MC!).

Bloggers use the Adsence for Search or the Google Custom Search Engine to add a search Service to their Blog. Both these Services are good but they come with Sponsored Links. If you wish to use the Navbar Search, which is much accurate (in comparison with Custom Search Engine) and Add-free use add ' search?q=Search Keyword ' (without quotes) to the end of the blospot blog address on the address bar, replacing Search Keyword with the Keyword that you wish to Search for.

Examples:
1. To search for Google related posts on Million Clues! add search?q=Google so that the Address bar reads : http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Google ( see image) (we have used our site as an example and this works on all sites)
2. Search for Free Offers by adding search?q=Free so that the address bar points to: http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Free

Options:
1. If your Keyword contains multiple words, use + instead of white spaces. Like, if you wish to search for Google Search use search?q=Google+Search (http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Google+Search).
This Search shows all articles that contain the words Google and Search.

2. To Search for Posts that contain exactly Google Search, then add double quotes as in search?q="Google+Search" (http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q="Google+Search")

Add-on! :
Try this tweak on other websites (non-blogger sites) and it might work. We tried this on Labnol and it worked.

Blogger Just added a New Page Element: Subscription Links

Blogger today added a new Page Element called 'Subscription Links'. This will allow bloggers to add a feed subscrition service to their blog. Once the Subscription Links are added a new Page Element will appear on the blog (see image). Readers can subscribe to both Posts and Comments via popular feed readers.

The Links are neatly arranged into a drop down box (see image). This element looks good especially when the background is white. Another plus is that both RSS and Atom feeds are available.

For the counter side, Blogger has just added a few online readers in this element. Even the most popular Desktop Feed Readers and missing. Meanwhile, FeedBurner gives a wide range of options which includes both online and Desktop feed readers. Also this element cannot be customised i.e. you cannot select the readers of your choice. Only thing that can be modified is the title (which is ' Subscribe to ' here). The New element also showed problems when placed towards the end of the page.

So the new Element holds good for those blogs without a FeedBurner Link. But for those blogs that already features FeedBurner, there is no point in shifting to this.

Bill Gates Retires

The Software Guru, Bill Gates will not return to his office anymore for his routine work. Today will be his last day of his official work at Microsoft. But he still owns the majority share of Microsoft and will continue to take part in its important decisions.

Born on 28th October 1955, this 52 year old 'guy' dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to built Microsoft Corporation, along with some of this associates. It was his futuristic vision that made computers accesible for eveyone.

Retirement does not mean fishing or travel for Bill Gates. He will stay in tune with the latest technologies at Microsoft and will devote much of this time towards the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This Gates Foundation works for charity and puts in more than 4 Billion Dollars per year towards its cause, across the World. Moreover Bill Gates have decided (earlier) to donate a major portion of his fortune towards funding of various projects world-wide. Remember that he is worth over $65 Billion!

Kudos to Gates. Have a happy Retired Life...

Nokia Buys Symbian for $400 Million!

World leader in mobile phones, Nokia, just bought Symbian. VentureBeat reports that Nokia is going to keep the Symbian OS free. This might mean a slight dip in mobile prices of Nokia phones. More over this integration should mean better understanding of the needs of Nokia and thereby better mobile phones.

This purchase is going to put Nokia right in front of the war with Apple's iphone. So cell phone lovers watch-out. Nokia might be bringing some serious stuff very soon.

Press reports ...

" To be clear, Nokia already owned a large percentage of Symbian, but now it has bought the remaining shares to take total control. The all-cash deal is said to be worth around 265 million Euros, which is just over $400 million. "

Read Original Article

How to Download the Full Installer of Yahoo! Messenger: Faster Download

Downloading Yahoo! Messenger is simple. Just head to yahoo.com/messenger. There you will find the newest Messenger waiting for a free download. What you get from there is an installer which weighs around 800kb. But the real messenger is heavier than that. A full installer is about 10mb. The 800kb installer downloads the remaining files during installation. The download is not as fast as the download using a download manager. This trick is for those who wish to download the full installer to their pc. This trick is useful if you have a slow internet connection or if you wish to download the whole messenger using a download manger.

What we do is that we find the location of the full installer.
1. Download the Yahoo! Messenger Installer from the messenger section of Yahoo. This file is not that big (usually around 800kb)
2. Go offline
3. Now run the installer when you are offline. There is a step where it downloads the remaining files. Since you are offline, an error says that it cannot connect to server. This error window contains the link to the alternate installer which is the full installer. Now connect to the internet and press yes. This will start the download of the full installer.

