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6 Sites to Check Your Internet Connection Speed

Posted June 26, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
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Our Internet Service Providers, promise us to give 2Mbps, 4Mbps or whatever you may call it. But, practically we don’t get it. So, you should check your internet connection speed to make sure that you get at least something close to what you are paying for. So here we’ve listed 6 sites that would help you check your internet connection speed.

There are hundreds of sites that help you do this. But we’ve listed only the best rated. Almost all sites work alike, they ping a nearest server and then download and upload a sample file to test your connection speed. Some give more statistics, while some work on different platforms. Take a look at them for yourself and choose the best one based on your experience.

#1 SpeedTest

Without any doubt, it is the most used one. Speedtest pings a closest server to you and uploads and downloads a sample file. It also let you review your ISP and shows others’ reviews. They’ve mobile apps too, so that you can check your internet connection speed in your mobile. Sharing your results with your friends is also using speedtest. It has many servers all around the world, so you could always find something closer to you. You can also provide them with servers if you are interested.

#2 DSL Reports

DSL Reports has multiple speed tests. One based on flash, one on Java, JavaScript speed test for mobile phones and another basic mobile phone speed test and lot more. It is one of the most advanced and comprehensive speed tests. Though the servers are present mostly in US, It gives you a close to accurate results.

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#3 Speakeasy Speedtest

Speakeasy speedtest is also based on the same software that is used on speedtest.net. However speedtest is owned by Ookla, the company which owns the software., but speakeasy speedtest is run by a separate company. The results are almost same, since they use the same methods. So, you can try any one of them.

#4 Pingtest

Pingtest is also a product of Ookla. But Pingtest is based on Java. So you need Java support so that you can run this web app. It works just like speedtest and has servers all around the world. It has a little more features than speedtest. It shows the packet sent/received data, packet loss %, jitter etcetera. It also rates your ISP on a grade basis.

#5 Speed.io

Speed.io functions just like the others. It has a different interface though. It shows the browser you are using and the number of connects in the connection. Useful, if you want to know the number of devices connected to your Wi-Fi network.

#6 TestMy

TestMy works in the same principle like SpeedTest. It displays your speed in an ECG like format. So you can witness the ups and downs in the process. It works fine.

Check your internet connection speed often to make sure you are not being exploited. You can use any of this service as a proof, while arguing with them. All of them are trusted services, used by millions all over the world.

Hope you liked this article. Do share it with your friends. For more interesting posts, subscribe to our newsletter. If you’ve any doubts in this, let us know and we’ll help you out.

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Share Images in Google+ From Your Google Drive [How-To]

Posted June 25, 2012 By Arun Sathiya
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With the emergence of Google Drive, the cloud storage from Google, most of the netizens have already switched from the other popular cloud storage like Dropbox and SkyDrive to Google Drive. Google Drive, coming from the internet giant, seems to have caught the eyes of all. Providing 5GB for all those who join, Google has raised the cloud storage bar once step ahead.

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Google is always known for linking all it’s products together. It wasn’t long when Google Drive got a prominent place in the navigation bar. Also, before that, Google+ was seen to be getting itself integrated with Gmail. And now, Google is also offering the feature of letting people share images in their Google Drive directly in their Google+ posts.

To Share Your Images From Google Drive in Google+ Posts

  • Log into your Google+ account.
  • Click on the posting box which reads ”Share what’s new…“
  • Click on the ‘Camera’ icon at the bottom right of the box to add images.
  • Select “From Google Drive” in the list of options available.
Images From Google Drive
  • If images are found in your Google Drive, the images will be shown and you can choose the images to add. Selecting more than one is possible too!
  • After selecting the images, click “Select” and the images will be added to the post. :-)

Simple and easy, right? If you find any problem while adding images in your Google Drive to your Google+ posts, feel free to drop in a comment for solutions.

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Increase Your Smartphone’s Battery Life [How-To]

Posted June 25, 2012 By Arjun Singh
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One of the major concerns of smartphone users is the battery life. Smartphones do a lot of things and  they consume a lot of energy in that process. Though there have been major breakthroughs and new discoveries made in different aspects of smartphones, there isn’t much new with batteries. We still live with poor batteries for mightier devices. You can make your smartphone last longer than usual, with a few simple and obvious tweaks. The basic is this, we find out the stuff which consume more power and we eliminate them or rather reduce it’s usage. Let’s see how we can increase smartphone battery life.

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#1 Switch to energy saving mode.

