Fasten your seat belts this November. Get geared up for the new season of furious racing, new heights of excitement with new rules of the game. Need for Speed: ProStreet is supposed to take the Need for Speed series in a new direction. NFS is the creation of the popular EA Games brand that revolutionized racing games forever. Instead of an arcade style of gameplay, ProStreet is said to move closer to racing simulation. Unlike its predecessors, all racing in ProStreet will take place on closed tracks, thus making it the first game in the series not animating illegal racing behaviour, hence there will not be any cops in the game. Performance tuning will take up a large part of gameplay in a way that even small adjustment of the shape of a car's body should impact its performance. There will be thousands of aftermarket upgrades, visual and performance, from real performance brands.
With its slated release this November, it will surely bring a lot of goodies for the diehard gamers as this most awaited and high profile game is going to be out.
ProStreet will feature next-generation graphics aiming for a more photo-realistic feel, and more advanced physics. It will also be the first Need for Speed game to include damage modelling since 2000's NFS:Porsche Unleashed. The new damage system is said to be very accurate, a collision with any object in the game world may render a car useless, or damaged. Hence taking the racing challenge to all new heights.
Not much is known yet about what cars will be included, however, there will be over 60 cars from around 26 manufactures, and only 8 supercars, making them relatively rare.
The unofficial list of included cars include:
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Mazda RX7
Plymouth Barracuda
Toyota Corolla GT-S
Audi RS4
Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R
Not to miss the ooooomph on the track, Furscutt to the left, Ohashi to the right as usual; ProStreet will feature some girls casting as characters in the game. 
Seducting Krystal Forscutt and Sayoko Ohashi will cast in the game. Watch out for more hotter women on the tracks.I am waiting...
Learning English online was never so easy. I was casually browsing a few sites to grab some of the best online english learning resources while I stumbled upon these great good sites.
You too can access them for a perfect english. Here they are for you:
Thinkglish
Learn English Online
Using English
Ever wished how you could download that favorite video from YouTube? I always wanted to do so and maintain a collection of my fav videos. Then what? I started RnDing the net and found out a few ways where in you can download those fav videos on to your system. Here’s how you can do it too.
YouTubex: YouTubex is a very simple tool to download videos from YouTube. Find the URL of your favorite YouTube video and paste it in the download box. Done! The downloaded videos are stored in .flv format. You can download a free FLV player or convert it to other formats using the free converter.
Javimoya: Firefox users can use the video downloader extension that allows users to download videos to your computer from YouTube and most other video hosting sites.
KissYouTube: KissYouTube offers the easiest way to download videos from YouTube. Just in front of the youtube.com domain name, insert the word 'kiss'. Hit the Enter key and it will redirect you to KissYouTube website. Click on the download link provided to save the video to your computer. You have to save the video with .flv extension so that you can play it with an FLV player.
Viloader: Simply copy the URL of the video into the download videos box and hit Enter. Save as .flv file and watch the video in a flv player. Else you can use the tool mentioned above to convert the video to other formats.
Even more simple, Viloader provides browser specific add-ons. After adding the specific add-on to your browser, just right click on the screen (while watching the video) and select ‘Download Video’.
Delutube: This service can be used to watch videos that were available on YouTube earlier but have been deleted from its database due to various reasons. Just get the video id and paste it in the View Video box.
How to get ID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_HERE
Speedbit Video Accelerator: If you are on a slow internet connection, you might have noticed YouTube videos getting stuck. The solution to this is to use this accelerator. This software will make YouTube videos stream faster and play smoother by reducing buffering problems and video interruptions.
Vixy: With the online video converter hosted by Vixy, you can download audio from YouTube and even convert flv files to other formats. When you submit an URL, this service will download and convert the video to your desired format and lets you download the file on to your pc. Vixy also allows you to download online videos directly to PC, iPod and PSP. Vixy also works with Google Video and Metacafe.
Apart from these listed above, there should be a lot more YouTube tools to enhance the video watching experience and play with the videos. Go...this is a no rule game!!!
Just discovered. Yahoo also has it's own Easter Egg. Yes, you heard it right.
Hello, are you alredy searching for what an Easter Egg means? For the benefit of one and all, here is what an Easter Egg means. An Easter Egg (in computer terminology) is a hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program or a video game. This is a free add-in programmed by the manufacturer and hidden in the product to make customers happy. When discovered, customers are taken by surprise and thus associate a happy moment with the vendor. Gotcha????
