How To Enable Restrictions on iDevices

Apple iDevices are already the best-selling brands in their respective categories. With even 5 years old owing their own iDevices you may want to restrict some functions on your iDevice before actually handing it  over to a kid or to someone else.You can actually control the content the same way like you can control on your PC or Laptop using a Parental Control Software.To enable restrictions on iDevices go to Settings–>General–>Restrictions

#1.  Restricting Changes

Just in case you don’t want anyone else to play with your iDevice and tinker its settings you can restrict changes to  Location, Find My Friends, and Accounts.In the Allow section choose the option as per your choice.You can disable Location services completely or you can disable it based on application.At the bottom there is System Services settings from which you can disable Location based iAds, Diagnostics and Usage, Cell Network Search, Compass Calibration, you can also set Time Zone, and traffic. You might want to tweak your Location based settings just in case you don’t want to share your location with everyone.

#2. Restricting Built-in Apps

You can restrict access to built-in apps like YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, Camera and Safari. To do so simply navigate to Settings–>General–>Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions to set password.

Once the restrictions are On you will see a Allow box next to each app YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, Camera and Safari, simply tap and it switches from ON to OFF.  This also hides application from home screen.

#3. Restricting Content in iPhone, iPad

If you want that whoever is holding your iDevice stays away from the so-called inappropriate content then you can restrict  Movies, Apps, TV shows, Music and Podcasts, you can set rating restrictions under the allowed content area. You can set a maximum rating power by simply tapping on any functions there.

You can also disable multiplayer games and the ability to add friends by tweaking Game Center Settings available just under TV Shows and Apps.

How to create new hard disk partition on Windows 8?

Disk partition is getting extremely important when hard disk sizes are increasing. Now days, 1TB hard disk are common and partitioning hard disk into different parts of logical storage saves us from cluttering data and messing up files. When you need to install a new operating system on your computer and you need not mess it up with current windows drive then you should create a new partition and install the new OS without overwriting Windows files. This keeps both operating system safe and separated.

What are the benefits of partitioning your hard discs:

• Partitioning hard disk helps to manage your files and data better. Like you can have a media drive where you store all your music and videos. You can create a personal drive too, that will content all your personal stuff. You can also hide them.

• When you need to multi-boot(install multiple operating system on same computer hard disc) your system, it is better to partition hard disc, and install it on a empty Hard disk partition.

• With hard disc partitioning it is easier to backup file system and extends functionality of your hard disc. This also keeps you safe from any OS crashes because your data will be safe in another hard disc partition.

How to create a disc partition on Windows 8:

• Hit Window key on keyboard+R to open the Run utility to open the device management. Type “diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter button.

• Now, Device management console will open and you will see your Hard disc partitions. You will need unallocated hard disc partition to create a new partition. If you do not have anyunallocated space, you can create it by shrinking the Windows partition. For this right-click the Windows partition (or any other partition you want to shrink) and select the option “Shrink Volume”.
• Shrinking a storage Volume with Disk Management utility is very easy, once you select to shrink volume, you will get a box that will tell the max space available for shrinking(max space for allocation) choose your requirement and click “Shrink” button.

• Once your main partition is shrunk you will get a unallocated disc space that is not usable until your create a partition out of it. Now, just right-click the unallocated space andselect “New Simple Volume option”

• This will launch a New simple Volume Wizard that will guide you through the process of choosing drive letter (choose the one not in use), selecting the file system, Label the Volume and lastly complete creating the Volume. You are done, just go to “My Computer” and you will see the new drive which is usable.

Please let us know if you face any issue while following the procedure on your computer.

Laptop Buying Guide 2011:Laptops For Gamers

Laptops for gamers are more like a substitute to your desktop. A good gaming laptop is always going to be on a but higher price than the conventional laptops. Gaming laptops often need to pack a lot of processing power, large reserves of RAM and giant, high-resolution displays to make your gaming experience as realistic and impressive as possible. This doesn’t mean that you will have to always sell an arm,a leg and your 32 teeth to get it.Just Follow this Guide to know what exactly makes a Good gaming laptop.