The first and simplest way to save smartphone battery life is to put it in an energy saving mode. Consider this a first step in your effort to extend the battery life of the phone.

#2 Turn Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off when not in use.

Another energy saving tip is to turn off data connections including the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi especially when you do not really use them. Otherwise the air signal including the wireless connection can significantly use up power and thereby decrease the battery’s life span. As the smartphone works to scan and browse for wireless networks, it uses a lot of power.

#3 Make an adjustment on the screen’s brightness.

The display always consumes a better part of the power consumed by smartphones. You can save a lot of power by doing one simple change – adjusting your screen’s brightness to a lower level, so that the battery lasts longer.

#4 Consider talking more and texting less.

You may like to send texts and emails and you may be thinking it uses less power than talk time. But it is actually the other way around. It has actually been recorded that data connections use between 2 and 4 times more than a voice connection would consume.

#5 Update you smartphone OS.

Newer OS versions have improved power consumption. So whenever there is a newer OS version available, make it a point to get it. That is if you want to save your phone’s battery life.

#6 Have a battery charging plan.

When you attempt to devise a charging plan for your phone’s battery, make sure to check what kind of battery your smartphone uses first. If it is a Nickel-based battery, it is important that you consume all its power content first before charging the battery again. If you have a Lithium ion battery though, you can recharge it without the need to use up all the battery’s power first.

#7 Minimize the use of animation on your smartphone.

Some people like having different wall papers with highly animated characters. Others also like browsing online videos as well as animated advertisements on their phones. While this can be fun, it also eats up battery life. If you are more interested in prolonging the use of power, make sure to avoid these activities. This also applies in ringtones. If you want to save battery power, it is best you simplify the use of your smartphone.

Finally, make sure to keep the phone away from heat. You should also avoid exposing the phone in hot places. Overheating would definitely cause a significant damage to the battery cells which can make it die much faster even right after charging. 

Author’s Bio : This article is written by Andreas. Andreas has recently migrated to the UK and is living quite happily there. Andreas provide laptop finance deals to the local residents of the UK and is hoping to lead a happy life.

Hope you liked the article and learned how to increase smartphone battery life. You can guest post at Axleration, if you are interested. If you’ve any doubts in this process, let us know and we’ll help you out. :-)

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Guide to Unlock All Golden Eggs in Angry Birds Facebook

Posted June 21, 2012 By Arun Sathiya
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Angry Birds is a pretty addictive game that is now thrown wide around across lots of platforms out there. When it comes to gaming, Angry Birds is one of those most loved games of all ages. The game is available for various platforms like computers, mobile phones and even the tablets.

And since a few months or so, the game has made it’s way into the social networking sites too. As of now, Angry Birds is the most played game on Facebook with over 17 million users playing it. This game on Facebook is called by many names. Previously it was called the “Angry Birds Beta” and now it’s called “Angry Birds Friends” due to the new addition of a feature that will let you battle with your friends and win ranks.

Unlock Golden Eggs

Leave all those naming crap away now. We are on to finding and unlock golden eggs now! Also called the “Easter Eggs”, these eggs are hidden all through the games. The eggs can be found in the menus, game levels and in all other eerie places. It’s our job to hunt ‘em all! But, fortunately for you, I’ve made a collection of all those 10 eggs already and here is the list of places where you can find them. Once collected, you’ll find yourself with 10 brand, new, cool levels to play.

Golden Egg 1 : Go to “Shop” –> All in One bundle –> at the left side, above the description of the all in one bundle, you will notice a golden egg. (See Image)

Golden Egg 2 : Go to your “Inbox” and to the left of the button named “Send free gifts” you will find a golden egg. (See Image)

Golden Egg 3 : Go to “Avatar” and the “Bird-O-Matic” section opens up. At the top left lies the basic yet powerful red bird. Once you spot it, you will notice a golden egg just nearby. (See Image)

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Golden Egg 4 : The folks from Rovio have kept an egg in the credits section too! Click the “i” button near the “Shop”, “Avatar” and other such buttons. The credits start showing up. Keep a close eye on them. Look for the name “Ari Arnbjornsson” and you’ll see that his “o” has been replaced by a golden egg. It’s yours now! :-)  (See Image)

Golden Egg 5 : Open any level in the game and click on the “?” button. That button can be found in the place of the “i” button that we came across earlier. Once you click it, a set of descriptive images start showing. You can notice a golden egg in the red bird help screen. (See Image)

Golden Egg 6 : In “Surf and Turf – 6″, a golden egg is available nearby a barrel at the bottom right. You will have to move to the right section of the screen to see that and also use a bird to get the egg. (See Image)

Golden Egg 7 : In “Poached Eggs – 3″, you can find a golden egg on the smiley. (See Image)

Golden Egg 8 : In “Poached Eggs – 62″, you can find a golden egg kept at the top right. You will have to zoom out to see that. I suggest you to use a white bird to rocket across and get the egg. (See Image)

Golden Egg 9 : In “Surf and Turf – 37″, make use of a White Bird’s egg bomb to take hold of the golden egg at the bottom left of the screen.

Golden Egg 10 : In “Mighty Hoax – 12″, there is a golden egg at the top right of the screen. Zoom out to see that. Fling a Yellow bird to get the egg.

That’s it. The 10 golden eggs on Angry Birds Facebook are now yours. Go and check out those cool, new, golden levels and have fun Angry Bird’ing! :-)

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Use a Custom Domain for Your Tumblr Blog [How-To]

Posted June 9, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
Twitt

Tumblr is a micoblogging service, which is at its peaks in the recent days mainly owing to its ease of use and wider customization options that are available. Tumblr has more than 50 million blogs and more than 20 billion blog posts as of April, 2012.

When you create a Tumblr blog, you will be given a  subdomain name which is similar to http://your-site-name.tumblr.com. However you can add a custom top level domain if you wish. It is a very simple process and can be done in a few minutes.

All you’ve got to do is to change the A records of your domain to point to that of tumblr’s IP addresses and let tumblr know about it. It is as simple as it seems to.

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How to Use a Custom Domain for Your Tumblr Blog

  1. You should get a domain name first.
  2. Go to your domain’s DNS manager.
  3. Delete the default A records and Create a new record to point at 66.6.44.4
  4. Now go to your Tumblr Dashboard and click Blog Settings.
  5. In the URL group, check the checkbox that says “.
  6. Enter your domain name without http://www.
  7. Click on Test your Domain to make sure the DNS changes have propageted. It’ll mostly take less than 48 hours for the DNS changes to propage. However it might take a maximum of 78 hours depending on the location.
  8. To prevent downtime, change the settings at tumblr after the DNS changes have propagated.
Once it is done, when you test your domain, it’ll look like this:

If your readers go to the original blog URL, that is something.tumblr.com, they’ll be redirected to your new domain. Adding a custom domain can help in multiple ways. It’ll help you market and share your blog much more easily and it looks a lot more attractive.

Hope this helped you in adding a custom domain for your tumblr blog. If you have any doubts in this process, let us know through comments and we will be more than happy to guide you through the process.

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Root Samsung Galaxy SIII [How-To]

Posted May 29, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
Twitt

Samsung Galaxy SIII isn’t officially launched in most countries now. But, still the inquisitive minds at the XDA developers forum has rooted this device with the help of Odin by flashing an insecure kernel. For those who are new, Odin is a third-party, windows only software used to flash Android smartphones.

Like most other rooting processes, rooting the Samsung Galaxy SIII is simple and easy. It is proved to work quite well, provided all the steps are correctly followed in the same order provided. However we can’t be held responsible if you brick your device. There is only less possibilities, however we are just warning you before hand that there is the slightest of possibility.

You are voiding your warranty as you root. However you can claim it back once you unroot the device.

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If you are all set, then we can start the rooting process. ;-)

Check-list

  • You should be on the XXALE8 firmware for this root to work. To check your firmware version, go to Settings -> About phone and scroll to the bottom to find it.
  • Make sure that your phone is charged more than 50%. Best, if it is fully charged. Also make sure that the computer you are going to use doesn’t switch off as it will damage your device forever.
  • You should have Samsung Kies installed on your computer, we need some drivers for rooting the phone and Kies has them. [Download]
  • Download Odin 1.85 – We need this to root. [Download]
  • CF-Insecure-SGS3_XX_NEE_ALE8-v1.2 – The Insecure kernel for XXALE8 firmware, which we are going to flash. [Download]

How to Root Samsung Galaxy S3

Step #1

You should enable debugging mode in your phone:

Settings > Developer Options > Check USB Debugging

Step #2

You should start your S3 in the Download Mode. To do this, switch your phone off and restart it by simultaneously pressing Volume-down + Home + Power buttons.

Step #3

Connect your phone to your computer using the microUSB cable.

Step #4

Extract the zip file and open Odin. There’ll be a few text boxes under the text “ID:COM” and the first text box will turn yellow to imply that your phone is connected properly. This is a checkpoint. If it doesn’t turn yellow, then you are doing something wrong. So, start from Step 1. Make sure that the Re-Partition and Flash Lock check boxes are not checked. The other two can be checked.

Step #4

Extract the CF-Insecure-SGS3_XX_NEE_ALE8-v1.2.zip file that you’ve downloaded from chainfire’s site. You’ll find a .tar file.

Step #6

In Odin, Click on the PDA button and choose the insecure kernel file that you have extracted.

Step #7

Click the Start button to start the flash. It’ll take some time.

Your device will be rooted, once it is done. Then you can make use of your Samsung Galaxy S3′s rooted potential to its maximum extent.

If you have any doubts during the process, feel free to let us know and we’ll help you out. Happy rooting. Subscribe to our email newsletter to stay updated on rooting procedures for other firmwares.

Via [Chainfire]

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Download Google Web Fonts [How-To]

Posted May 20, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
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Google has a host of fonts in its web fonts library. All these fonts are best for use in your websites. But, if you find something very attractive which would look good in one of  your presentations, you can download them for offline use too. Downloading Google Web Fonts isn’t a herculean task.

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All the fonts displayed in the font library are open source fonts. Therefore there is no barrier in how you use it. If you are developer yourself, you can contribute to the font either by yourself or collaborating with the original developer of the font.

Download a Single Font

  1. Head to Google Web Fonts.
  2. Browse the collection of fonts available there.
  3. Select your favourite fonts by clicking on “Add to Collection” button near the bottom of each font.
  4. Once you’ve selected your fonts, click on the “Quick-Use” link near any of the fonts.

  5. There you’ll find an option to download your collection. Click it.
  6. your selected fonts will be downloaded in a zip format.
  7. Extract it and you can find the individual fonts in the TTF format. You can install them in your system and use it.

Download the Whole Google Fonts Library

  1. You can download the whole Google Fonts library to your local disk. Just head on to the Google Code page for Google fonts directory.
  2. The instructions for downloading the whole library will be displayed there separately for each platform.
  3. You’ll be needing Mercurial to do this job for you. Windows users can use TortoiseHg, which is basically Mercurial with a Graphical User Interface.

At present there are over 500 fonts at the Google font directory. Try them all if you wish too.


If you liked this article, do share it with your friends and you can feel free to ask your doubts too us. :-)

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Embed YouTube Videos in WordPress [How-To]

Posted May 18, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
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If you are trying to embed YouTube videos in WordPress and can’t figure out how to do that, then you are at the right spot. Adding YouTube or other videos to your blog post is very important to make it attractive and this guide will let you know how to do that.

There are two parts to this story. First of all, if you are the admin of your blog and are looking for the way to embed videos, it is easy to do that but if you are looking for a way to let your Authors do that, then there are two solutions for you, it is easy but you would need to do some tweaks before that works.

Embedding YouTube Videos – For Admins, Editors

By admin and editor, I mean the inbuilt user roles assignable to your writers. All you have to do is copy the embed code from YouTube or any other video sharing site and switch to the HTML editing mode. You can find it at the right top corner of the post editor. After switching to the HTML editor, you can see your post displayed in the HTML mode. Just drop in the code where you want the video to appear and click preview to see if the video is showing up [It will !].

Related: How To: Download Audio From YouTube Videos

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Embedding YouTube Videos – For Authors

For letting your users add unfiltered HTML, which is necessary for adding any embed codes, the admin of the site should grant them special permissions. There are two ways  in which you could do that.

#1 Manual Way

  1. Open the functions.php file of your theme [Appearance -> Editor]
  2. Add the following code to it.

[php] $role = get_role( ‘author’ );

$role->add_cap( ‘unfiltered_html’ );[/php]

You are done. Now your authors can add unfiltered HTML (read: add videos) to their posts. But don’t do this unless you trust your authors because, now they can add any malicious script they want to. You don’t want that to happen do you ?

#2 Plugin

  1. Download, Install and activate the plugin Capability Manager.
  2. Go to Users -> Capabilities.
  3. Select the Author role from the sidebar and check the check-box that says Unfiltered HTML.
  4. Click Save Changes to save it.

Now your authors can embed videos without any problem. But as stated before, make sure you trust all your authors.

You can also use various plugins that help authors without the required permissions to add videos to their posts. We’ve compiled the 5 useful video plugins for wordpress, don’t forget to check it out.

