Saturday, September 26, 2009

Free Virtual Desktop GoPC for Travelers

You love your computer, and you carefully select your applications for your personal and business life. But, there are occasions, when you are not at home, and your laptop is not available. With free virtual computer, offered by GoPC, you are still able to operate your virtual desktop from anywhere and feel as you never left your desk.

GOPC gives you the full functionality of a standard desktop PC but with the power and flexibility of online applications. This means that you can login to your GOPC from any Internet-connected computer and work from anywhere in the world.

The new GOPC personal computer runs off a standard USB stick drive, iPod or simply over the Internet. Simply plug in your USB drive into any computer and you're quickly connected to your online PC. You can access all your work whether you're at home, work, campus, or traveling anywhere in the world and you never have to carry a computer with you.

What is GoPC?
GoPC can become your personal floating desktop. It is "cloud computing" and it does everything your physical PC does without you being tied to it.
  • Create, edit and store Word, Excel or Powerpoint files without software.
  • Access email attachments instantly without downloading them.
  • Edit your photos.
  • Collaborate with colleagues.
With complete privacy, your personal desktop runs from any physical PC or Mac with broadband Internet. Run GoPC at work, on campus, from home or anywhere.

How does it work?
Your personal desktop, applications and data all run in a supercomputing data center and are delivered from the Internet, referred to as a network cloud. The screen image is encrypted and transmitted via the Internet to the PC you've logged in from, which is effectively just working like a dumb TV screen.

Everything is centralized and private so you can access it from anywhere, anytime, from anything. It runs the same on an old PC or the latest Apple Mac as long as you've got a clear Internet link. And with no data on the PC and using the same encryption level as your bank your privacy is assured.

GO.PC is the next generation of "cloud computing" technology. For individuals it means not having to rely on a single physical PC. For a school, small business or the enterprise, it hosts the complexity of the network and collaboration requirements within the "cloud" and can be configured automatically.

Data Sharing
GOPC also allows you to share files or directories with other GOPC users, exactly the same as if you were all together in a local area network. You can set up shared drives and folders so your friends and family can access your photos.

How can it be free?
There are almost no software license costs. The applications are Open Source Software (OSS) and so FREE. Developers add value by selecting the best applications, pre-packaging and hosting them so they're ready for anybody to use within a few minutes without having to install anything onto the local PC.

GOPC gives you a host of open source programs that are functionally equivalent to and compatible with programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PhotoShop and many other programs that you're familiar with. All the files you create with these Open-Source applications are in the same standard file formats so are fully editable in these Microsoft and Adobe programs and visa versa.

Try it yourself
This demo is a limited facsimile of the live system. You can launch applications from the Start menu, click and move the desktop icons or double click and launch them. Drag around the application windows as you launch them and then close them down. Click the Start button and check through the menu. It's designed to give you a sense of what GoPC is. But there's nothing compares to a full test drive with all the applications running. It takes 2 minutes to create your own personal GoPC ID then login to the live system and experience the freedom and privacy of cloud computing with your own data.

Free Account Limitations
As you understand, there should be somewhere a catch. Why developers can offer you so rich functionality on complementary basis? That is right. Because, they offer several levels of the functionality features that are naturally billable. So, what are the limitations of the free account?
  • Disk Quota: 250 MB.
  • Mail: not available.
  • Group Collaboration: not available.
  • Spam Protection: not available.
  • Printing: not available.
  • Shared storage: not available.
  • Some programs: not available.
Summary
In spite of the significant limitations on the free account functionality, the service is still interesting and useful for those, who need virtual computer assistance during vacation, business visits, or else.

Website Access: http://www.gopc.net/

Screenshot:
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

37 Failed Technology Predictions from the Past

Throughout history man has been making predictions of the future. With the advent of technology, the predictions moved away from religious topics to scientific and technological. Unfortunately for the speakers (and most of them were well-respected and widely-known public features), a big chunk of these failed predictions have been recorded for all future generations to laugh at. Actually, no one can be right all the time, so the failed predictions are not to be used to accuse the authors in lack of competency.

