Are You Stuck With Facebook Lite? Follow The Steps To Get Out Of The Hell!

Facebook Lite is a light weight version of Facebook released in US and India. It is good for those who like less cluttered interface. But, sometimes it will be a bit difficult for you to get adjusted with the simplified interface layout, to check your Farmville (sorry I don’t like it but seems to be very popular) points etc etc.

My concern is that there is no straight way of getting back to Facebook Normal from Facebook Lite version. Clearing cache/cookies do not help at all.

However, there is a simple but not so obvious way of getting back to Facebook Normal!

Just scroll down to the end of Facebook Lite page and you will find a “feedback” option. Just click on it and on the top, you would get an option to go back to Facebook normal mode. That’s it and don’t forget to send your feedback to the Lite team! You’re done.

Anyways, Facebook Lite is an experimental feature and it will get better over time.

Online Armor Free Firewall – Free Download

Online Armor Free Computer Firewall Software, is packed with features and a great download! It is free and nothing goes away from your pocket. Yes, some features are just available in premium editions but again it is affordable. One interesting feature that premium edition has is Banking Mode – that gives you total security while doing online banking.

 

 

Free Firewall Edition Features:

• Kernel Mode Security
• Manual Updates
• Execution Protection
• Termination Protection
• Limited Autostart Protection
• Standard Mode Firewall
• Standard Mode
• Keylogger Detection
• Tamper Protection
• Script/Worm protection
• Program Guard

Download here.

BitTorrent Giant Mininova is Dead!

Well, Mininova is not really dead but all its interesting stuff was taken off of the server on Nov 26th, 2009.  This has been a long battle for mininova and finally as expected had to comply with copyright laws. However, If you are a content developer or have your own content, then you can use Mininova for free and use bandwidth to distribute across the world! Adieu Mininova…

Here is the official Blog Update!

“Hi all,

Today is an important day in the history of Mininova. From now on, we are limiting Mininova.org to our Content Distribution service. By doing so, we comply with the ruling of the Court of Utrecht of last August.

Unfortunately the court ruling leaves us no other option than to take our platform offline, except for the Content Distribution service. According to the verdict (Dutch link) we have to prevent uploads of torrents to Mininova that refer to certain titles or to similar-looking titles. We’ve been testing some filtering systems the last couple of months, but we found that it’s neither technically nor operationally possible to implement a 100% working filter system. Therefore, we decided that the only option is to limit Mininova to Content Distribution torrents from now on. We are still considering an appeal at this moment.

We launched our Content Distribution service in 2007. This service allows producers and artists to easily publish and distribute their content for free through Mininova. The launch of Content Distribution has proven to be a success. Countless content owners have used Content Distribution to distribute their content (e.g. albums and documentaries) for free to millions of users. For example, the Dutch band Silence is Sexy released their complete album on Mininova and received the Interactive Award 2009 for doing so. The Dutch television broadcaster VPRO decided to start using Content Distribution in 2009 in order to distribute documentaries.

We would like to thank you for your support. Especially everyone that contributed to Mininova receives a big “thank you!” for the effort! We hope to keep welcoming you on Mininova and our other projects (e.g. Snotr, Dispostable).

Thanks! The Mininova staff”

Alternatives to Beyond Compare – File Comparison Tool

Beyond Compare is quite good at comparing files and folders. It can show the differences in different colors and that makes us compare different source code files or even the entire directory easily. You can even compare binary files and do a CRC checksum to see if they match.

However, Beyond Compare is not free. Well, There are so many such free File Comparing Tools out there. One such editor is Cream. An enhanced Vi Editor and lots of User Interface enhancements. It will also let you compare files for instance.

The other ones like WinMerge, FreeFileSync etc are also good. So bottom line is, lots of free ones are there for you to compare the content of files or folders.

Read here for more.

Screenshot of Meld

Nokia N900 – Will it survive with its Maemo 5.0 OS against Android?

Nokia N900 looks neat and I feel Nokia Phones like N97 are not that good when compared to Apple’s iPhone, HTC’s Tocuh series phones etc. Traditionally, Nokia phones have been based on Symbian OS. But, the new N900 is based on Maemo 5.0 which is a Debian based Linux variant and that is going to power their next generation smart phones with focus on finger friendly  mobile phones. Damn, I must thank Apple for teaching all these companies about user friendliness. I have been using touch screen  devices for quite some time and post the launch of iPhone, people realized the need for finger friendly touch screens rather than the lousy stylus based touch screens.