There is an alternate method which is worth a try. Usually the small installer is named msgrXus.exe where X is the version number. This name will be present in the download link of the small installer. Just add a ‘y’ to the name so that it reads ymsgrXus.exe. Now you can directly download the full installer.

New Uses for an Old SMPS: Extra Cooling at No extra Cost

The power supply of your personal computer, SMPS (Stands for Switched Mode Power Supply), is the unit responsible for delivering regulated DC Supply to the silicon inside. This unit protects the computer from power surges. An SMPS gets blown out very soon in our country due to the common power surges and irregular power supply.

Recently we had to replace our SMPS for the same reason. This had happened earlier. This time instead of giving the SMPS to the vendor we kept it with us, out of curiosity. Working into the old chap, we soon found out that the cooling fan inside it was intact.

The Broken SMPS:

The Cooling Fan:

The fan is rated at 12 volts. This guide will tell you exactly how to place the fan into your cabinet. The power supply for the fan can be taken from the working SMPS in your computer. You have to know a little about SMPS outputs (if you do not know already), and here is what you need.
SMPS gives output as 12v, 5v and 3.3 volt. Your fan needs 12v (rating will be marked on the fan). The standard output connectors and its output powers are given below. The images are self-explanatory. The required 12 volt output can be taken from one +12v and one ground. Clean the old fan and place it on the cabinet using screws. Most cabinets ought to have a spare fan hole. Our fan was marked with the direction of rotation and direction of airflow. If they are not marked connect to fan to a +12v DC supply and find the direction of airflow. Make sure that you place the fan on the cabinet in such a way that its sucks air from inside to the outside. This will keep the dust out (Thanks Mathews).

The fan will have a +ve wire (usually red) and negative wire (usually black). Identify the +12v of the SMPS output and connect the red wire to it. Connect the black wire to the ground connection. We used cello-tape to make these connections. Turn on the SMPS and make sure that the direction of rotation and airflow are correct.

Now its time to close your cabinet. Congratulations!

Gmail is not 100% Safe! And we have got proof

Gmail is fast, but we just found out how insecure it is. The standard Gmail loads into a java applet which gives Gmail all the so called, cool features. Each time you open a mail, Gmail creates an executable file named ‘mail.google.com’ in the Internet Explorer Cache (usually in Temporary Internet Files folder). This file cannot run on windows, if you try opening it you get an error message:

We opened the file in the best ever hacking tool, Notepad. As expected we got a scramble of text. Some lines of the text looked like html code, so we thought of opening the file in Internet Explorer. For this we saved the text file as ‘mail.html’ and opened it in Internet Explorer hoping to find some effect of the html. The result was negative. Then we opened the file in Microsoft FrontPage and switched the view to HTML (refer image)

In the HTML view, the text was organized and comprehensive. And we got the answer. Gmail is not 100% safe. We could make out the mails that we had previously opened on our computer from the html. Here is an example:

Original Mail:

HOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR?
When we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc. How many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror i.e., they can see you, but you can’t see them. There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms or bathroom or bedrooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by looking at it. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking at?
CONDUCT THIS SIMPLE TEST: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror. However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE; IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! (There is someone seeing you from other side). So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the fingernail test. It doesn’t cost you anything. It is simple to do.
The reason there is a gap on a real mirror, is because the silver is on the back of the mirror UNDER the glass. Whereas with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. Keep it in mind! Make sure and check every time you enter in hotel rooms. May be someone is making a film on you.

Ladies: Share this with your friends.
Men: Share this with your sisters, wives, daughters, friends, colleagues, etc. Pass this message to all Ur friends in the Contacts

Take care.......
luv
GTM

The Scramble we found from Cache:

