Some youtube url tips

Youtube, one of the top 5 video hosting and sharing site around comes with a bundle of features.Here are the top 10 URL tweaks you should know to make your life a little bit more easier with youtube.

1. Switching between HQ( High quality) and normal quality videos – Ever saw those HQ buttons at the bottom of a youtube video? Many of these videos comes with the ability to switch to a HQ format. So,the next time you get an youtube link simply add &fmt=18 or &fmt=22 to check for higher quality format of the same video.

2.Play it in high quality on your site! – Ever wondered how you can embed those nice high quality videos on your site? Add &ap=%2526fmt%3D18 or &ap=%2526fmt%3D22 to get a 480×270 or 1280×720 high quality embedded video on your site.

3. Skip ahead – Ah, still waiting for youtube to get to that part that you have been waiting for and the clumsy youtube scroller just wont do? Then just put a small code to the end of that url like (#t=04m45s) and go directly to the video at that time .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izhh-JDigX4#t=03m22s

4. Remove that search box ! The youtube search box is just bugging sometimes when you embed a video on your site. You can hide it by simply typing &showsearch=0 to the code.

5.Clip the clips. Only want the juiciest part of that video on your site? Add &start=XX (XX in secs ) to the end of that url and you can clip right off those videos.

6. Play the video on page load. Add &autoplay=1 to your video and your video will play as soon as the page loads.

7. Loop that video! Add &loop=1 to the link and the video you embedded will play in loop.

8. Switch off those relations – Put a &rel=0 to the end of your video and your embedded video wont show any related videos.

9. Regionalize,Capitalize! – Ah,youtube not showing that video you craved for just because you are from another region? Change the watch?v= to /v/ and you can see the video wherever you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izhh-JDigX4 to http://www.youtube.com/v/Izhh-JDigX4

10.Download those youtube videos – Want to grab some of those videos? No need for any plugins or for those desktop gadgets. Just change that URL domain to kickyoutube.com and you can download all those nice videos that you like from youtube.

Protect yourself from Bluetooth hacking.

Bluetooth has become the popular data transfer technology nowadays. It allows users to perform activities like, transferring files between a mobile device and a computer, streaming voice and audio calls, and many more facilities. But this technology is susceptible to breach attempts or hacking. This phenomenon is called as Bluesnarfing. There are several ways to prevent Bluesnarfing attempts, but the first step is to learn something about the problem itself. Bluesnarfing is the process of unauthorized access of information from any wireless device through a Bluetooth connection. The level of access may vary from case to case; in general, it involves hacking of anything stored on the user’s mobile device, including email, text messages, calendar data, contact lists, photos and videos etc. Bluesnarfing requires special software, as well as the “pairing.” process. The chance of Bluesnarfing without the targeted phone being paired with the computer running the hacking software application is very little, but we cannot completely avoid this possibility either. The steps to prevent Bluesnarfing are discussed below. The first thing to be noted is that turn on the Bluetooth feature of your phone only when it is required. Make sure that the device you are pairing is a trusted one. Do not accept any pairing request from any unrecognized source. If you pair with a hacker’s computer, all the data in your mobile will be at risk. Keep a very difficult pin which contains several alphabets and numbers for pairing. Also, frequently change the passwords. By ensuring these security steps, we can prevent the data loss through Bluetooth hacking.

Nature photography tips

Here are three tips for nature photographers to improve the quality of their pictures. Nature photography has its own laws. But the tips below are going against the laws of nature photography in some occasions.

  1. Use blur intentionally in some places other than water. When you are trying to capture a stationary object zoom the lens in or out while you snap the photo.
  2. If it is a symmetrical landscape like a mountain or reflection of a lake, place the horizon in dead center. This is against the nature photography rule which says that horizon should be one third of the way from top or bottom of the landscape.
  3. Put a person in your picture. It is said that nature photographers should not populate the frames with people. But to reveal the interaction between humanity and nature, it is better to put atleast one person in the frame.

HOW TO INSTALL LINUX ON YOUR COMPUTER?

INTRODUCTION

Linux is  an open source operating system.It is a free operating system which have different versions.Linux allows persistent and high performance on networks and work stations.Linux can handle a very large number of users simultaneously.

The installation process of Linux is usually fast and easy.Linux programs are coming with user friendly set up and installation programs.The configuration settings required is very simple.The  PC must have a running Windows XP or Vista in it. And before the installation process the user must slice his disk in to smaller partitions.For precaution take the  back up of the user’s data, too.