It’s always argued that laptops are not meant for gaming but now everyday with every other product  gap between desktops and laptops is rapidly closing. Laptops have combined portability and power into a single compact device to provide you with the ultimate gaming experience.

So What to look for when buying a Gaming Laptop ?

#1. Graphics Card

The first thing that comes to our mind when we think of a gaming device is its mind-blowing graphics for hyper-realistic renderings of both familiar and fantastical landscapes. SO the Graphics Hardware should have enough muscle to make sure that your latest FPS game experience doesn’t turn into a Frame by frame Flip-book.The Graphics card that are available for a Desktop are sure more powerful and big also. The ones used in a laptop are however designed for portability and thus are often of small form factors. Recently it has been possible to get an affordable laptops with dual video cards.NVIDIA’s SLI technology harnesses the power of two video cards at the same time. While choosing a Graphics Processor make sure you get enough of it to play the Games that are still cooking and would be released the next year.

#2. Processor

Gaming laptops these days are pack a Quad core processor as a standard . Those which fall in the High end Gaming hardware category often have a device with around 2.0 GHz or more. Try to get second gen i7 CPU, for your High-end Gaming device. Though i5 would be recommended for a Mid-range Gaming rig

#3. RAM

The amount  of RAM that your System has is also  very crucial factor in deciding the kind of gaming experience that you will get. Try to get an offering with around 4GB RAM.6GN to 8 GB of  RAM are also becoming very common. But remember that the full 8GB is not utilized unless you are doing a lot of multitasking so don’t go for an overkill on your RAM.

#4. Storage/ Hard Disk vs SSD

Remember SSD is still new and thus is still Costly than a Hard Disk. As far as performance is concerned  the SSD will load the game faster than the Hard Disk, however you will gain no increase in actual FPS performance. The other thing is, you will load levels/maps faster, but unless you are playing an MMO where the first person in a level usually gets better loot or something, you just end up waiting for everyone else who has a HDD.

If you play only a handful of games, and can afford the cost of an SSD, get one. It makes the whole system appear fast. However, if you play a lot of games, and a lot of different games, go with one fast, large 7200 RPM HDD. SSD’s are fast, but they are really expensive and the storage you get it’s going to be tough for gamers mostly because the majority of new games are at least 10 GB.

Read this Documentation for further reading on SSD vs HDD

#5. LAN and Accessories

What is the use of a Gaming Laptop if you can’t take it to your friend’s room for a LAN gaming party. Make sure that you have the latest WiFi installed in your system.

Other Accessory that you must for is a HDMI port if you want to connect a larger display like your LCD to your laptop.Blu-ray disc drives, eSATA, USB 3.0 are recommended.

#6. Screen Size

Now this is a category where one can definitely say that size does matter,15, 17, 18 and even 20+ inch (though difficult to get) displays are available on gaming laptops. Make sure your laptop supports full 1080p resolution. There also smaller form factors available like 11 inch laptops that pack a lot of power with the best portability go for them if you want a really portable option and would like to play always on the move.

#7. Support/Warranty

All this power and performance along with portability is sure to cost you a handsome amount of money if not an arm and a leg. Make sure that you get an Extended warranty. Make sure that your dealer or site of purchase has all the necessary support facility just in case you need them.

Top 3 Free ways to convert PDF to ePub/Mobi formats for Kindle and Nook readers

Do you have Kindle or Nook ebook reader? And want to read PDF files. Then you will need to convert the pdf files to .mobi or .epub format. Most of the ebooks on internet are available in popular pdf format, but ebook reader like Kindle or Nook does not support this file format. To read pdf on your ebook reader, you can use converters and online services to convert pdf to your reader supported file format. Today, I will be discussing the Top 3 free ways to convert your pdf files and ebooks to reader supported ePub/mobi formats.

