Author: Aditya Kane

Categories
Tips

Bring IE into your Chrome browser

A couple of months ago you might have read about how Google decided to make Internet Explorer better by injecting Chrome into it.  All you had to do was install Chrome frame and Internet Explorer would be faster especially while viewing HTML5.

Now here is a new twist to it.Google through an extension allows us to inject a little bit of Internet Explorer into Chrome. 😉

chrome_IEtab_extension

IE Tab

  • Add the IE Tab extension on your Chrome browser and start using Internet Explorer within Chrome.
  • Once installed you can click on the small IE symbol next to end of the address bar. (see image)
  • I liked using IE Tab within Chrome as I could bookmark my favorite sites in Chrome but they were added to Internet Explorer’s favorite list.
  • Also the right click menu within Chrome changes to IE’s menu withing the tab.
  • I could also access Internet Options from the tab which can be accessed usually only through the IE browser or the Control Panel.

I do not think that this one will be as controversial as Chrome Frame. But for people using Chrome and Internet Explorer this one should be quite handy. What do you think?

Download: IE Tab Extension

Categories
Reviews

Load YouTube videos faster and share on Twitter

Have you ever excitedly looked up a video on You Tube with a fast connection and unfortunately it starts to mock your internet speed by not streaming the video as fast as it should ?

Watching You Tube videos can be a little frustrating sometimes as the videos do often get stuck. I came across on the internet a Video Accelerator for You Tube specifically.

Its called SpeedBit Video Accelerator and it works automatically with any browser while viewing You Tube videos. It is a free download but there is also a premium version.

video_accelerator_speedbit

About SpeedBit

  • Once you download and install SpeedBit, it seamlessly integrates and works with any browser while playing any video on You Tube.
  • It has a separate feature meant only for High Definition video acceleration.
  • Considering the madness for Twitter is it no surprise new applications try integrate sharing through Twitter. Speed Bit is not exception and it also has a feature to tweet the video while you are watching on You Tube. 🙂

speedbit_twitter

I think there are many video accelerators out there but I kind of like this one as I can easily share videos on my Twitter account. As far as the performance of the accelerator, I think it is quite useful for high speed internet connections. Slower speeds might not have much use for it but I guess a more seamless viewing experience should be expected.

If you like this acceleration or have any alternative applications out there let me know through your comments. 😉

Links: Download Speed Bit | Webcooltips

Categories
News

Facebook creator was in Pune, India

facebook_creator_indiaFacebook creator Mark Zuckerberg has been holidaying in India. That’s not a biggie, but he was apparently in Pune. rtBlogs office is located in Pune.

So there was a bit of excitement that the fountainhead of Facebook was in the same city we were. He visited the Osho Ashram which is a commune for meditation. Now I was more excited as Osho Commune was in the same locality where rtBlogs office is located.

He was in India for over a week and left on 5th on Jan. Mark Zuckerberg has a fan page on Facebook. On it he has pasted a photograph of him with a cryptic message saying it was taken in India while vacationing. The photograph has him with a friend and a child posing with an elephant in the background. The message was that he he was vacationing in India and was checking out some cities.

Back to the thoughts on Mark Zuckerberg vacationing in the neighborhood of our office. Well we would love to say we saw him on the road to our office and brought him in to visit, took photographs with him and offered him tea. Well sorry folks nothing like that happened but we still can contact the elephant who posed with Zuckerberg. ;-P

Link: DNA India

Categories
Tips

How much of your website is visible?

If you are a web designer you might want to know how much of your site is visible to visitors. Google has come up with a model to let you analyze how much of the browser window is open to be viewed by users. This is crucial as sometimes you might have a significant number of visitors not paying attention to certain parts of your website. It could be a donate button or even a link to subscribe to your blog.

website_visible_browser_google

Google Browser Size

  • Just visit the Google Browser Size page. Here you need to enter the URL you want to check for browser size.
  • Immediately the browser size is represented in a graph along with website as the background. Check image below for a representation. The opacity can be increased or decreased.
  • This showed that over 50% of the internet users view all of DW website while some might not be viewing the subscribe button.
  • Just a word of caution before you feel disheartened, as these stats are taken from visits to Google.com and hence might not reflect all that correctly for other websites.  For example someone visiting a tech blog might actually explore it details as to not miss out on much.

Google Browser Size…

browser_size_google_anim

I still think that it would be prudent for web designers to look up their websites through this Google tool and maybe start working on some minor adjustments if needed. Do check it out and drop in your comments with your views and opinions. 😉

Categories
Tips

How to subscribe to a blog with just a single click? [Chrome]

This is one is for Chrome enthusiasts who also like to subscribe to various blogs. I love to read and hence I end up subscribing to a lot of different blogs. They can range from tech to history. I use Google Reader as I can easily share what I liked through Twitter and Facebook. But the subscribing process sometimes is quite tedious, especially if the subscription button is not easy to find.

RSS_subscribe_Chrome_extension

RSS Subscription for Chrome Browser

  • Download the Chrome Extension named RSS Subscribtion
  • Once installed onto your Chrome browser, go ahead and look up a website.
  • Now at end of the address bar you can see the subscribe symbol appearing if that website has subscription enabled through RSS feeds. Just click on from the address bar for subscribing.
  • As long as your are signed into your reader, its added to the reader automatically.
ADVERTISEMENT

This extension is quite useful especially as not all websites make it very easy for us to be able to locate their RSS subscribe button very easily. Also some websites which are not really blogs but are sending regular updates might not bother with having easy access to their feeds. In this case RSS Subscribtion is perfect as it automatically checks if RSS feed is available. A single click and you are a subscriber. 🙂

Let me know if you find this Chrome extension useful and do drop in your comment with your views.