Now, about the Easter Egg in Yahoo! Make sure your speakers/headfones are on.
Go to Yahoo
Click on the ! mark in the logo
Isn't that nice? This doesn't seem to work for other Yahoo global domains. For more intriguing Easter Eggs on softwares, click here.
How long has it been since you stopped using floppy disks? Loooooong. How long has it been since you erased scratches off your disks? Whaaaaaaa!!! Hhhmmmm, never mind. This was the similar kind of reaction I expressed when I came across this video on YouTube.
Yes, you can clean scratches off your old disks. It's a very simple process. You need not buy those costly imported liquid or foam to do so. All you need is a kind heart to spare some of your trusted good ol' toothpaste. Whaaaaaaa...no, not again!!!
Here's how:
1. Apply toothpaste on the disk surface
2. Spread the toothpaste evenly all over the scratches
3. Rinse with clean water
4. Wipe and dry the disk with a clean cloth
5. Done!!!
Don't believe? Watch this DIY video from YouTube.
Even wished how you could beg on the blog while being 'royal?' When you feel so, PayPal can help you out. Once you have your own running and verified PayPal account, you can create a PayPal donation button. Isn’t this so nice of PayPal?
After I created my own donation button (as you can see on the side bar of this page), I want to share with you how you too can make your own beg button to put on your website/blog.
First, make sure you setup an account from PayPal for yourselves. If you don’t have one yet, register here. Next, follow these steps.
1. Login to your PayPal account
2. Go to Merchant Tools and click on Website Payments Standard
3. Click on Feature List under Website Payments Standard category
4. Under Payment Processing Options, click on Set it Up to setup your donations button
5. You can either leave all options to default or key in your preference
6. Choose your donation button.
7. Click on Create Button Now
8. Paste the given code onto your site template
9. You’re done!!!
You can start begging now!!!
Why not start donating? You can do it here. Hahahahahahhaha...jus' kidding :)
Now this one wonderful and innovative piece of technology by Moixa Energy. This, too cute, battery looks as simple as any other AA battery. But the beauty lies beneath. It is infact an USB device which acts as an AA battery and can be recharged after usage. The best part is that one need not carry along bulky chargers and cables to charge it. Just plug it into any USB enabled device and yo!!! Ready to use again in minutes. Isn't that wonderful???
Apart from the the widely used AA, USBCELL is also available in a variety of form factors like AAA, 9V and Phone batteries.
It isn't available for delivery in India else I would have been using a pair by now. There is no information of the global retailers too apart from UK.
Readers, decide who's getting me a pair of AA!!!
A psychologist developed these shapes. They have been tested worldwide, over a period of several years. As they received feedback from research, they carefully adjusted the color and/or form of each shape, then tested again, until they were left with a highly successful set of shapes. These represent the nine basic personality types.
Select a shape below that appeals to you the most and then scroll down to read about your personality.
Mind you, do be honest.
1.
Independent
Unconventional
Unfettered
You demand a free and unattached life for yourself that allows you to determine your own course. You have an artistic bent in your work or leisure activities. Your urge for freedom sometimes causes you to do exactly the opposite of what expected of you.
Your lifestyle is highly individualistic. You would never blindly imitate what is "in"; on the contrary, you seek to live according to your own ideas and convictions, even if this means swimming against the tide.
2.
Dynamic
Active
Extroverted
You are quite willing to accept certain risks and to make a strong commitment in exchange for interesting and varied work. Routine, in contrast, tends to have a paralyzing effect on you.
What you like most is to be able to play an active role in events. In doing so, your initiative is highly pronounced.
3.
Down to Earth
Well-Balanced
Harmonious
You value a natural style and love that which is uncomplicated. People admire you because you have both feet planted firmly on the ground and they can depend on you. You give those who are close to you security and space. You are perceived as being warm and human. You reject everything that is garish and trite. You tend to be skeptical toward the whims of fashion trends. For you, clothing has to be practical and unobtrusively elegant.
4.
Professional
Pragmatic
Self-assured
You take charge of your life, and place less faith in your luck and more in your own deeds. You solve problems in a practical, uncomplicated manner. You take a realistic view of the things in your daily life and tackle them without wavering. You are given a great deal of responsibility at work, because people know that you can be depended upon.