INSTALLATION PROCEDURES

1.DEFRAGMENTATION

Before the disk partition process the user must make sure that all of his data is correctly packed together.For this purpose use Defrag’em(de fragmentation).It is an easy process.It will help to arrange the block of data in the disk in a proper order.And it will reduce the fragmentation too.

For doing Defrag’em first click the “my computer”.Then select the drive that the user want to defrag.Then select the switch “tool tab” and click the “defragment now” button.If the size of the disk is high then the Defrag time will also increases.

2.SELECT A DEDICATED PARTITION APPLICATION

Use specialised tools like “Gparted” instead of ready packed tools.It will provide more flexibility and several special features.It is now available in “Live CD”  form and is very easy to use. “Gparted” helps to carve enough space for Linux in a very short time period.

3.RESERVATION OF PRIMARY PARTITION FOR WINDOWS

3 types of disk partitions are available.They are primary,logical and extended partitions.The user must keep the windows in a primary partition and keep the Linux in both the logical and primary partitions.

4.FREE SPACE

The user must make enough space before the Linux installation. Resizing of the existing partitions is necessary.It will be a time consuming process.Keep the free space at the end part of the partition section.Because if the user add a new partition in between the existing partitions then it will be difficult for the boot loader to boot in to the partitions.

5.LABELLING

Labelling of partition is very important.The labelling will help to identify the partitions more easily.User can label his partitions with in the Windows or from the “Gparted” live CD.

6.ROOM FOR SWAP

Swap space is the virtual paging file of the Linux.Ithelps to supplement the memory of the users machine.Allow the free space out side the file system.So the user can share his swap partition with other Linux distros.

7.SPACE FOR LINUX DURING INSTALLATION

Some Linux distros will take only 3 GB free space for the installation process.But most Linux distros need at least 10 GB free space inside the computer.Because they have very high online repositories.So that the user can access so many software packages.

How to fix slow internet connection after getting infected by virus?

The modern generation potentially can’t wait for anything to happen. They want everything to be in lightning speed, and in the most efficient format. Same is the case with the internet connection speed. Due to the same reason ISPs are competing to provide the fastest connection for their clients at an affordable price. When you are opting a high speed connection for comparatively higher sum they expect the best result. So they can’t afford their internet connection going too slow without any proper reason.

This low speed of connection occurs often after some virus attacks on the system, or due to the infection of some malware or spyware programs. Various instances are reported where the connection speed has become very slow after some virus attack. When you examine the problem you may see that your Ethernet adapter is infected. In some cases the viruses makes the Ethernet card to stay undetected. Common users often get annoyed and helpless by such situations. They can’t do anything other than calling an expert to examine the system, or rather adjust with the slow connection.

But various free utilities are available there which can be used to help you under such circumstances. These utilities can trouble shoot your Ethernet connection and diagnose it’s problems. One of such utility is the Internet Connection Repair utility. This utility can fix the problems of your internet connection caused by some malicious programs.

The utility can

  • Diagnose the problem with your internet connection and take the necessary steps to fix that problem.
  • If there are any connectivity problems like undetected Ethernet cards etc , caused by certain spyware, malware and virus programs, the utility will fix them. And will make the system connectivity free from any such infections.
  • For Windows XP and Vista the utility also repairs the system registry and alters the Winsock settings for increased performance.

The product claims that it can help you  to

  • Diagnose and automatically repair the most common connection issues.
  • Solve complex connection issues by providing easy step by step instructions.
  • Pinpoint issues and direct you to the right support contact for further assistance.

Getting started with the Internet Connection Repair utility is simple. Just click on the “Run Test” button in the window and you are done. Now follow the simple instructions that appear on the screen as the process progresses.

How to do a perfect google search?

To make a perfect Google search you will have to be familiar with some basic syntax supported by Google. Let’s take a closer look at some of these searching tips.

To find all words: To finds results containing all the words in the search, give the words separated by spaces.

To find a phrase: To view results containing the exact phrase, give the phrase in double quotes, note that single quote won’t work in this context.

To exclude certain words: To view results which doesn’t contain a particular word but include all other words, just give the word to be excluded separated by a hyphen.

To search for items with some text present between the keywords: To do such a search add an asterisk sign between the keywords where the text is expected.

To search for specific sites: To view results from a particular region check on the button next to the pages from the text.

To show results from a particular site after the keyword give the name of the site preceded by the keyword “site:”

To search for definitions: To get the definitions of the keyword prefix the word “define:” to the keyword.

To search for a particular file type: You can search for a particular file type say pdf by typing “filetype:”followed by pdf after the keyword.

The advanced search option: Filling up the form in the advanced search can help you make efficient queries. The interesting fact is that as we fill the form the syntax for the same in the general search will appear on top.