Maemo comes with lots of apps like;

• Web : Maemo Browser (Mozilla based web browser with Adobe Flash 9.4), RSS reader
• Phone application
• VoIP : Skype
• Conversations (IM chat and SMS, no MMS)
• Media : Camera, Photos, Media player
• Production : Email, Calendar, PDF reader, Contacts
• Ovi Maps (Find position on a map using the GPS, Search an address or location, Plan routes)
• Utilities : Clock, Notes, Calculator, Sketch
• System Tools : File manager, Application manager for downloads, Widgets
• Games : Bounce, Chess and Mahjong

Third party Apps like Pidgin for multiprotocol IM, AbiWord for Word processor, GNumetric for spreadsheet support and more are out there. This I believe is Nokia’s attempt to handle the threat of more advanced OS like Android from Google, LiMo from LiMo foundation and Windows Mobile 7 (which is going to be released in 2010) etc.

N900 with Maemo 5.0:

Looks great, Has all the features like GPS, WiFi, Widgets, Multimedia support, TI OMAP 600MHz CPU, 32GB internal memory, up to 1GB App Memory (RAM), and more. Let us see how it succeeds in the market.

Source Nokia N900

The First USB 3.0 Motherboard Is Here!

The Asus P7P55D-E is apparently the very first USB 3.0 motherboard. It's an Intel P55-based mother board that uses a third-party USB 3.0 controller for a pair of ports. It has 10 USB 2.0 ports as well. In essence, It is not a complete USB 3.0 mother board and in the coming days there will be Mother Boards with all USB 3.0 ports so we will have to just wait for a while! Nevertheless Asus is pretty fast! 

Via [Gizmodo]

BlackBerry Curve 8520 Review – Value For Money

If you are looking out for a great business mobile phone with good features, then you probably should explore BlackBerry Curve 8520. It’s available here in India for about 15K and its great value for money.

For:

Great music player, Extended battery life, track pad is really good, DivX/XVid video support, pre-loaded Facebook and other social networking apps, Wi Fi, Comfy QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and the usual features.

Against:

Average 2MP camera, No GPS, No 3G support

This neat BlackBerry will give many business phones a serious run for their money! Recommended!

Horizonless 3D Maps of Manhattan

Well, Have you see 3D horizonless maps? Here and There is a map of Manhattan where near by buildings appear in 3D but the distant objects appear with a twist. As the model bends from sideways to top-down in a smooth join, more distant parts of the city are revealed in plan view. This is more intuitive because the distant objects will not be much visible on a normal planar way. Here, you can easily make out the whereabouts of distant point of interests and Horizonless Maps are a new way to look at 3D maps. Below map will give you clear picture of what I’m talking about.

I certainly welcome their Bangalore version :)

Gopalaswamy Betta – Devine Temple on a Misty Mountain

Gopalaswamy Betta (Betta is nothing but a hill, a Kannada word) is a must visit! I just couldn’t believe my eyes as I drove through the misty ghat to reach the hill top. It was a misty morning and absolutely refreshing! Just look at the photos that I clicked there! Sorry I’m no photographer :) so enjoy what you see! I tried taking some panoramic photos and the first one came out ok.

Reaching Gopalaswamy Betta is quite easy, Just drive on Mysore – Ooty road, once you cross Gundlupet, its about 10 kms. You will need to take a right turn. There is a Road Sign, so hard to miss that right turn. Once you make the right turn, its about 15 kms to the summit, Road is not that good but scenic and enjoyable.

The temperature considerably drops as you near the summit and feels dreamy once you make it to the summit. They say, it usually remains misty most of the time and hence the name Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (Snow covered Hill). It is the highest peak in the Bandipur range. If you are lucky, you would see elephants there. Unfortunately, sue to the mist, I could not get to see them! I shall go again :)

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Top WiFi Radios – Quest For Internet Radio

Are you stuck with the lousy FM like Radio Indigo? Yeah, I agree they do play some good numbers but sometimes RJs kind of get on to your nerves. Satellite Radios are better but again, they are not free.

So, WiFi Radios make perfect sense, just get hooked on your WiFi Router and Surf the loads and loads of Internet Radio Stations for Free without having to stare at your laptop screen!

Pretty good WiFi Radio collections out there for you to choose from! Some of them that I liked are;

LogiTech SqeezeBox Boom

The best All-in-One TableTop WiFi Radio and CNET Review gives a 4 star to it. Compact, supports all internet radio formats, Ethernet support, PC based music files and more. More is here on Logitech Website.

 

Philips Streamium NP2900

This slim radio can produce nice sound and with its color screen it can show you the artists, album details etc.

Oxx Digital Tube

Oxx Digital Tube is a little bulky but due its tubular shape, it can produce decent bass. Provides access to thousands of radios across the world.

There are many such WiFi radios around and you could get details on them here and here.

Facebook is killing Orkut!

It is a well known fact that Facebook has been vicious to Google’s Social Networking Product Orkut. Facebook is already the leader in the US and couple of other countries. See the below ComScore statistic, How Facebook fares against Orkut. Orkut has approximately 1% of the Facebook’s total reach!

Orkut’s strong hold has been Brazil and India for quite sometime now and Facebook has been battling to take over the number one spot here in India as well as Brazil.

How will Facebook achieve it? The recent Orkut migration tool from Facebook - can import your contacts from Orkut seamlessly to Facebook.

This is good in a way. If you see that your friends are slowly migrating from Orkut to Facebook, then you don’t want to manually hunt for those who were with you on Orkut :)

As per ComScore, Since August this Year, Orkut is losing its users to Facebook in great numbers.

Isn’t it Ironic? Innovations Guru like Google is losing against Facebook? In my opinion, Google isn’t bothered about this. If they really want to catch up with Facebook, they definitely can but they have some other plans I guess.

Yahoo has dropped their much anticipated SpotM, MySpace is in India planning layoffs or even shutting down the entire MySpace India center.

Here is a World Map of Social Networking Sites. The green ones are Facebook dominated countries.

I personally like Orkut :) Facebook looks like it is invading with its silly games! Damn!

Lady with High End Cameras

Man o Man, I envy her! Who can have that kind of Camera Gears :(

I don’t seem to like her at all! Can i get one please?

The Bluetooth Bear Is Here At Your Service!

A hacked talking Bluetooth bear? What? A bear has been modified to talk when you talk through it via Bluetooth. That’s hilarious and smart! Kids would love that.

Call someone through the Talking Bluetooth Bear and Have fun. It is basically Bluetooth enabled speaker phone connected to a talking bear :) Results are wonderful.

Check this video and chuckle!

[via Gizmodo]

Motorola CLIQ – First Motorola Android Phone and High On Social Networking Phone!

Motorola CLIQ – An Android phone and A nice one!

Specification:

• GSM, 3G, WIFI
• 320x480 display, 3.1 inch
• sliding QWERTY keyboard
• 5 MP autofocus camera
• Battery: 1420 mAh lithium polymer
• Up to 325h standby and 6 hours continuous usage
• MicroUSB
• GPS
• MicroSD slot, up to 32GB
• WEIGHT 5.6 oz; 163 grams
• Accelerometer

Comes with MotoBlur feature – A one stop for Twitter, Facebook, MySpace updates and the first ever such service from Motorola. Time to Enjoy?

Official Pictures from Motorola… for more click here.

Side View!

Ubuntu 9.10 boots in 5 seconds on SSD storage!

Oh man, Ubuntu 9.10 is the fastest OS to boot now! Code named Karmic Koala is not yet released but in Alpha stage. It will soon get released in 2010 but, lots of improvements has gone in to the way it boots. Already, I’m on Ubuntu 9.04 – Jaunty Jackalope and it is lightning fast. I have not really clocked but it is than 40 seconds. Ubuntu is really a good Distro for anyone who is switching from Windows :)

Download Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 here.

Addictive Open Source Games

Well, games are always fun and one of the most rewarding industries in Computer world! Remember? Doom from ID Software that created the revolution! Now, the new trend is Open Source games. Plenty of them around and some of them are listed here. Courtesy Open-Tube. All games here are free and open source.