Following is a list of 37 feature predictions which never came true.

1.  High speed Rails

Dr. Dionysus Larder (1793-1859) predicted that
“Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia”.
Dr. Dionysus was a professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College London.

2.  Making of a Ship against Wind

When Napoleon Bonaparte was told of Robert Fulton’s steamboat in 1800, his statement was
“How, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.”
3.  Railroads is a bad system

Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York, in 1830 wrote to the president that
“Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as ‘railroads’ … As you may well know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed”.
4.  Telephone has Shortcomings

It was printed in a memo at Western Union in 1878 (or may be 1876) that
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us”.
5.  Electric Light will close as well

Oxford professor Erasmus Wilson predicted that
“When the Paris Exhibition [of 1878] closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it”.
Today, we can’t expect life without electricity.

6.  British Post don’t Need Telephone

It seems British were not believing on fast communications. In 1878, British Post Office gave a statement that
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys”.
How backward thought they were having.

7.  X-rays will be nothing but a Hoax

In 1883, the president of Royal Society Mr Lord Kevin stated that
“X-rays will prove to be a hoax”.
8.  Alternating Current – A waste of time

Thomas Edison was an American inventor. In 1889 he commented that
“Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever".
Edison was fond of passing ridiculous arguments against his competitor George Westinghouse for AC power.

9.  Impossible Flight of Machines Heavier than Air

“Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.”
This was predicted by Simon Newcomb. The prediction turned false when The Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk 18 months later.

10.  Very Poor Energy by an Atom

Ernest Rutherford predicted that
"The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing".
He gave his statement just after splitting the atom for the first time. He further stated that
"Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.”

11.  Submarine will do nothing

HG Wells was a British novelist. In 1901, he stated that
“I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea”.
Wish he was still alive to see how submarines are playing a role in defense of a country.

12. Automobile will never replace Horse

We can see how automobile has replaced horses. But in 1903, the president of Michigan Savings Bank advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in Ford Motor Co. According to him,
“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad”.
This means he was not trusting on mechanical engineering at all.

13.  Transmitting voice across the Atlantic

In 1913, Lee DeForest sold the stock of his Radio Telephone Company by making a prediction that
“It would be possible to transmit the human voice across the Atlantic before many years".
14.  People want to see flesh and blood

In 1916, Charlie Chaplin, the actor, producer, director and studio founder, stated that
“The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage”.
It has been proved that audience is more interested towards love stories

15.  Cavalry will never be replaced by Iron Coaches

In 1916, Aide-de-camp passed his comment to Field Marshal Haig at the tank demonstration that
“The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous".
16.  Wireless Music box has no Value

When Associates of David Sarnoff was asked to invest in the radio in 1921, he stated that
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to no one in particular?”.
In modern era, people love going wireless.

17.  Projecting Man in Gravitational Field

In 1926, Lee DeForest again predicted that
“To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth – all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances”.
The thing to remember is that Lee DeForest was inventor of the vacuum tube as well.

18.  Bigger Plane?
“There will never be a bigger plane built”.
That was confidently said by a Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people. We can see Airbus A380 in action.

19.  Nuclear Energy will not be Obtainable

In 1932, Albert Einstein stated that
“There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will”
20.  Rocket will never leave Earth’s atmosphere

In 1936, New York Times predicted that
“A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.”
21. Rockets manufacturing is Impossible.

"Rockets are too far-fetched to be considered." -- Editor of Scientific American, in a letter to Robert Goddard about Goddard's idea of a rocket-accelerated airplane bomb, 1940 (German V2 missiles came down on London 3 years later).

22.  The bomb will never go off

In 1945, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy during World War II, advised President Truman on the atomic bomb that
“This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives.”
23.  Television won’t capture any Market

In 1946, Darryl Zanuck predicted that
“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night”.
Darryl was a movie producer of 20th Century Fox.

24.  Television is a Flash

Mary Somerville, the pioneer of radio educational broadcasts stated that
“Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan".
He passed his statement in 1948 after the introduction of Television in market.