1. Calibre conversion: Kindle readers support MOBI or .azw ebook document formats. You can easily convert pdf to mobi, awz, epub format using free software named Calibre. You will just need to download Calibre and install it. Once installed you can add pdf files to Calibre Library by Clicking on “Add Books” and then selecting “Add books from a single directory”. Select the ebooks and Click “Open”, this will add ebooks to Calibre Library. Now, to convert books to other file format select option “Convert Individually” from the drop down context menu. On the Right corner choose the preferred format you want the output file (supported file formats are: EPUB, FB2, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB). Once done hit the “OK” button and conversion will process the file.
2. ZamZar to convert PDF to epub/mobi/html: Zamzar is a website that converts pdf to mobi, irf, pbc, epub, HTML etc. This is a very good service and known for the conversion quality. The interface of this website is very simple. Just openwww.zamzar.com and select the file you want to convert, select the format you want the output file >>enter your email Id. Hit the convert button and it will upload and convert the file. Later you can download the converted file and transfer it to Kindle or Nook ebook reader.                                                                                                                                                                                                          
3. Ebook Online convert: There is also another online conversion service which is very famous http://ebook.online-convert.com ebook conversion tool that supports converting to ePub, mobi, FB2, Microsoft LIT, Sony LRF, Palm pdb and TCR reader formats. You can choose the device you are converting your ebook for, select the file or link of the ebook you want to convert and hit “Convert”. You can also change ebook details like author, title, encoding etc.

There are other websites online that can help converting pdf to different formats e.ghttp://www.2epub.com/ is a website that can help converting pdf to epub. You can find lots of services like this online. There are paid services as well to help you with converting ebooks to different readers and formats.

Laptop Buying Guide 2012: Laptops For College Students

Nowadays rarely is a study that would not be using a computer in someway or the other. With students a Laptop is surely the best option to provide them with the needed portability and freedom. Read on to know what all things you must consider before buying a laptops for College Student.
#1. Price

If you are a student then the first thing that should come to your mind is your budget for your Laptop, make sure you have enough money to pay your tuition fees after buying laptop.
#2. Screen Size

Since we want a Laptop for a college student two things must be kept in mind while deciding the product specs, first is portability, second economical. Going for a large screen size laptop would mean a bulkier and difficult to carry around laptop. Consider the screen size before buying the laptop. If you plan to take your laptop to every class in your backpack, you are probably looking at a 12″ or a 13″ notebook.Those who want really portable devices 13″ inch screen would also do good, while those who want slightly bigger screen 15″ inch is the best option to go for. A 17″ inch laptop for student purpose i suppose is always an overkill.
#3. Processor

Now this really depends on for what purpose are you going to use your laptop. For most of the students who would never deal with CPU extensive process like graphic design,rendering and all Intel’s core i3 would be a decent choice. If your work demands more CPU juice go for Intel core i5 2430 at least.
#4. Hard Disk Size

When at college everyone knows that a laptop would not be confined to study material only but would also store data of all sorts, musics,photos. So a decent 500 GB is recommended to meet the storage needs.

#5. Safety and Security Features

As far as security on the software side is concerned most of the companies provide a trial version of antivirus, but it’s always good to keep an updated antivirus to protect you from unnecessary problems.For data security look if your deal includes online backup storage if yes then grab it.

And sadly enough Laptop thefts in hostels and colleges is quite a common thing so you must consider to get yourself Universal Security Slot (USS), which takes a cable lock most laptops in the market come with these.Just get a cable lock (these are cheap around Rs 150) and lock your Laptop.



#6. Warranty

Since you are going to stay in college for around four years it’s quite necessary to make sure that the laptop lasts all these years. It would be wise if you get extended warranty to increase the chances of saving some bucks. Try to get accidental damage cover also.
#7. Operating System

Choosing the most appropriate Operating System is also very important. Since most of the Macs are very expensive they are not a preferred choice. Windows is the most popular Operating System and is not very expensive, moreover these come pre-installed in most of the laptops these days. Some engineering programs, such as AutoCAD and Pro/Engineer, are available only for Windows. So Windows is a preferred choice.