• Flight Gear – A 3d flight simulator. Very good and free.
• Assault Cube – 3d game like Doom.
• Rigs of Rod – A vehicle simulator! Cool one. You can eve drive a 16 wheeler too. Check it out.
• Torcs-NG – A racing game.
• Cube 2 – Sequel of game Cube, a worthy 3d game, highly addictive game. I love it for the game play.

• Alien Arena – A combination of Quake and Unreal Tournament. Wonderful game.

There are plenty more here and you could check them out here, all of them for free :)

How to reach Shivaganga? – The Beautiful Hill with Temples and Breathtaking Views

Shivagange is a beautiful hill that is about 70 kms from Bangalore City. A short trip (or trek?) to Shivagange might be a nice way of spending your weekend.

How to reach?

Reaching Shivaganga (Actually Shivagange) is via Tumkur (NH4) Road. About 60 kms from Bangalore and an hour or so drive to reach the Shivagange hill. You can easily get Buses to Dabbasapete and from there you could catch an Auto too. But, Driving your own vehicle is recommended. You can visit Savanadurga, Manchina bele etc as they are all nearby If you have your own vehicle.

Google Map View

View Shivaganga Map in a larger map

Above map will be helpful for you to know where Shivaganga is and how to reach.

Just drive on NH4 (Tumkur Highway), cross the toll gate and drive towards Nelamagala. Dobbasapete is around 20 kms from Nelamangala. Dobbasapete is very easy to spot, there are good signboards for you to keep track of where you are going. However, the good landmark is that you will get a flyover. Do not take the flyover, but you will find a narrow service road on the left side, take that road. It will basically take you to Dobbasapete. Once you are in Dobbasapete, take a left (as shown in the map) and drive for about 6 kms. You will need to take a small right turn (Can ask localities) and you will reach Shivaganga Hill. It is huge and nearly 1400 meters tall, about 5 kms to the summit.

Words of Caution

• You need to be aware of wild monkeys at Shivagange. They are ferocious and unruly. They can just walk up to you and snatch anything that is hanging freely, hand bags, food items anything. So be careful, if you have a backpack, it should be fine. I had a small backpack, they didn’t notice it and was at peace :)

• Secondly, It is better to start early to avoid mid day sun light. Harsh sun light might bring down your energy considerably. While climbing the hill, you will go through lots of vendors who sell lots of food items and you can rejuvenate yourself. It is a long way up to the summit, about 5 kms and is not easy - at least for me :).

Beautiful Views will mesmerize you. Shiva temple is tranquilizing and Olakallu Theeertha ( a temple carved in the stone with sacred waters) are all nice. You need to see and enjoy. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

All said and Done

A nice place, a good endurance test for your body :), Wild Monkeys companionship and total fun. Make sure that you carry your own food. Hotels aren’t too good there.

Club Cabana, Bangalore – A beautiful timeout from Office and Traffic!

We had recently gone out to Club Cabana (Bangalore) for Official Team Outing. I must say that it was really fun and refreshing!

How to reach Club Cabana?

Very easy, just go towards Bangalore International Airport. Just be vigilant once you spot the big ITC Factory, you should take the second left (Unfortunately there is no sign board that says Club Cabana or something) and it is very easy to miss it. I was driving like crazy as the road was nice and relatively less traffic, I just moved ahead and crossed Airport. Then I realized man, Dang! I missed it. I had to take a U Turn and come back again. Luckily my pals helped me out to find the left turn. It’s a matter of minutes after that key left

turn :) and oh la, you will be at Club Cabana. It was a first time visit for me. All my friends had gone there a couple of time. anyway, time was to have some fun.

What have they got to offer you?

Well, plenty of stuff! Outdoor games like Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Chess, Snooker, Cards, Bowling (they charge a 100 bucks for a 10 round game, pretty decent) and much more. It was really fun for a lazy bugger like me :) I hardly move my butt! After Aravind (my pal) and me played a singles game of Tennis, I was really puffing and panting for a breath of air. That’s our fitness level dudes!