Your pronounced strength of will projects your self-assurance to others. You are never fully satisfied until you have accomplished your ideas.
5.
Peaceful
Discreet
Non-Aggressive
You are easy-going yet discreet. You make friends effortlessly, yet enjoy your privacy and independence. You like to get away from it all and be alone from time to time to contemplate the meaning of life and enjoy yourself. You need space, so you escape to beautiful hideaways, but you are not a loner. You are at peace with yourself and the world, and you appreciate life and what this world has to offer.
6.
Carefree
Playful
Cheerful
You love a free and spontaneous life. And you attempt to enjoy it to the fullest, in accordance with the motto: "You only live once."
You are very curious and open about everything new; you thrive on change. Nothing is worse than when you feel tied down. You experience your environment as being versatile and always good for a surprise.
7.
Romantic
Dreamy
Emotional
You are a very sensitive person. You refuse to view things only from a sober, rational standpoint. What your feelings tell you is just as important to you. In fact, you feel it is important to have dreams in life, too.
You reject people who scorn romanticism and are guided only by rationality. You refuse to let anything confine the rich variety of your moods and emotions.
8.
Analytical
Trustworthy
Self-assured
Your momentary sensitivity represents that which is of high quality and durable. Consequently, you like to surround yourself with little "gems," which you discover wherever others overlook them.
Thus, culture plays a special role in your life. You have found your own personal style, which is elegant and exclusive, free from the whims of fashion. Your ideal, upon which you base your life, is cultured pleasure. You value a certain level of culture on the part of the people with whom you associate.
9.
Introspective
Sensitive
Reflective
You come to grip more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people. You detest superficiality; you'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk. But your relationships with your friends are highly intensive, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you need in order to feel good. However it is no problem for you to be alone for extended periods of time, without becoming bored.
I have landed on image 9. No wonder, it worked!!!
RouteGuru (ALPHA) is an online application for finding ‘practically-usable’ driving directions in your city. What makes it unique is its emphasis on providing directions in the good old Indian way i.e. using landmarks. For typical direction algorithms like those used in the western world (which are usually based on Road/Street Names or numbers) do not work in developing countries like India, where cities are poorly planned and road/street names are often unmarked. RouteGurus' nearest competitors are the road-side paanwalas/auto rickshaw drivers.
RouteGuru is currently in alpha and readers/users are requested to test the application and provide actionable feedback to its creators.
The route directions are displayed in a tabular form and they can be printed or forwarded via eMail/SMS. Having started with road directions, RouteGuru plans to introduce online maps and allow access through mobile. The service is presently available only in Delhi-NCR. I tried out a few sample queries for Delhi routes and the results seemed quite accurate and reliable. Try it for yourself.
source: webyantra
When I copy image files from my laptop to my pen drive (or vice versa), I get to see a file called Thumbs.db go along with it. What is that file? All the while I considered it to eb a kind of virus...poor me. Only when I was reviewing an article from a portal I run through regularly, I came to know what it is all about.
What is Thumbs.db?
Thumbs.db is a file generated by WindowsXP each time you view folder contents in “Thumbnail” or “Filmstrip” view. This file is a cache file which use by WindowsXP to load up faster the next time you browse that folder.
How to remove it permanently?
You can delete Thumb.db and send it into Recycle Bin but it will keep appearing because by default thumbnails cache is enable in WindowsXP.
To get rid of it, go to My Computer > Tool > Folder Options > View and check “Do not cache thumbnails”.
Warning
By enabling this option, it will take a long time to open folder that contains large image files or quantity because the thumbnail images not been cached in Thumbs.db before.
source: cypherhackz
iXiGo (BETA) is a travel search engine aimed at the domestic skies in India. This is not a travel website but a travel search and planning engine which allows you to do real time searches across various Indian travel websites. This was created in line with India's first of its kind travel search engine Zoomtra.
On iXiGO, you can search for air fares on various airlines but you cannot book the tickets directly. On selecting a particular option, you are redirected to the respective airlines site or travel website (like makemytrip, spicejet etc).
iXiGO’s user interface is well designed using AJAX and is easy to use. The site is initially launched with air fares but future plans extend to hotel reservation search, car rentals etc.
It is time for a laughter break on my blog. At times, it is much required to relieve ourselves from the daily chores at work and home. This is especially for those who stay glued to their screens all day @ work. Go, get some relief... :)
It is (almost) every blogger’s dream to make some good neat bucks from their blogs'. Count me in too...Bloggers today can reach out to a variety of a money making tools to earn from their blogs; by reviewing various topics/products, host online polls, advertise, affiliate programmes and even plain surfing. Not every body has source to these money making sources and not everybody is equipped with the tips n tricks of the trade. Believe me, I've spent a great deal of time RnD'ing the web to find some of the available tools to start earning myself. Listed below are some of the advertising programs that will help bloggers’ make money online.
Google AdSense: AdSense is a contextual advertising program for which publishers simply have to add a piece of code to their sites that helps Google analyze what your page is about so they can serve ads on that topic. AdSense also allows you to earn money by using Google Search on your site that will display relevant ads when visitors search on your site. AdSense also has a referral program that allows you to earn by recommending various products like Firefox products, AdSense, Adwords, etc.
You can sign up as an AdSense publisher by clicking the AdSense button on the sidebar.
Text Link Ads: Text Link Ads will help you sell simple text links on your site easily. The monthly link price will depend on factors like your Google PageRank and Alexa rank.
Text Link Ads has an affiliate program that will pay you $25 for any referred visitor that is accepted into their publisher program and installs the advertising script on their site for seven days. If you refer an advertiser who purchases an advertisement, the referral will appear in your affiliate account within 24 hours.
Chitika eMiniMalls: Chitika eMiniMalls is a cost per click advertising program that will perform particularly well for product related sites.
Tribal Fusion: Tribal Fusion’s payment is calculated based on ad impressions (CPM). So the higher your web site traffic is the more money you will earn. To get accepted though you will need a minimum of 2000 unique visitors per day.
Vizu Answers: Vizu Answers helps you earn money from your site by placing interactive Polls on desired topics. They pay you based on CPM (Cost per thousand impressions), and you even get to set the minimum CPM rate for each poll you put up on your web site.
ReviewMe: Pays you to review products and services on your site. You control what you review.
AGLOCO: AGLOCO pays you for just surfing the web by running a small toolbar called the Viewbar. You can run the Viewbar upto 5 hours per month. Once the five hours are over, you can turn the Viewbar off until next month. However you will make money when people you have referred and the people they referred (down to 4 levels) surf the web.
Content Link: Kontera’s ContentLink provides in-text advertising solution that monetizes your content in real-time, enabling an incremental increase in ad revenue by providing a new source of untapped ad inventory that does not compete with the other ad programs running on the site. ContentLink also creates a valuable user experience by serving relevant and informational ads that match the user’s interest and frame of mind.ContentLink requires your site to have a minimum of 500,000 pageview per month, but I have seen them accepting new sites with lower pageviews.
FeedBurner: FeedBurner adds CPM ads to your feed. You may need around 500 RSS readers to get accepted.
Software Judge: They will pay you up to $50 to review software.
Vibrant Media: You can sign up with them to display relevant in-text ads if your web site delivers more than 500,000 page views of text based content a month.
Yahoo Publisher Network: Displays ads that are relevant to the content of your site. They are CPC based just like AdSense. But I believe Yahoo’s programme is strictly for US residents as the publishers MUST have an SSN. Check the TOS.
Pay Per Post: Write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your opinion and valuable feedback to advertisers.
BlogAds: BlogAds lets you set the price and helps you find advertisers for your blog easily.To perform better with BlogAds, place it at a more prominent position on your blog.
On second thoughts, I felt I should also explain in detail what exactly RSS is and what this buff is all about. These few lines are to substantiate my earlier post on RSS.What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS
RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.What do I need to do to read an RSS Feed? RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators
Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use.A variety of RSS Readers are available for different platforms. Some popular feed readers include FeedReader (Windows), and NewsGator (Windows - integrates with Outlook). There are also a number of web-based feed readers available. My Yahoo, Bloglines, and Google Reader are popular web-based feed readers.
Once you have your Feed Reader, it is a matter of finding sites that syndicate content and adding their RSS feed to the list of feeds your Feed Reader checks. Many sites display a small icon with the acronyms RSS, XML, or RDF to let you know a feed is available.
Some of you may already know what is RSS feed and know how to subscribe them. But I’m sure some of you don’t know what exactly RSS feed and how you can use them as a loyal reader or visitor. We will not discuss what is RSS here because you can learn it by Googling or you can read directly from here.
So, in this post I will teach you or will guide you on how to subscribe RSS feed. But first, you need to get a RSS link and a feed aggregator (some call them as a feed reader).
A RSS link usually marked with these images or just a simple text reading RSS Feed.
In this how-to, we will use a software as an example: FeedReader (freeware)
1. First and foremost, you need to download FeedReader and install it. Once installed, run the software and you will get this screenshot.
2. Then, click on New and choose New Feed.
3. Now we are going to subscribe a RSS feed. Type the URL of the site from which you would like to get feeds.
4. Press Enter and wait for FeedReader to finish gathering all information from the site you are subscribing. Once finished, you will get a small alert at the bottom right of your screen.
5. Now, you have successfully subscribed to a site feed.
You can configure to your favorite feeds in no time using FeedReader. Get going...NOW !!!Source: Cypherhackz
Were you wondering what that ill-looking gap down below is? Well, I've just have tried testing blogger's service by inserting a blank blog...no actual content except a space in the title and body is all I did. And it worked (as you can see). Hmmm...should I term this as a flaw in blogger? On second thoughts, blogger is actually working fine coz it restricts posts with actually no contents at all. Whereas my earlier post contained a space in each of its field; i.e. Title, Body. Neverthless, I learned another simple fact today in BLOGGER.
The game is named 'Crimson Room' and is conceived by one Toshimitsu Takagi.
This is a real mind blender. I was literally scratching my head all over to get through this maze. Finally together we (an intelligent colleague of mine) paved our way out…Sigh…what a relief !!!
The motto of this game is to get out of the room. It is a flash game and can be played in IE/Firefox. There are 13 items hidden in this room in order to get out of this room.
Play the game here.
If you find:
0-6 items, your IQ is VERY LOW.
6-8 items, LOW
9-10 items,
11-12 items, HIGH, above average.
If you find 13 items, get out of the room and consider yourself VERY RARE!!! Less than 4000 people in the world have got out of the room! Inspiring enough???
Guess whats happening all this while, I was trying to setup a wireless home network for the past 2 months. My cousin gifted me a NETGEAR Wireless Router. Since then I have tried a neat 4-5 times to setup the wireless netowrk with my existing broadband line. I did follow the setup instructions liad out in the installation instructions booklet supplied by the vendor. All went fine each time but later I get stuck. The wireless network is detected by my laptop and shows the signal strength as "Excellent". But when I start browsing to check the connection, it fails to show up. Afetr a few tries, frustrated; I took Netgear's tech support to resolve my problem. Even they failed to get me thru successfully. Eventually, after supporting for a couple of times, they (she) gave up saying that the router is faulty and need to be replaced to make the wireless network run efficiently. Disappointed, I simply unplugged the router and went back to square one...using internet the wired way. I knew that the support resolution I got from NETGEAR was not correct coz the router was in perfect working condition.
A week back , I came across an advertisement by a local hardware vendor. The ad said they would also solute Wi-Fi problems. I wanted to give another try. I called up this nice person and he agreed to the service for Rs.300. I insisted that I would not pay for the service if the problem was not solved. He agreed. The next day a service engineer sent by the vendor visited my place. He started off immediately analyzing the current state of my wireless network. He then made some minor changes to the wireless setup and ran a few tests to check the connectin. In no time, the setup wasready. I have tested the wireless setup and it was indeed working fine. I restarted the complete arrangement and tried again. It was really working fine. Intrigued, I asked the engineer where the problem was. He enlightened me that the problem was lying with the router and it was not obtaining the DNS address automatically. So he fed the DNS IP values in the router and hence it started functioning fine.
Today, I came across this interesting information related to a home based wireless network. And it was indeed good!!! Here it is for the benefit of Wi-Fi users.
Many folks setting up wireless home networks rush through the job to get their Internet connectivity working as quickly as possible. That's totally understandable. It's also quite risky as numerous security problems can result. Today's WiFi products don't always help the situation as configuring their security features can be time-consuming and non-intuitive. The recommendations below summarize the steps you should take to improve the security of your home wireless LAN.
1) Change Default Administrator Passwords (and Usernames)
At the core of most Wi-Fi home networks is an access point or router. To set up these pieces of equipment, manufacturers provide Web pages that allow owners to enter their network address and account information. These Web tools are protected with a login screen (username and password) so that only the rightful owner can do this. However, for any given piece of equipment, the logins provided are simple and very well-known to hackers on the Internet. Change these settings immediately.
2) Turn on (Compatible) WPA / WEP Encryption
All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of "encryption." Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist for Wi-Fi today. Naturally you will want to pick the strongest form of encryption that works with your wireless network. To function, though, all Wi-Fi devices on your LAN must share the identical encryption settings. Therefore you may need to find a "lowest common denominator" setting.
3) Change the Default SSID
Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set. For example, the SSID for Linksys devices is normally "linksys." True, knowing the SSID does not by itself allow anyone to break into your network, but it is a start. More importantly, when someone finds a default SSID, they see it is a poorly configured network and are much more likely to attack it. Change the default SSID immediately when configuring your LAN.
4) Enable MAC Address Filtering
Each piece of Wi-Fi gear possesses a unique identifier called the "physical address" or "MAC address." Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices. Do this, but also know that the feature is not so powerful as it may seem. Hacker software programs can fake MAC addresses easily.
5) Disable SSID Broadcast
In Wi-Fi networking, the access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where Wi-Fi clients may come and go. In the home, this feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood an unwelcome neighbor or hacker will try to log in to your home network. Fortunately, most Wi-Fi access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network administrator.
6) Do Not Auto-Connect to Open Wi-Fi Networks
Connecting to an open Wi-Fi network such as a free wireless hotspot or your neighbor's router exposes your computer to security risks. Although not normally enabled, most computers have a setting available allowing these connections to happen automatically without notifying you (the user). This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.
7) Assign Static IP Addresses to Devices
Most home networkers gravitate toward using dynamic IP addresses. DHCP technology is indeed quick and easy to set up. Unfortunately, this convenience also works to the advantage of network attackers, who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from a network's DHCP pool. Turn off DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range, then set each connected device to match. Use a private IP range (like 10.0.0.x) to prevent computers from being directly reached from the Internet.
8) Enable Firewalls on Each Computer and the Router
Modern routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option exists to disable them. Ensure that your router's firewall is turned on. Additionally, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router for extra protection.
9) Position the Router or Access Point Safely
Wi-Fi signals normally reach to the exterior of a home. A small amount of "leakage" outdoors is not a problem, but the further this signal reaches, the easier it is for others to detect and exploit. Wi-Fi signals often reach through neighboring homes and into streets, for example. When installing a wireless home network, the position of the access point or router determines its reach. Try to position these devices near the center of the home rather than near windows to minimize leakage.
10) Turn off the Network during Extended Periods of Non-Use
The ultimate in security measures, shutting down the network will most certainly prevent outside hackers from breaking in! While impractical to turn off and on the devices frequently, at least consider doing so during travel or extended periods offline. Computer disk drives have been known to suffer from power cycle wear-and-tear, but this is not a concern for broadband modems and routers.
I also found this insteresting video from YouTube showing how to setup a wireless home network. Though the video is titled "Netgear Router Setup", it is more or less the same procedure followed to setup other wireless routers as well.
Learning QTP.
Who's that??? Well, I believe I need to elaborate for novices who don't know what the core topic is all about. QTP stands for Quick Test Professional. It is an automated tool used in the vertical of Software Testing or Software Quality Assurance. I have been trying to master this tool for the past week-10 days. Hhmmmm...not a really tough tool to master unlike other tools. It is a very user friendly and easy to use tool for the ever growing software testing services in India. Not to mention but for the cost of the tool which is very high, cannot allow evry one and every organization to use QTP. As always, the IT industry has it's own tips & tricks to use a trial software as a full fledged software. Hope you understand what I mean ;)
I started off with a hesitation towards learning it. Since I am a core manual tester, I've never showed any inclination towards automation of software testing. But times change and one has to be well prepared for the changes in the industry, includes me. To top this, IT industry is one such industry that has the thirst of the depth of the Mariana Trench. Just to mention in context, more and more of Software Testing services are now off shored to India which is a pioneer in off shore work targets. Keeping this trend in view, recently a new term has been coined worldwide, 'Bangalored.' See the meaning of this term as provided by Wikipedia & World Wide Words.