Asus Transformer Prime Rooted: easy how to OneClick root guide

Asus Transformer Android based Tablet net top has already created much news, the recent news says that it has been rooted by a developer using a simple app that is available for download as a .apk file. Asus Transformer prime was a high end Android Tabtop device which was more like a netbook. Transformer Prime features are highest of all. It is powered by 1.3Ghz Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad core Processor and 1GB DDR2 RAM. The Android v3.4 Honeycomb running on it feels ultimate smooth and eye candy. The OS is upgradable to Android 4.0 IceCream Sandwich which will run very fine, no doubts looking at the specs. The 10 inch Tab has an IPS LCD Gorilla Glass tough capacitive touchscreen. Connectivity features really make it a Prime, HSPA+, WI-Fi, Bluetooth A2DP v2.1. Camera is very classy 8MP with LED Flash and auto-focus, geo-tagging, smile and face reorganization. microHDMI and microUSB are common connectivity features these days beside it a 40pin connecter port to facilitate adding the keyword dock.

Transformer Prime users were searching for a root procedure for a long time as many users were still unsatisfied with it and needed to root the device in order to run other apps. Right now, there is no custom ROM is available but a developer was able to port a app that can root the device and allow you as a super user.

Requirement for rooting Asus Transformer Prime:

1. I would suggest backup your data before following this rooting procedure. You should also know that rooting can void your warranty. This is just a root and there is not custom ROM available. So it is better that wait until a custom ROM is available which will also allow easy recovery.
2. You will need an APK File which can be downloaded here. You will need a PC, data cables and of course Asus Transformer Tab.
3. Connect your Tab to OC and transfer the APK file we have downloaded in requirement section of this article. Use file manager like Astro file manager to install the apk on Transformer Prime.
4. Disconnect the Tab and install the apk. Once install open the app RazorClaw OneClick Root and tap the root button.
5. You will be guided through a procedure and Prime Tab will reboot. Now, you are rooted.

How to Root Transformer Prime:

This APK is only to root Asus Transformer Prime, please do not try on any other Tab. The Root is tested for ASUS Transformer TF101 Tab (Firmware v 8.6.5.19), Asus Transformer 3G TF101G (Firmware V8.6.6.19) and Asus Slider SL101 (Firmware V8.6.5.18). Let us know if you face any issue.

Top 5 Email Clients for Windows

Windows 7 is coming with built in mail feature, also you can download and install Windows live essential to get the email Client. But still people are looking for a more functional full featured email client that can handle many email and features at once. Mail users in Office or Home are mostly using Thunderbird or Outlook. For me Thunderbird is a great cross platform application for managing emails, contacts, notes etc but still we have reviewed the Top 5 email clients that are worth trying on Windows.



Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook includes some radical new features never before seen in a Microsoft email client. It not only allows synchronization of emails but other required and essential information data like appointments calendar, contacts, reminder notes. You can even synchronize emails with your smartphone based on Windows or any other OS. While synchronizing all information to your desktop email client you will not need to fear about losing essential data or contacts. Moreover, Outlook has another great that supports multiple email accounts in a single folder. This is the most widely used email client in world.

Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is a fully featured, secure and very functional email client and RSS feed reader. It lets you handle mail efficiently by filtering away junk mails. Thunderbird has adopted many features from Outlook like it can support multiple accounts on a single window but in separated folders. This makes it easier to manage and view emails. This is also consider a big rival of premium Email client due to lot of extensions and features available. I use it and consider it a all-round winner in this list.

Postbox

Postbox is a redesigned version of Mozilla Thunderbird with many new features. One of the features that I like most is that mails can be opened in tabs which make it easier to review multiple emails. The message view is now more streamlined to accommodate a better layout and less clutter all around. Postbox even asks you to import data like emails, stored contacts, and other messaging data from previously used email client like Thunderbird, Outlook, Google, and Yahoo when it starts.

Zimbra

Yahoo’s Zimbra Desktop email client has general features to manage POP and IMAP based email accounts and has features comparable to MS Outlook and Apple mail. It stores and synchronizes email, appointments and calendar, contacts, documents on the cloud. The email part of Zimbra uses the same kind of interface as Outlook but has more functionality. Zimbra uses AJAX extension to make their web email app look and a desktop.

Claws Mail

Claws Mail is an e-mail client based on GTK+. The appearance and interface are similar to Outlook and Thunderbird This desktop email client runs on Windows, Mac OS X and UNIX systems like Linux, BSD and Solaris. There are different plugins available for Claws mail which makes it have different features and functionality.