[[["v","1mq71lcaz8ekj","5259372521f1cec4","41","1","vaknsvbtjz8a"]
,["gn",""]
,["cfs",[]
,[]
]
,["i",100]
,["st",1211373576]
,["qu","32","6745","0","#006633",0,0,0,"0","6.6"]
,["ft","Add a personalized \u003cspan style\u003d\"color:#0000CC;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;white-space:nowrap\" id\u003d\"prf_g\"\u003e\u003cb\u003esignature\ u003c/b\u003e\u003c/span\u003e to all your outgoing messages. \u0026nbsp; \u003ca style\u003dcolor:#0000CC target\u003d_blank href\u003d\"http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?ctx\u003d%67mail\u0026hl\u003den\u0026answer\u003d8395\"\u003eLearn more\u003c/a\u003e"]
,["cs","112276a993ec9903","2 way mirror","2 way mirror","",["^i"]
,[]
,0,1,,"112276a993ec9903",[]
,1,"4",0,0]
,["mi",8,1,"112276a993ec9903",0,"0","GTM JS","GTM","4gtmjs@gmail.com",[[]
,[]
,[]
]
,"4/25/07",[]
,[]
,[]
,[]
,"Apr 25, 2007 11:55 AM","2 way mirror","",[]
,1,,,"Wed Apr 25 2007_11:55 AM","On 4/25/07, GTM JS \u003c4gtmjs@gmail.com\u003e wrote:","On 4/25/07, \u003cb class\u003dgmail_sendername\u003eGTM JS\u003c/b\u003e \u0026lt;4gtmjs@gmail.com\u0026gt; wrote:","gmail.com",,,"","",0,,"\u003caab366660 704242325y38b5aab4q2dace5d9177108a0@mail.gmail.com\u003e",1177482336000,,0,"2 way mirror",0]
,["mb","\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c u\u003eHOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR?\u003cbr\u003e\u003 c/u\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc.,\u003cbr\u003eHow many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror\u003cbr\u003ehanging\u003cbr\u003eon the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror \ni.e., they can\u003cbr\u003esee you, but you can\u0026#39;t see them. There have been many cases of people\u003cbr\u003einstalling 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms or bathroom or\u003cbr\ u003ebedrooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by \n\u003cbr\u003ejust\u003cbr\u003elooking at it. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty\u003cbr\u003ewhat\u003cbr\u003etype of mirror we are looking at?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\ u003e\u003c strong\u003e\u003cu\u003eCONDUCT THIS SIMPLE TEST:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/u\u003e\u0 03c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlace the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if \n\u003cbr\u003ethere is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then\u003cbr\u003eit is a GENUINE mirror.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail,\u003cbr\u003ethen BEWARE, IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! (There is someone seeing you from \n\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003eother side). So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the\u003cbr\u0 03e\u0026quot;fingernail test.\u0026quot; It doesn\u0026#39;t cost you anything. It is simple to do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe reason there is a gap on a real mirror, is because the silver is on \n\u003cbr\u003ethe back of the mirror UNDER the glass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhereas with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. Keep it in\u003cbr\u003emind! Make sure and check every time you enter in hotel rooms. May be\u003cbr\u003esomeone is making a film on you. \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLadies: Share this with your friends.\u003cbr\u003eMen: Share this with your sisters, wives, daughters, friends,\u003cbr\u003ecolleagues, etc.\u003cbr\u003ePass this message to all Ur friends in the Contacts Take care.......n\u003cbr\u003edo test\u003cbr\u003eit....\n\u003cbr\u00 3e\u003cbr\u003e\ u003cstrong\u003eluv GTM\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n",0]
,["ce"]],"0"]

See for yourself, the whole of the mail is in the cache. We tried with many such files. We found lot of mails in bits and pieces along with a bunch of email addresses. Now that’s solid proof.

If you are someone who uses public computers or shares a computer with someone, it would be good for your privacy if you clear the cache after logging out of Gmail every time. Some public computers do not give access to the cache, in that case use the ‘Basic html view’ available in Gmail. We recommend Firefox to use Gmail. It does not have this problem of privacy.

And for the Google guys: Time has come to solve this Privacy issue.

Ubuntu 8.04 Tried and Tested: Review

We just received our copy of Ubuntu 8.04 and we did a first hand try on our machine. Usually the CD features some Windows versions of Open Source Software. This time there is nothing like that. There is a new and Improved Installer that loads up once the CD is inserted while Windows is running. This installer can install Ubuntu temporarily without affecting the present file system. Also there is option to install Ubuntu permanently and when this is chosen, Windows restarts and boots from the CD.

The CD boots up with lots of options which was there in Ubuntu 7.10 too. You can try the live version of Ubuntu which shows you exactly how the installed system will look like. But the live version is a too slow and the speed is directly proportional to the speed of your CD drive.

The Ubuntu installation is a seven step process where you tell Ubuntu about your Hardware and specify where to install Ubuntu. The installation took around 30 minutes.

Once installed Ubuntu booted for the first time to a desktop with a picture of a rooster. Now the working speed increased ten fold. Ubuntu 8.04 features lots of desktop effects that will make working with workspaces fun.

To request Ubuntu head to: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu