Redefining Technology » Computers

Google Announces Country-Specific Blog Censorship

Pushpendra Pal — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:25:31 +0000

After Twitters announcement to selectively block tweets on a country-by-country basis, now its Google’s turn to use this trick to avoid global content censorship. Google unveils its plan to block BlogSpot blogs on country bases. Google will now be able to block access in individual countries following a legal removal request. This way Google can meet local laws without blocking content at a global level.

These changes are applied in Australia, New Zealand and India, but Google plans to roll it out globally. Under this new system, blog visitors will be redirected to a website address using a country-specific top level domain. Suppose you visits xyz.blogspot.com blog, then the automated system will redirects you to xyz.blogspot.com.in (for Indian visitors). Readers will be redirected to sites with their own country’s domain name when they try to visit blogs recognized as foreign, as determined by their IP addresses.

In recent days Indian government forces Google, Twitter, Facebook and some other web portals to filter their content as per government guidelines. this country specific content censorship strikes a good balance between free speech, legality and practical issues for end users.

But Google give you freedom to browse the web as it is without censoring. Visitors can see blogs as it is available to global users. They just need to add “/ncr” (No Country Redirect) after web address of blog. Google will then show international version of that blog. Adding /ncr places a short term cookie in your browser that temporarily prevent geographical redirection.

Microsoft is Working to Implant Kinect on Windows Powered Devices

Pushpendra Pal — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:55:06 +0000

Microsoft is working on implanting its motion sensing technology, Kinect into Windows operating system. Recently ‘The Daily’ got a look at Windows 8 powered Asus laptop which has an array of small sensors at the top of screen near webcam. If Kinect technology implemented on Windows systems then we may soon be able to control programs with the wave of our hands.

According to Wikipedia “Kinect is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console. Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands.”

Kinect was made to compete with the Wii Remote Plus and PlayStation Move with PlayStation Eye motion controllers. The Kinect sensoris a horizontal bar connected to a small base with a motorized pivot and is designed to be positioned lengthwise above or below the video display. The device features an “RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone running proprietary software”,which provide full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition and voice recognition capabilities.

There are a lot of possibilities of Kinect technology for software developers. Imagine swiping your finger in the air to switch between windows or applications. You may control your song playlist or media player without having to be right at the keyboard. These laptops would also offer additional control for disabled users.

Microsoft may release Kinect for Windows on Feb 1, 2012. Microsoft’s plan to get the Kinect out of the living room and into other devices seems to be picking up momentum every day. The tech giant will probably not be making in-house devices but give Kinect license to hardware manufacturers. Kinect for laptops is under development, get ready for potential new ways to interact with your laptop.

Schedule an eMail to be Sent Later Using Bloomberg

Pushpendra Pal — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:25:22 +0000

Going for holidays today without carrying your laptop or smartphone (or no internet connectivity) and want to inform your boss next day. Gmail and some other popular mail clients does not offer email scheduling. But here is a solution for this too. Boomerang for Gmail is a free Firefox and Google Chrome plugin that lets you take control of when you send and receive emails. Bloomberg gives you capability to write an email now and set to sent that on a scheduled time in future.

Boomerang is a plugin that fits beautifully into the default Gmail UI. The plugin is also available for the smartphones like iPhone, Android phones and Blackberry. You can try the app on you smartphone by going to this link m.boomeranggmail.com from your mobile device. This will lead you to download page and after downloading it will install in your smartphone.

First download and install Bloomberg add-on on your Firefox or Chrome browser or on smartphone. Bloomberg needs your permission to access your Gmail account. Simply gave account access permission to Bloomberg to use this feature. Now reload Gmail on your browser. Bloomberg adds ‘Send Later’ button next to send button on compose mail page. Just write the message as you normally would, then click the Send Later button. Now Select the time you want to send the message from the drop-down menu or you can even enter your date in normal language. Boomerang will understand phrases such as Tomorrow at 12PM or Next week. Click Confirm when you’ve entered the time you want.

You are done. Now you are ready to schedule your Gmail messages for future.

Bloomberg also offer a follow up reminder service. If you want a cleaner inbox, but don’t want to lose track of important messages? Use Boomerang to take messages out of your inbox until you actually need them. Just click the Boomerang button when you have an email open, and choose when you need it again. Boomerang will archive the message. At the time you chose, Bloomberg bring it back to your inbox, marked unread, starred, or even at the top of your message list.

Bloomberg also remind you if you don’t hear back. There are times you need to make sure you follow up within a specific time frame after sending a message. You can select to only be reminded if nobody replies, or regardless. This way you won’t let messages slip through the crack and will never forget to follow up with people.

But remember Boomerang allows only 10 free scheduled e-mails per month and requires a subscription beyond that limit. If you want to send frequent mails then purchase a premium version of this add-on.

[How to] Download YouTube Video on Android Phone

Pushpendra Pal — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:38:46 +0000

Everyone like watching videos on YouTube, its a fun time pass. You are away from home (or computer) and liked a music video while browsing YouTube on your Android phone. There are many software and online tools available to download YouTube videos on your PC, but what about Android Phone. you like a video and want to download it on your Android phone. To short out your problem, here is an Android app to download videos from YouTube; named as TubeMate.

TubeMate app makes it super easy to download any video from YouTube or any mp3 audio file from any YouTube video. There are quick access buttons to download, share, replay and search YouTube videos. App has the ability to share videos on YouTube directly through the app via email, MMS, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever other apps you have installed on the phone that allow the ability to share via app.

After starting TubeMate YouTube Downloader app it will load and present you with a hybrid look of YouTube web version and mobile version. You can search for videos like normal or select any of the featured videos that appear when the app is loaded. When you click the play button to begin the video a dialogue box will open up and ask you whether or not you would like to download or watch the video. If you select Downloading then it will save the video to the SD card or internal memory on your phone.

TubeMate App Features:

Fast download mode (with multiple connections)
Save videos as mp3
Download video in different resolution from flv to full HD (depend on your device support).
Downloading in Background and Multi video download
Share video & Share TubeMate with your friends via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and any other social network.
Playlist as video/audio.

Supported video Resolution to Download:

320 x 240: Runs almost on every smartphone
480 x 270: general devices
640 x 360 (FLV player required)
854 x 480
1280 x 720 (HD): High-end devices
1920 x 1080 (Full-HD): GalaxyTab, PC
Download as MP3 version.

Tubemate is ad supported and available as a free download app. Due to some unknown reasons Tube mate app is temporarily off the Android Market, so use the link at the bottom of this post to download the APK file.
Download Link: <Click Here>

Google Shuts Down 6 more Services Including Picnik & Sky Map

Pushpendra Pal — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:53:54 +0000

In the process of spring cleaning Google shuts down few more products. Some less popular products will be merged as a feature in other stabilized products and some goes open-sourced. Google acquired these startups by paying a lot of money and when these services failed to achieve the promise they hoped for, Google shuts them. There is a comprehensive list of this 2012 Google cleanup.

1. Picnik:

Google acquired Picnik, online photo editor tool in 2010. The goal of this purchase is to allow Picasa users to edit and save their photos online. Picnik will be retired on April 19, 2012 so the Picnik team can continue creating photo-editing magic across Google products. You can download a zip file of your creations through Picnik Takeout or copy them to Google+. Google made Picnik premium service is free to everyone until it shuttered. All the premium members will receive a full refund in the coming weeks.

2. Google Sky Map:

Sky Map was created by half a dozen Googlers at the Pittsburgh office in 2009. This product is initiated to show off the amazing capabilities of the sensors in the first-generation Android phones and offer a window into the sky. Google doesn’t going to shut it down but opens it for open-source community to make it more diverse.

3. Google Message Continuity (GMC):

GMC is an email disaster recovery product for enterprise customers that use Google’s cloud to back up emails originally sent or received in an on-premise, Microsoft Exchange system. This service was started in Dec, 2010. The aim to backup data over cloud is offered within cloud storage services using Google Apps hence there is no need to use another service with same features. Current GMC customers will be able to use GMC for the duration of their contract and are encouraged to consider using Google Apps as their primary messaging and collaboration platform.

4. Urchin:

Urchin, an online analytic product, was acquired by Google in 2005, that became the foundation for Google Analytics. Analytics helps businesses of all sizes measure their websites visits, stats, demographics and online marketing. Google now focus on this online analytics service rather then Urchin which was client side application. New Urchin Software licenses will no longer be available after March 2012.

5. Social Graph API:

Social Graph API is a developer side app which stores information about public connections between people on the web. This app failed to gain exposure and will be shuttered down on April, 2012.

6. Needlebase:

Needlebase is a less known Google product, even I haven’t heard its name before today. Needlebase is a data management platform which was acquired from ITA software. This technology is being evaluated for integration into Google’s other data-related initiatives.

Google acquires new initiatives that attracts Google’s mind as a high prices. Google tweaks these product and make them available within Google’s already existing services. Some services boost Google’s reputation and attracts mass but some failed to gain exposure. Time to time Google shut down less popular services or make them open-sourced.

[How to] Upload YouTube Videos of More Than 15 min Length

Pushpendra Pal — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:46:13 +0000

YouTube has biggest range of online videos from different categories, different languages and different geo-locations around the world. YouTube videos are uploaded by users. But there is a problem when you upload video of more then 15 minutes of length. Your video will be uploaded to YouTube servers but when you open that video, an error occurred which says ‘This video has been removed because it is too long.’

This problem occurs with the unverified YouTube users. Unverified users can only upload videos of length up to 15 Minutes. So to bypass this limit, you need to have a verified YouTube account.

Follow these steps to verify YouTube account:

1. Log in to your Google or YouTube account and click Upload link to upload video on YouTube.

2. Clicking on ‘Select files from your computer’ will let you to upload files from your pc, but limits you to a video of maximum 15 min. So if you want to remove this limit your have to Verify your account .

3. YouTube requires your phone number to verify account authority. Fill your mobile number and press submit button. Google send you an auto generated SMS which contains a verification code.

4. In second step, you have to enter verification code send to your phone number. Fill this code and press Verify. If you enter correct code then Google automatically remove video upload length limit from your account.

Now you can share video tutorials, trip videos or other fun material on your YouTube account without limit.

Twitter Brings Keyboard Shortcuts for Easy Navigation

Pushpendra Pal — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:28:35 +0000

Twitter, micro blogging tool brings new set of keyboard shortcut keys to navigate through the site. Keyboard shortcuts are not a new thing as Gmail, Google Reader, or any good webapp these days with keyboard shortcuts, the only shortcut you ever really need to remember is ‘?’ (the question mark). Using these set of keys now tweeting is a more fun thing. With these key users can now retweet a tweet, Reply, Direct message, create new tweet, search twitter, send and view messages and lots more.

Here is a list of all Twitter Keyboard shortcuts:

Actions:

F – Favorite
R – Reply
N – New Tweet
T – Retweet
M – Direct message
[Enter] – Open Tweet details
L – Close all open Tweets

Navigation:

? – This Menu
. – For loading new tweets
/ – Search
[Spacebar] – Page Down
J – Next Tweet
K – Previous Tweet

Home Timeline:

G H- Home
G D- Discover
G C- Connect
G P- Profile
G M- Messages
G F- Favorites
G R- Mentions
G U- Go to user

These new keyboard shortcuts will be available soon on every Twitter users. If you don’t use yet wait for your turn.

Grow Your Audience and Business With Google+

Pushpendra Pal — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:36:58 +0000

Google+, an emerging social network by Google will help you grow your business, social networks, audience and profit. Its very easy to attract users on Google Plus and make them your loyal customers too. Social media is becoming the next shopping point on the web, so its your turn to produce most out of it. Today I am going to tell you awesome Google+ feature that helps you grow your business.

1. Google+ Business Pages:

Like Facebook pages, Google+ offers Business pages for your company, brand and group. You can post your website content as feed on Google plus and updates users with your latest product. On your page, you can engage in conversations with your visitors, direct readers back to your site for the latest updates, send tailored messages to specific groups of people, and see how many +1’s you have across the web. Google+ Pages will help you build relationships with your users, encouraging them to spend more time engaging with your content.

2. Circles:

If your company offers different niches product and your audience ranges on different categories then Circle will help you. Circles on Google+ allow you to group followers of your Business Page into smaller audiences. You can then share specific messages with specific groups. For example, you could create a Circle containing your most loyal readers and offer them exclusive content.

3. Google+ Badges:

A Google+ Badge can be placed on your website so interested users can circle your business page direct from your website, no need to go on Google+ page. The only need is that visitors must logged in into their Google account. Adding your page in their circle allows them to get updates from your site via Google+.

4. Hangouts:

If your customer want to ask few questions or just check that you are real or not, you can offer them Hangouts on Google+. This way you can negotiate with them and deliver most features of your product. Hangouts make this easy, by letting you have high-quality video chats with nine people with a single click. You can use Hangouts to hold live forums, break news or simply get to know people better, all in real time.

5. The Power of +1:

You can link your website to your Google+ business page so that all your +1s from your Page, your website, and search results will get tallied together and appear as a single total. Potential visitors will be more likely to see the recommendations your site has received, whether they’re looking at a search result, your website, or your Page, meaning your +1’s will reach not only the 60 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day.

View Real-time AdSense Earnings With AdSense Publisher Toolbar

Pushpendra Pal — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:54:13 +0000

Google always work for innovating new technologies that help its users to use advanced tools and services, save time, and better understand account performance. Google serves the best advertising network in the industry, as AdSense. It is the basic and only earning source for millions of web publishers. To give them easy access and real-time monitoring Google created a new Google Chrome browser extension called the AdSense Publisher Toolbar.

When viewing your website, this extension will show you a snapshot of your AdSense account performance as a widget in the corner of your browser window. It also includes ad overlays that describe the recent performance of specific ad units, and gives you the option to access AdSense directly. There are two ways to access your AdSense stats; 1) Pop-up account overview and 2) In-site ad overlay.

Pop-up account overview lets you view the following at a glance:

Account earnings summary (today, yesterday, this month, last month)
Top 5 custom channels
Top 5 URL channels
Lifetime revenue

In-site ad overlay gives you the following options right in your site:

Instant summary of each ad unit’s earnings (today, yesterday, last 7 days)
Links to go straight to your AdSense account

To start using this new toolbar you have to install AdSense Publisher Toolbar extension in your Google Chrome browser. This extension will only available to Chrome users only. Follow these steps to start with:

Visit the Chrome Web Store from your Chrome browser and download the AdSense Publisher Toolbar. This will add the toolbar icon to your browser.
You’ll then need to grant the toolbar access to your AdSense account. To do so, click the toolbar icon and then sign in to Google Accounts with your AdSense login and password.
Next, visit a website where you’ve implemented your ad code, and enable the toolbar by clicking on the toolbar icon again.

After successful following above steps the AdSense account overview widget will appear and show you an earnings summary, broken down by recent and all time performance as well as your top channels.

You can also enable ad overlays directly on top of your ad units, which will tell you how a particular ad unit has performed today, yesterday and in the past seven days. Clicking on the ad overlay will bring you to the “My ads” tab in your account, where you can edit this ad unit.

Don’t worry in you click your on ad overlay generated by the toolbar; because doing this won’t create invalid clicks.

[How-to] Stop Facebook Friend Requests From Strangers

Pushpendra Pal — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:52:24 +0000

Facebook is the best social media platform to find and make friends. Anyone on Facebook can send friend requests to anyone else on Facebook if profiles are set to public. This feature may annoy many users specially female users, as they receive many friend requests from unknown persons. Befriending with strangers may harm your privacy. There is a simple method to limit or stop these friend requests.

To limit or stop friend requests on Facebook follow these steps:

Log in to your Facebook account and open Privacy Settings from dropdown link after Home button.
Here you can see some tips to increase your privacy while you update your status. Below these tips you can find some editable settings. Click ‘Edit Settings’ next to ‘How you connect’ option.
Select “Friends of friends” option in “Who can send you friend requests?” setting and click done to save settings.

That’s it. Now Facebook users who are friends with your friends can only send you friend requests. This setting will help girls and women from receiving lots of friend requests.

Subscribe to TechMadly feeds or follow Facebook tips section to know more settings on Facebook.