Link: Download RSS Subscribtion

Categories
Tips

Use Aero with Windows Vista Home Basic

Almost everyone is aware of the Aero feature in Windows. You can use it with Windows Vista and Windows 7, but unfortunately this is not available with the Home Basic version of Vista and Windows 7. There are many manual hacks available for making tweaks to make Aero available.

I came across this software Aero Enabler on the internet which does exactly the same but without you needing to look up various tweaks. Just download it, install it and you have Aero features enabled on your Home Basic version of Vista or Windows 7.

AeroEnabler

About Aero Enabler

  • Aero Enabler does make changes to your registry so the best option is to create a System Restore point before install Aero Enabler.
  • Download Aero Enabler and install it.
  • As it installs, you can select or deselect the Hardware check for Aero.
  • This can be a bit of a problem as you might have some issues if your computer does not suit the system requirements for Aero. So carrying out a Hardware check is a better option.
  • Finally .Net Framework 3.5 is required on the system.

So go ahead and try it out and let me know what you thoughts on it through your comments.

Link: Aero Enabler

Categories
Analysis

Is it worth buying Google’s Nexus?

There are two types of breakthroughs for a company. One is the external one which is doing something different and being the first to do it. This leads to growth. The other is an internal breakthrough which happens when your company has resources, money and size but has to look for another breakthrough. This breakthrough is what Google will be looking for with the Nexus One. In the mean time, lets check if it will be worth buying Nexus One.

iPhone_Droid_nexus

Here is a comparison of different phones out there in the market. Below is a comparison of the Motorola Android, iPhone 3GS and Nexus One.

iPhone 3GS

Motorola Droid

Nexus One
Storage Capacity 16 GB 16 GB 4 GB
Battery life 5 hours talk-time 6.4 hours talk-time 7 hours talk-time
Camera

3.0 Megapixel with Recording and Editing

5.0 Megapixel with video  recording

5.0 Megapixel with video recording
Wi Fi Yes Yes Yes
GPS Yes Yes Yes
Voice Commands Yes Yes Yes
App Store iTunes App store Android Market Android Market
No of Apps 93,200 20,000 20,000
Multitasking No Yes Yes

So what do you think after the comparison?Will it be worth buying Google’s Nexus One? Let me know through your comments.

Link: Mashable

Categories
Tips

How to remove background from your image?

Yesterday I had a Twitter friend @Shurbhi told me that in my profile pic, my room which is in the background looked like it had been hit by a cyclone. This got me thinking about removing the background as I liked my picture. With a little research I came across this handy software which removes the background within seconds. It also is very easy to use and you do not need to know any design basics either.

About Instant Mask

  • Just go to the Instant Mask website and download the free version of their software. The Pro versions are paid software but a free download is also available.
  • Once you install it, just select the image you want the background to be removed.
  • Now select the outward parts of the background in red as show in image below.
  • Inwards part of the picture which you do not wanted deleted should be selected by green.
  • You do not need to be too specific with the outline as you can see in the image below. 😉

remove_background_image

Do try out the software and see if you find it interesting. Let me know your opinions through your comments. 😉

Categories
Tips

Quickly scroll with Chrome browser [Video]

There is a song with the words ‘I am just a monkey man’. I am not kidding you, its a fact. The reason I am telling you this is while looking up Google on a friends computer to prove that Rollings Stones actually had a song with the words ‘I am a monkey man’ ; inadvertently I came across a very interesting Chrome extension called Quick Scroll.

quick_scroll_chrome

Quick Scroll

  • Download the Google Quick Scroll extension to your Chrome browser.
  • When you search for a group of words or quote on Google you will obviously get search results.
  • Clicking on a link takes you to a page; this is where Quick Scroll extension on Chrome kicks in.
  • As you can see in the image above, on the right hand corner of the web-page I got matches for the exact text I had entered before.

This means that now after I click on a search result, the search keywords are automatically highlighted without me needing to search for text on the browser page. Look at the video below for a demo of how this extension works. If you like it do let me know through your comments.

Link: Quick Scroll Extension for Chrome

Categories
Tips

Use twitter from any chat messenger

I have always found services which help me use Twitter through messenger quite fascinating. As a blogger I have tried many Twitter based desktop applications. But the one I most use to check tweets after a few hours is through MSN. You might have read up on how to use MSN messenger for looking up tweets before on DW.

Tweet Switch is a useful tool which not only allows me to monitor my Twitter account with MSN, but also supports Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM and ICQ.

Okay why I liked Tweet Switch is because it gives me the option of receiving Tweets on various Messengers with options on switching the selected messengers based on which one I am signed into.

use_twitter_chat_messengers

For example I log in with Gtalk, but I log out then the tweets are then sent to another messenger I have specified for example Live Messenger. If I am not signed into Live Messenger, I can have a 3rd Messenger configured to retrieve and send tweets.

How does it do it?

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Major plus point of Tweet Switch is that I did not need to sign up or register. Only needed to enter my Twitter account details. After that I just needed to enter my chat id for various messengers.
  • A  bot called ‘tweetswitch‘ will be added to your friends list. Just start using the commands for retrieving and sending your tweets through the chat window.

Let me know if you find the idea of looking up and sending Tweets through your chat messenger useful or do you think it does not make much of difference and you would still stick to your handy desktop twitter based application?

Link: Tweet Switch