I have initially installed an old version (8.2) which was lying in my system for long without usage. Later I was offered a newer version (9.0) by a collesgue of mine who was generous enough to lend me a copy of it. After installation, I followed the tips & tricks as instructed. Now, the full version works perfectly. Since there is none in my team to teach me the skills of the trade, I started learning through the help file. Let me tell you, the help file is very good, elaborating the functionalities very well enough for a beginner to understand. I skid thru the help file very easily. The main functionalities of QTP are:
Recording Tests
Running Tests
Analyzing Tests
Checkpoints
Parameterization
Output Values
Regular Expressions
Multiple Actions
Right now, I am running through the last chapter Multiple Actions. All this while, I have been following the exhaustive help files. Now that I'm sort of OK-OK with it, I am looking forward to work in a live project using QTP. Let me see how it goes !!!Believe me, the best way to learn is to start experimenting yourselves rather than somebody else teaching you. This way, the things we learn tend to stay longer on the hard disk...errr..I mean in the brain. Interesting enough, QTP has succeeded in nailing my interest deep into it, otherwise which I always look for something new leaving the old behind. A very bad habit...I have also found a good number of blogs and online content relating to QTP. Here are a few to list:
QTP Forum by by Job News
QTP by Sachin Dhall
Software Quality Testing by my friend Debasis Pradhan. Worth reading.
Software Testing Zone by the same kid.
I have found this PPT on the net that describes the basic fundamentals and a few advanced topics of QTP. While the descriptions in this PPT refer to v8.0, minor changes should be accomodated to suit v9.x.
For those who are looking forward to learning QTP, the available online reousrces make this task pretty much easier. And not to mention the ease of using this tool, QTP undoubtedly is slowly 'phasing out' its predecessor WinRunner and will stand as the favorite of millions of software testers worldwide.
Happy Testing !!!!
Welcome to INDIA.
I was reading a lot of buff on paper and screen nowadays regarding voting for TAJ MAHAL to get listed in the New 7 Wonders of the world. I was browsing more info on this and stumbled upon this fantastic clipping that came out of the music maestro's cap, none other than A. R. Rahman. His numbers are really touching and have no language barriers !!!
This is a clipping I got to see on YouTube. Nice one.
Lets not get carried away from the core topic, voting for the TAJ. If you still have not, please cast your vote now. Wake up India, go!!! The TAJ deserves to be on the list of the new 7 wonders of the world.
But for your voting, we will not stand a chance to get this wonder, our own wonder onto the new list. Else, all that Indians can retort to is a rastoroko, call for a nation wide bandh, set fire to public property, burn effigies and shout slogans "Humara TAJ Sirtaj hain." mind you, all this for no reason. Hhmmmmm, we specialize in these skill sets; dont we? This is the reason I quoted above "Welcome to INDIA." So, before its too late, cast your vote now.
I have been learning how to embed videos and images from various sources into blogger. Below I have described my efforts towards same.
I have googled a few posts for tutorials on how to embed images and videos into blogger posts. After reading a post by Peter Chen, I have learnt the basics of how to embed a video into Blogger. Silly me, all these days I was only watching videos on YouTube but never paid attention to what was on the right panel on the video pages. Only today I realized that YouTube also provides a code for users like me who would like to embed the videos on their posts. Immediately I copied this code and posted it here as you can see below.
Peter Chen also posted that we could resize the video window to suite our post and blog template. I have tried resizing the video window (from the source code available from YouTube) to a smaller size. When I previewed this after editing, I could not see the video window in the preview. Alarmed, I set back the height and width attributes of the video back to default and now I could see the video window in the preview too. Probably the code of the video has some sort of dependency on the size parameters too!!!
Following the same procedure, I have tried to embed an image file in the post. Changing the attributes of the source code of the video file to an image source did no good. Right now, I'm hunting for a tutorial on how to embed and image file on the posts. Expert bloggers may find this silly nothings...but being a novice in the vertical of blogging, I love to learn & experiment my questions.
Neways, here is the video for my earlier post Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot.