Hope this guide helped you to do what you were looking for. If you have any doubts in the process, do let us know and we’ll be happy to help you out. There are many alternatives to capability manager, you can choose your own, all of them does the same job.

[stextbox id="info"]Links[/stextbox]

Download Capability Manager

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Remove Pimples, Scars and Other Marks in Photoshop [How-To]

Posted May 18, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
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We take photos all the time and before publishing them on social networks like Facebook, we tinker those photos using image editing applications like Photoshop. I’ve seen many a photos in Facebook that have visible editing marks. That is not what we work for. This short guide will help you edit your favourite photos and keep them free of any kind of marks.

This tutorial deals with removing Pimples, Scars and other marks using Adobe Photoshop. As Photoshop is the most popular and widely used, we went with Photoshop. If you need to help to use any other image editor like GIMP, let us know and we’ll help you out.  Let us get into the business.

  • Open the photo [File -> Open] that you want to edit.
  • Select the Healing Brush Tool (Shortcut Key: J)
  • Press and Hold Alt and click on a region of the skin, near the mark/pimple, which can be used as a reference for the repair.
  • Now click on the pimple. Repeat this until you get the flawless skin. :P

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Here is an example, in which we googled a photograph of Megan Fox with pimples and in the next picture you could see the image we fixed. You can see the original image here.

Hope this guide helped you fix all those favourite pics of yours. If you’ve any doubt in the process (highly unlikely), do let us know and we’ll help you out. If you are interested in more Photoshop tips and tricks, let us know and we will come up with a lot in the future.

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Syncing SRT Subtitles With the Video [How-To]

Posted May 16, 2012 By Ganesh Babu
Twitt

If you’ve been downloading lots of movies in other languages, you would be familiar about SRT files. It is not uncommon that you find a subtitle file out of sync with the video you are watching. If you do a little more of searching you can find the subtitle that is completely in sync. But, if you are unable to find anything, then you use this guide to sync SRT subtitles with the video.

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SRT – SubRip Text file format is the most basic and most popular of all subtitle formats. It is a mere text  file with some special formatting, so that the video player can display the right text at the right time. The format of the SRT file is as follows:

454
00:38:58,832 –> 00:39:00,629
God damn it!
Get a backup team in there!

This is the 454th subtitle in the file and the next line represents the start time –> end time, that is how long the text will be displayed. The rest are the dialogue. Since SRT files originated in France, comma is used as the decimal separator and the time format is like hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds and BTW the dialogue is from The Bourne Ultimatum.

You can search for SRT subtitles on Google. Just type like this – “Movie name + Language + Subtitles” and you will get it for sure. Now you’ve downloaded it only to find that it is out of sync. Then you can try one of the following methods to sync it with the video. We’ve provided the links at the end of the article for your convenience.

#1 VLC – Easiest Way

VLC is the ultimate media player. You can use VLC to synchronize your SRT subtitles, if you are going to use it only once or twice. VLC has lot of inbuilt tools and you can use one such tool – Track Synchronization to do the job.

  • Load the video and the subtitles [Video -> Subtitles track] in VLC.
  • Then Go to Tools -> Track Synchronization.
  • In the dialog box, you can change the value there to sync your subtitle perfectly with that of the video.

You may not get it right on the first attempt. But by the trial and error method, you can get it done.

#2 Aegisub – Most Effective

Aegisub is a free subtitle editor. You can edit your subtitles, while previewing the video.

  • Open the Subtitle [File -> Open Subtitles] and the video file [Video -> Open Video]
  • You can tweak timings using the tools in the right pane.
  • To shift the entire track forward or backward, go to Timing -> Shift Times and set the values to sync the subtitles with the video. you get a few extra options too.
Save it and the subtitles are no more a mess.

#3 Gaupol – Little Difficult

Gaupol is an open source subtitle editing program. It is simple to use and is easy too.

  • Open the SRT file.
  • Go to Tools -> Shift Positions, to shift the entire orientation of the subtitle track.
  • Set the time by which you want your subtitles to be shifted. You also get to select the whole track, a selection of subtitles or just a single line to shift.

Once done, save it. There, you’ve fixed the subtitles. Since you can’t preview the video, it is quite difficult to sync subtitles using Gaupol.

We’ve covered the most useful tools for syncing SRT subtitles with the video. If you think, we’ve missed anything or if there is any other easier way do let us know through the comments and we’ll mention it too. If you’ve any doubts in the process, let us know and we’ll help you cross the sea.

[stextbox id="info"]Links[/stextbox]

Download VLC

Download Aegisub

Download Gaupol

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