About Stuff!!

Back Again!!

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I have been busy with a lot of work lately and almost forgot about this blog... I will be writing atleast 1 post ever 3 days going forward and will deal with most common things about PC's and some useful tools for using the tech you own in an easier way. So keep watching in coming days for some exciting posts.

Team Viewer

Filed under Android , Computers , Tech

Last week I was chatting with my Dad who lives in a different city and he had few issues with his 3 year old laptop running Windows XP, yes he didnt want to upgrade to vista like many others, he complained about the sluggishnes of the System and some weird popup setting. After trying few times to give him directions over Voice chat and also IM, I was unsuccessful and realized better get the job done yourself and thats when i found out about Team Viewer . Teamviewer is a very simple application which you will need to install on your PC and also on the Terminal that you want to connect to, it lets you remotely control the terminal PC only after being authorized by the remote user... and best its free and doesnt need any account creation. All you need to do is install as Non-comercial user and when both [arties are ready you can connect to the remote PC. you can also set up an account and authorize PC's that you trust to get access when ever needed.

The application is also available for IPad and Android tablets so you can control your PC from Tablet and few Smartphones as well. Granted you will have the shortcomings of touch based interface interacting with Computers but give it a try you might end up using it more often than you think.

Use your PC for Calling within US....FREE!!

Filed under Computers , Tech

Most people would already know that Google is offering Google Talk service and Voice Service within GMAIL. It has also let it users within the US to use the Voice Service to call people for free. First you have to sign up for a Google account and signup for Google Voice Service. This is automatically integrated with your GMAIL. Next you will have to download the Google Chat Plugin for your Browser. I recommend Google Chrome , although it works with all the browsers including Internet Explorer 6+ and Mozilla Firefox.

You will find this little Chat window where you can enter a number and dial for free within the US. for Other countries you will have to buy credit and dial. The Service isnt too bad its actually very clear although you will definitely want to get a PC headset to avoid Noise from your surroundings.

Printer Sharing

Filed under Computers , Tech

If you are wondering yes there are still a lot of People who use Windows XP as a secondary pc...just in the past few weeks I had to fix couple of PC's running XP. While you can use that PC for a lot of purpose including trying out a Linux OS or a Media Server, but what most people have asked me is that how do I share my Printer. Most people think that they have to buy an extra hardware to share it and blah blah...XP itself provides a Simple option to setup the printer which is pretty much the same for other versions of Windows(Vista, Windows 7) provided your PC is connected to the Home network and your printer is connected to your XP machine. Check out the Steps detailed out by Microsoft. Follow Link:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457001.aspx

A Flashy new Nook!!

Filed under Tech , Nook , Android

To be honest I'm not much of a reader these days, yet i ended up buying one of those flashy Nook ebook readers hoping I might start again, well ...long story short I ended up Flashing the Rom with Android 2.3.3 or commonly known as Ginger Bread. It really wasnt too hard to follow the instructions given by the Cynogenmod 7 guys...take a look at the instructions in the youtube video. Of course you get all of your Nook access still by installing the Nook App for Android... yes it comes with Google Android Market. Sweet right!!

Optimization is not Tough!!

Filed under Computers , Tech

I hear this a lot from my friends, like aah my PC sucks it doesnt start up any more or it just became slow!! Well most people are Novice users who go to their regular programs and do the same stuff how ever, the programs keep upgrading and accumulating additional data and settings which sometimes slows down the PC.

If you have Kids using the same PC you know that there are lots of games being installed and uninstalled, this over a period of time just keep accumulating garbage registries and cache which in turn results in slow performance and poor boot up and shut down time.

Windows Provides most of the features in its System tools how ever they are not user intuitive enough and are scattered across in different sections. WinUtilities Free on the other hand gives you a comprehensive set of tools with a 1-Click Maintenance  ;be sure to uncheck the Increidmail Add On while Installing ..... you dont need another one of those fancy Email Clients.

Portable Apps!!

Filed under Computers , Tech

If you are like me with half a dozen flash drives lying around with no use anymore....because practically almost everything is in the cloud these days...well here's a tip for what you can use them still.How about using your applications on any computer without needing to install them? Portable Apps just lets you do that.

I came across this site in one of those mindless surfing moments trying to kill some time;PortableApps has some really slick tools which basically installs itself on a select USB Flash drive connected to the computer. Download the latest version from http://portableapps.com/ and follow the wizard to install the application on the connected USB drive in the right volume(F: or G:, etc..). Once installed, the application should naturally open if Not navigate to the Volume of your USB drive, in my case its is G: and double Click on Start.exe. you will notice a window similar to Windows Start menu.Links are available with in to install applications like Office Suite, Web browsers and some cool games...so go ahead give it a try.