What I really liked was, Water Games :) Man, Can you believe I’m no swimmer! Well yeah, Lazy Buggers aren’t swimmers, no prizes for guessing! Anywayz, Water isn’t deeper than 4 feet at any point of time and Boy, I drowned a couple of times. My another pal, Rajan was not far behind, he drowned in the 4 feet drop pool and was behaving as if he had a near death experience :) Just Kidding Rajan, no offence! There are 3 water rides and all of them are really good and exciting. There are others like Lazy River which is an artificial water loop with a mild current, that just gently pushes around :) Again, custom made for lazies like me!, Wave pool, another beauty! Jacuzzi for relaxing and so much else to enjoy!

Lazy River :)

Wave pool!

Amphitheatre, Satish trying to address a team meeting! But, where is the team?

Our beautiful cars :)

I couldn’t take pictures of Water Rides, I was paranoid to wear swimming trunks and things like that. In that commotion, I forgot my Camera and forgot to take pics. Sorry folks…next time. So watch out, they are very particular about swimming costume and no t-shirts for guys. What a pity. I didn't have a problem at Wonder-La but rules are rules here.

All Said and Done

Well, Club Cabana property is really good, for a price like 750Rs, You get Welcome Drink, Unlimited breakfast, Complete access to Outdoor games, Indoor games, Water games, Great Lunch Buffet in the afternoon, Hi Tea in the evening and of course, the enjoyment. Everything is good. There is a members only pool but that's ok, we don’t need that as everything else is ours :) and yeah, never think of becoming a member there as it costs a bomb. Club Cabana guys looked at me and appeared as if they said “Go away Jerk” it costs like over a crore, you need to buy a plot there. So, I said “Good For You and Thank You”

All Said and Done, Yeah, Club Cabana, Here I Come Again :)

So, I take a break and add something later. This blog has been idling for too long. Let me kick and move it…

Finger friendly MP3 player for Windows Mobile

Windows Media Player that comes with Windows Mobile is mostly stylus friendly. This is a major drawback and makes one wonder why Microsoft wouldn’t improve the default media player for Windows Mobile finger friendly.

Fortunately, there are friendly people who provide free finger friendly MP3 players for Windows Mobile enabled handsets :-)

S2P (Slide2Play) MP3 Player for WM

An amazingly simple and stylus free MP3 player for Windows Mobile. Closely resembles iPhone’s audio player. Though it is memory hungry, its smooth performance will satisfy you completely.

Features

• Large buttons
• Smooth sliding interface
• Simple to use
• Handles Album Art

S2P is a very nice stylus free MP3 player for windows mobile. Installation is simple, just transfer the CAB file via ActivSync and install it on the mobile.

Please leave your comments if you know a better stylus free audio players for WM.

Source: http://s2p.en.softonic.com/pocketpc and http://forum.xda-developers.com/

Technorati Tags: Stylus Free,Finger friendly,Player,Mobile,PPC,iPhone,MP3

Finger friendly keyboards for Windows Mobile

Default keyboard that comes with Windows Mobile is mostly basic and requires stylus for effective use. This is a major drawback and makes one wonder why Microsoft wouldn’t improve the default keyboard for Windows Mobile.

Fortunately, there are friendly people who provide free finger friendly keyboards for Windows Mobile enabled handsets.

PocketCM keyboard for WM

It offers a visible feedback of the key currently pressed, you can exactly feel that your finger is on the keyboard and you can easily see what key is pressed.

• It can be used with fingers
• It can suggest word based on letter position
• It triggers the key when you remove your finger from the screen, not when you press it. This will avoid typos
• It can be customized
• It's a standard Windows Mobile SIP, so to use it you have to select it as the input method, therefore it can be used in (almost) any application
• Customizable skin and layout
• Accent recognition and suggestion
• There is an active forum where you can discuss your problems with PocketCM keyboard (if any)

Visual feedback and smart suggestion by PocketCM

Here is a video from PocketCM.com

Installing PocketCM 

Download the PocketCM CAB from here, copy the CAB to your device via ActiveSync, Run the CAB on your mobile and reset your device. Then open keyboard, change keyboard (little arrow) to PCM Keyboard –that’s it :-)

TouchPal Keyboard for WM

TouchPal Keyboard from CooTek is an innovative software keyboard powered by T+ input technology, which significantly improves the inputting experience on touch screen handheld devices. It supports a lot of features and some of the free features present in Free edition are listed below.