The new tools by Google: Various options for an efficient search including the type of data, age of data etc can be selected from the left side of the window. These tools guarantee the user an enhanced searching experience.

Advanced tools: Also don’t forget to use Google finance, Google directory, Google maps, Google university search, Google code search, Google video search etc according to the nature of search.

The spider is taking care of the web efficiently, so nothing can remain undiscovered. That is the Google guarantee.

How to defragment your computer?

Defragmenting your computer will improve the performance of your system. The files gets scattered in the gard drive over a course of time as we use the system. So it will take much time to gather information from different locations on a harddrive and thereby makes the system very slow. To fix the issue the windows provide a tool called disk defregmenter. Here is how defragmentation is done. As defragmentation will need a good amount of processing power, it is better to close all other programs.

  1. Click start menu.
  2. Click All programs
  3. Click Accessories
  4. Click System Tools
  5. Click on Disk Defragmentation
  6. Choose the hardware you want to defragment
  7. Now select defragment now.

It may take a few hours for the defragmentation to be done. Reboot your system after defragmenting.

How to copy data from a virus infected pen drive ?

Nowadays pen drive has become one of the important medium of portable data storage. Because of the user friendliness, higher degree of reusability, large storage space, and speed of transfer had made it favorable over other medium like CD/DVD ROMs. It is easy to handle, comfortable and economical as well. But one of the serious drawback is it is highly susceptible to virus attacks and is considered as the major medium in spreading viruses these days.

The important issue arises when you realize that one of your important data on your pen drive is virus affected and you can’t copy it to your computer because it may also affect your computer, or in some cases you can’t even open that particular file. Ultimately what happens is you format the drive and you lose your valuable data. I have my personal experiences of various color labs didn’t accept my pen drive because of fear of viruses and I have to make the contents on a CD to get it printed. So if there is any way for safe methods to back up your data from a virus affected pen drive you can avoid such situations of data lose, and the shop keepers can fearlessly accept data in pen drive. In this article we can check some of such methods, in fact two of such methods to be more precise.

The first one is more of a windows standard method to back up data from a removable device. You can follow the steps below.

  • First of all disable the autorun. Autorun of removable devices is the major path of virus attack on a system. Even if you trust the device before plugging any removable devices make sure that the autorun is disabled.
  • Please don’t double click on the pen drive icon in My Computer to open it. Though it is the general practice it is really harmful just as the autorun.
  • Right click on the pen drive icon in My Computer.
  • From the window that drops out select properties. Select tools from the properties.
  • In the tools you will see the option to back up. Select that option and choose the files you want to back up.
  • Set the destination for the marked files to be stored on your computer.
  • That’s it, you are down. Now you can format your pen drive without any fear.

The second method makes use of an alternate Windows Explorer called the Free Commander. You can download the Free Commander at http://www.freecommander.com/fc_downl_en.htm . Let’s move on to the quick steps for backing up data safely from your infected pen drive.

  • Start the Free Commander and on the top menu click on the removable pen drive’s icon to explore the contents in it.
  • Now you can see all the files including the hidden ones within the pen drive. You can select the files which you want to back up and copy them to your computer.
  • As you can see all the files including the hidden ones, you can simply identify the virus files within the drive and delete them.
  • Now you can either select and delete the viruses from the pen drive or format it.

How to control your PC from remote place?

Accessing a remote PC enables one to access remote data; troubleshoot a remote PC and even take the full control over a remote PC. Usually it is a common task for network administrator. Remote access allows a user to control a remote PC as if he were there. There are many remote PC accessing solutions available in the market; but most of them are not seemed to be effective and user-friendly.

The windows XP and VISTA are equipped with built in remote access tool. We can use this feature without installing additional software. This tool allows creating a host machine only in XP Pro, VISTA Business, and VISTA Ultimate; but any version of XP and VISTA can be a client.

To set up a host machine in XP login with Administrator privilege, click the start’ button right click ‘My Computer’ and select properties’. Click ‘Remote’ in the system properties menu. Then check the box next to ‘Allow users to connect remotely to this computer’. To give access to users not having admin privilege; select ‘Remote user’ and click ‘Add’. Enter user names and click ‘OK’. Get back to system properties by Clicking ‘OK’ again. Click apply’ and ‘OK’ to finish.

In VISTA click the start’ button and right click ‘Computer’ and click properties’. Select ‘Remote settings’ in the left pane and click the Radio Button next to ‘Allow connection from the computer running any version of Remote Desktop’. To give access to other users click ‘Select users’ and click ‘Add’. Enter username and press ‘OK’. Finish the setup by clicking apply’ in system properties.