Tips to Optimize Your Mobile Website

Phones are smart enough to open Desktop websites, but network is still not smart to support higher speeds. With 3G, speeds have been increased but it is still out of reach of many due to its high cost. It means that we need to find alternatives to enable our readers and customer to interact with our websites flawlessly without the speed being a barrier.

Mobile websites are so getting increasingly popular to meet the demand of people! Most of us use smartphones 90% of time to get day-to-day information rather than opting for a PC or Laptop, thus its the responsibility of a web developer to create such a mobile website that is not only easy to use, but also provides much information.If this sounds like “now we are talking” stuff, then here are a few guidelines on how you can optimize your mobile website to suite the needs and demands of people:

1. Keep it Simple

The first point, regardless to say, is to keep your mobile website simple. When I say simple there could be many meanings to it, but the one I am trying to talk about is keeping your site uncluttered and well-organized. The most prominent reason people won’t visit your mobile website is if your website doesn’t give them what they want in least possible time and clicks. To make it simple, the best way is to be in your customer’s/reader’s boot and think that way. If you are a Location Based Service provider and want to offer your customer ability to search anything near them, the best homepage would be to directly offer them the ability to search. I am also quoting a tip from Craig Besnoy, U.S. managing director for NetBiscuits, another mobile web consultant:

Keep navigation to a minimum while delivering the maximum amount of engaging content within a smaller screen then that you get on a laptop or desktop

In addition try to keep all the interactive part of website above the fold on the screen and all the text content might go below that. This increased website’s interaction with potential visitors. A nice example website which keeps it all simple would be Google, refer to below screenshot to see what I mean.

2. Maintain Cross-Platform Support

With the increasing variety of mobile phones and their respective OSs, the need to maintain cross-platform support has emerged as a necessity. If your website is designed for an iPhone, it will certainly not look good on Android or Nokia and might even not work on older Java based devices. Despite of the firm belief that mobile market is dominated by Android and iOS, most of the world’s population still uses Nokia and Other Java based devices. And it’s never a good idea to ignore this population. Making mobile websites for all the mobile platforms available in market is certainly not feasible but creating a generic website which does not contain advance codes supported only by iOS or Android will still play the trick. 

3. Don’t Overload Mobile Websites with Images

Images, the cause to bring down your site’s load speed, and increase load time. You should never use the same version of image on your mobile website that you use on your Desktop website. Images must always be optimized to fit in small screens and should not weigh more than 5-10 Kb. Images of large size impact users in multiple ways, first and most important: it increases the load time of website, second and still significant: it increases data usage for users – which is never a good deal for users with limited data plans. Following is a screenshot taken from twitter’s mobile site for iPhone, though it contains images in the form of background slideshow, but still doesn’t cost much on data usage and loads the page quite fast, because of lighter version of images:

4. Have a “m” sub-domain

All popular desktop websites, that offer mobile website can be accessed using a “m” sub-domain for eg. m.google.com, m.yahoo.com etc. It is not something compulsory to have a “m” sub-domain for your mobile website but is always a good practice. People are used to think in this way and first thing they’ll type is m.yourdomain.com to visit your mobile site. Not only should you have a “m” sub-domain, but your website should be able to automatically redirect user to appropriate website according to the device they are using, this is very important to avoid confusion while still capturing your user’s full attention.

5. See and Learn

Admit that there are more creative people then you and they design things better! You don’t have to copy their hard work but you can always get inspiration from them and enhance your work. We have a lot of brands that are endorsing through mobile websites and some of them have mobile websites that sets up benchmarks like ebay, A simple design, supported on multiple devices consisting of fewer images and even has a “m” sub-domain is one of the best mobile websites in my opinion.

Bonus Tip 

Do rigorous testing and be open to feedback and suggestions. Google’s GoMo is a website that let’s you see how well your website performs on a mobile device, another option with same genre is AtMio to compare your how well your website design performs.

But ultimately its your customer who are going to provide you feedback and rate your website. Take every possible action to encourage them rate your website and leave you feedback.