• Predictive & Precise Input
• "Flow" your keyboard! "Flow" your keyboard!
• In-place case switching
• Display word candidate inline
• Word association
• Landscape mode
• Multi-language support
• Highly Customizable
• For questions, there is a forum

TouchPal Pro supports more amazing features.

Here is an official video from Cootek.com

Installing TouchPal

Download the TouchPal CAB from here, copy the CAB to your device via ActiveSync, Run the CAB on your mobile and reset your device. Then open keyboard, change keyboard (little arrow) to TouchPal Keyboard –that’s it :-)

PocketCM and TouchPal soft Keyboards are really capable and could make your stylus a history!

Please leave your comments if you know a better stylus free keyboards for WM.

Technorati Tags: Keyboard,Windows Mobile,finger friendly,SIP,PocketCM,TouchPal,plugin

Free 3D modeling tool - Google StetchUp

Google has just released SketchUp release 7 which lets you create 3D models very easily in just a few minutes.

Advantages are:

• Intuitive and easy to learn - Thanks to the dozens of online videos and help center that give step by step instructions on how to use SketchUp features.
  
• Extremely agile in rendering objects
• Get models online for free at Google 3D warehouse
• Share your 3D models with the world

3D objects can be created, modified, integrated with Google Earth etc. A lot more features are supported by Google SketchUp and if you are hungry for more, then it is better to check out their licensed version Google SketchUp Pro 7.

Please look at the comparison between the free and the paid version here.

Here is a SketchUp intro video by Google

Thanks to Google SketchUp team, Now anyone can do 3D modeling without any technical knowledge!

Technorati Tags: SketchUp, Modeling, Freeware, Google, 3D

How to search better with yahoo! Glue

Yahoo! recently added an intelligent "glue" feature to their search pages. The idea is that you can find relevant web pages, images, videos, blogs (and a lot more) related to your search terms on a single page

Glue topic pages help you get to all the information you want with just one click.

Let's say you want to know quick facts about Henry Ford. Traditionally, you would fire up your search engine with the keywords to find relevant Wikipedia pages (obviously), Images, videos etc. All these would definitely take a few minutes of your time.

But, now with Yahoo! Glue, it is just a matter of getting all the information in a single search with a click of button. This is kinda neat!

Google is yet to offer such features.

Technorati tags:
Yahoo, search, Google

DimDim - Cheaper alternative to WebEx

If you are looking for a free (or cheap) alternative to WebEx, you may want to look at DimDim.

Dimdim is an easy and affordable open source web meeting product with features like Application, Desktop and Presentation sharing with audio/visual streaming and chat, with absolutely no download required to host or attend meetings.

DimDim company has just released the latest and the better version 4.5 to the general public with some cool features like SynchroLive Co-Browsing, Recording and playback of meetings, Share Mac & PC Desktops etc

DimDim comes with three flavors,

• DimDim Free (up to 20 attendees)
  
• DimDim Pro (up to 100 attendees)
  
• DimDim Enterprise (up to 1000 attendees)

Key features of DimDim:

• It’s Easy, Open & Affordable
• No Install to Host/Join meetings
• Easy Share Screens & Webpages
• Audio & Video Conferencing
• Present PowerPoint and PDFs
• Private & Public Chat
• Whiteboard & Annotations
• Record and Playback Meetings
• Open Source and open APIs

I have presonally used DimDim Free to provide technology presentations to a small group of people scattered across the globe and the performance was really good. I have also used WebEx extensively in the past and felt that DimDim was more intuitive and easy.

DimDim is highly recommended to have an easy, effortless web meetings at a cost less than a third what you would pay for WebEx or similar conferencing product.

DimDim is getting a lot of attention due to its good performance and now it has even made it to the Top 100 Products of 2008 by ReadWriteWeb.

Please check DimDim pricing information at http://www.dimdim.com/products/dimdim_editions.html

To know more, Please visit www.dimdim.com

DimDim 4.5 Intro Video:

For more, Please check out DimDim Channel at http://in.youtube.com/MeetFreely

Technorati Tags: web conferencing, DimDim, WebEx, Live meeting, meeting