Adobe Acrobat Reader 9: Quick Review

Posted on Thursday, July 03, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

Acrobat Reader 9.0: Quick ReviewIf 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

Search Blogs Manually and Get Faster Add-free Results

Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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)
Manual Searching In Blogspot Blogs2. 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

Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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

Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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!

Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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

Posted on Sunday, June 08, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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

Posted on Monday, June 02, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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

Posted on Sunday, June 01, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

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

Posted on by Arun Basil Lal


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

Some Things In Life Never Change: Here are few such things

Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008 by Arun Basil Lal

Things In Life That Never ChangeSomebody rightly said that 'Some Things in Life Never Change'. Science and Technology have changed our ways and walks of life. Changes can be felt every single day. Newer and better gadgets show up at the stores every week. But still there are some things that never fall out of our life. No matter how far Technology has come, these things have stayed more or less the same over these years.


Watches : We are speaking of Analog Watches. Digital Watches are available with accuracy of upto one second in one million years (i.e one second variation from the real time over one million years). Many digital watches can show temperature and altitute and can even check your emails. But still the glory and style of the traditional analog watches is different. People prefer to see the mechanical movement of the dials more than the style of the silicon controlled displays.

Pencils : We live in a world which has got everything from ball-point pens to laser markers. But pencils still have a very special place in our lives. Technology has not really affected the use and production of pencils. Pencils are used even by space travellers so that they can write in conditions where there is no atmospheric pressure to push the ink out of the ball-point pens!

Calculators : Calculators first came to our lives first in the form of abacus. Abacus is still used in many parts of the world. The electronic calculators as we see today came back in the 1930's. After that many devices including the computer came in front of us. But still we use these electronic calculators for daily mathematical works owing to their low cost and simplicity of use.

Floppies : There was a time when you had to install windows using a bunch of floppies. But memmory have become so cheap that now you can store all the books in the oxford library in a thumb drive. But floppies are not out of the show. The newer laptops do not have floppy drives.. ok. But geeks still use the floppies to recover a system once it does not boot. The windows recovery comes very handy in a floppy.

Dot-Matrix Printer : With the advent of ink-jet and laset-jet printers, dot-matrix printers said good bye to house hold. But that did not mean that it was going to die. Dot-Matrix printers find application in shops and stores where cheap printing is required. The cost of printing using a Dot-Matrix printer is not even one-tenth that using a laser printer. May companies still have a range of Dot-Matrix printers.

Radio : When JL Bird invented Television, someone said that the era of listening is over and now its the time to see. Initially people found T.V very attractive. But we still have Radio transistors in every nook and corner. Even most modern mobile phones have FM Recieving. Many new Broadcasting Centers are coming up these days. Radio transmission now even uses satellites. Maybe its the busy life that still keeps Radio as a part of our day.

Incandescent Lamps : These are not energy-efficient, these are short-lived but these are cheap. Technological advances could invent energy efficient CFL Lamps and LED Lamps. But they all failed in the competition with the Edison Lamps. When you get a CFL for 100 Rs or a LED Lamp for 250 RS you can get a Incandescent Lamp for Rs 10. Today 1$=42Rs.

Printed Books : As we have seen, you can store whole of the Oxford Library in a thumb drive, but that does not stop the publishing industry to stop printing. Printed books still have roles to play in our lifes like it had to play when printing initially started. Maybe its the ease to read something printed that keeps it going.

Fax Machines : We live in an age of SMS and e-mails. But when things get official, we still use fax machines. Because fax is fast and simple.

Post : If emails are soft, post is hard. Personal communication using written mails have decreased. True. But still officail communication is through the normal post.

Ink Pens : Ink-pens may leak, they might not write at times. But its always a pleasure to write with an ink pen. This pleasure have kept the ink pens alive all thorughout the years. We have all the leading manufacturers of pens showcasing a range of ink pens.

Bicycles : You have cars, you have motor bikes. But that does not stop the production fo bicycles. Being a source of health and pleasure, bicycles still stay as a part of our life.

Match Boxes : Lighters can look elegant. But they cannot replace the Match Boxes from our house hold.

Candles : Advent of Electricity reduced the prodcution of candles. That is true. But the soothing effect of a candle is much different from the cold light of a electric lamp. Candles serve as light reserve durig camping and parties. Dating cannot happen without a candle-lit dinner. lol

Life is like that... Some things in life never change!