We can set up a client Machine in any version of XP and VISTA. To set up a client in XP click ‘Start’ – ‘All Programs’ – ‘Accessories’ – ‘Communications’ – remote Desktop Connection’. Enter the computer name if it is listed on local networks else enter the IP address and click connect’. In VISTA follow ‘Start’ – ‘All Programs’ – ‘Accessories’ – ‘Remote Desktop Connection’. Enter the computer name if listed in the local network. Else complete URL or IP address if accessing over Internet; and click ‘Connect’. The host system will show its login screen when you are connected. Enter login-name and password. Now the System is under your control; the keyboard and mouse will behave like they are connected to the remote PC.

To end the remote access click the ‘X’ button at the top of the screen.  Minimize the screen to regain temporary control over the local PC. Now no more long phone calls to explain the clicks and key presses and no need to go to the office to solve simple problems as you can control them sitting in front of your PC.

8 Awesome Alternatives For Microsoft Power Point

The world is now heading into an open source path where even Microsoft has to suffer losses. There are a lot of open source  tools to replace any Microsoft product. Here is the list of 8 awesome alternatives for MS Power Point.

1. IBM Lotus Symphony Presentations

Lotus Symphony Presentations is one of the free desktop tools that can be used to create presentations and can act as an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. The software allows you to create various graphic presentations which can be shared with the audiences using a slide show mode. You will be also able to create presentations from scratch and the presentation templates can be used for a variety of looks.

Symphony saves all your work in the Open Document Format by default. Presentations made in Symphony retain all most all of the attributes of Office 2007 PowerPoint file. User will be able to create a new slide show without too many problems if they are already familiar with any other presentations application. The program also provides support for charts, but the options for adding audio or movies files are not present here.

2. OpenOffice Impress

OpenOffice.org Impress is a part of the OpenOffice.org office package and is developed by Sun Microsystems. It is a presentation program having similarities to Microsoft PowerPoint and is a really outstanding tool for creating very effective multimedia presentation applications. The presentation can include special effects, animation, 2D and 3D clip art, and high-impact drawing tools. With Impress you can import and export PowerPoint format files.

The software is even capable of creating flash files (SWF) from the presentation which you have already created and can be played on any computer which has a Flash player support. With Impress the user can view, edit and save files of various formats which include the .ppt format used by Microsoft PowerPoint. The OpenOffice.org Impress users will be able to install the Open Clip Art Library, which can be used to add a large gallery of images useful for a general presentation and drawing projects. OpenOffice Impress is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License and is free software.

3. KPresenter

KPresenter is an easy and flexible presentation application. User will be able to create presentations which contain a rich variety of elements like graphics, text, charts and images. KPresenter can be extended through a plugin system. This makes it easy to add new content elements, new effects or new ways of managing the presentation. All the flexibility and power of the KOffice content elements are present in the KPresenter because of its integration with KOffice.

KPresenter uses the OpenDocument file format as its standard which helps in easy interchange with all the other ODF supporting applications including Microsoft Office. The easy-to-use features include special slide overview view during presentations, support for layouts, support for various different master sliders in a single presentation, a cool transition feature and a useful notes feature. KPresenter is free software and is developed by various developers from around the world.

There are various presentation services available online, which will work fine with any of the latest Internet browsers available, with no installation procedure the user can create and share their presentations online.

4. ajaxPresents

ajaxPresents is one of the web-based presentation editor that allows you to read, edit and save various Microsoft Power Point files (.ppt) and Open Standard Presentation files (.odp). You can point your browser to ajaxPresents and can instantly view and edit the required presentations without even installing any expensive presentation software on your computer.

5. Empressr

Empressr is a free online storytelling tool which allows you to create, manage and share the rich media presentations online. You can upload your images, video and audio for creating a very cool slide show. If you own your own website, social networking page or a blog, you will be able post a link or will be able to embed your Empressr in the site. Empressr also comes with various charting and table tools which allows you to create various dynamic business presentations.

6. Preezo

Preezo is yet another free web-based application which allows you to create various professional quality presentations with the help of an ultra-fast Ajax user interface. You will be also able to reuse images and the content of entire slides from a very easy to use gallery.

7. Google Presentation

The Google Presentation service come from the Google Docs family and allows you to create presentations online and import the already existed presentations into Google.

8. Zoho Show

This online tool helps users for making powerful presentations. The tool is suitable for professionals, teachers, students etc. Zoho Show has various prebuilt themes, several clip arts and shapes which are coupled with various features like drag-and-drop. These features make it an excellent application for making presentations.