25.  Market for Copying Machines

IBM passed a statement to the eventual founders of Xerox that
“The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most.”
Furthermore, saying that
"the photocopier had no market large enough to justify production".
The statement was passed in 1959.

26.  Communication Space Satellites

T. Craven, FCC Commissioner in 1961 stated that
“There is practically no chance communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service inside the United States.”
27.  Computers in Home

This was made by Ken Olson, the president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). In 1977, he passed a statement against computers which was that
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
Being a founder of DEC, a maker of big business mainframe computers, he was still stating against computers which was really hilarious.

28.  Music Recording will kill Music

In 1980, a campaign was started by BPI claiming that people recording music off the radio onto cassette would destroy the music industry. The slogan for the campaign was set as
“Home Taping Is Killing Music”.
29.  Heavier than Air Flying Machines
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible”;
in 1895 Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society gave his statement.

30.  Nuclear-powered Vacuum Cleaners

Another interesting prediction made by Alex Lewis, president of vacuum cleaner company – Lewis Corporation, was
“Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality in 10 years”.
31.  32-bit Operating System

Another hilarious prediction was made by Bill Gates, the CEO of Microsoft corporation, that
“We will never make a 32 bit operating system”.
The prediction turned false when Windows 98 was released by Microsoft.

32. Memory demand is Limited

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." or "No one will need more than 637 kilobytes of memory for a personal computer." are two variants of the same quote, often misattributed to Bill Gates in 1981. Gates has repeatedly denied ever saying this, and he points out that it has never been attributed to him with a proper source. In fact, the memory limitation was due to the hardware architecture of the IBM PC.

33. No Military Value of Using Airplanes

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, 1904.

34. Automobile Development

"That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced." -- Scientific American, Jan. 2 edition, 1909.

35. Telephone is Hoax

"A man has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls this instrument a telephone. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires." -- News item in a New York newspaper, 1868.

36. E-commerce

"Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds." -- TIME, 1966, in one sentence writing off e-commerce long before anyone had ever heard of it.

37. Space Operations
“By the year 2000 we will undoubtedly have a sizable operation on the Moon, we will have achieved a manned Mars landing, and it’s entirely possible we will have flown with men to the outer planets.”
This is prediction of Wernher von Braun in 1969, who was  was a German American rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, becoming one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States.

Sources and Additional Information:

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Reason, Why I Joined Facebook… and 15 more Reasons to Use It

After getting quite a few unanswered invitations to join Facebook, I finally gave up, and signed in yesterday. In this post, I just want to present my rambling thought of how useful it can be, and how it might help in day-to-day life.

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First of all, this is not the first social network I have joined in my life. I will list just few of them:
  • LinkedIn – I joined LinkedIn long time ago, but for several years did not put much attention and efforts there. However, recent economic recession cause loosing several professional contacts due to lay-offs. And where is the better place to keep them handy? I guess, LinkedIn is pretty good for these purposes. I will be probably looking more there, when time will come to look for new job. Searching through personal network will help to identify a person, who might have a potential opportunity to help there. Communication there? Not really. Just refreshing the status and wondering, who landed where.
  • Twitter – I joined Twitter several months ago just to see what is this “wonder child of the blogosphere”? It is working pretty much as an instrument to spread a word about my blog posts. The list of the followers is growing (it is about 200 now), and amount of readers is growing as well. Did I ever use this tool for communication? No way. Will I ever use it to update the group of my virtual or real friends on what I am doing every moment? Never. Specialists claim, however, that this minimalistic type of the communication (in row with SMS) has a long and bright future due to the lifestyle changes. My English profile: http://twitter.com/nesher9. My Russian profile: http://twitter.com/Mishutka9
  • Odnoklassniki – a Russian social network (analog to www.classmates.com). This was a cultural shock at first. When you can find almost all your friends, lost and forgotten, when you can talk to people, which you never dreamt you’ll talk again, that was big. After a while, the excitement decreases, and the normal life and communication replace the day-and-night chatting there. It is still great having an opportunity to talk, to write, and to chat with any of your friends, even thou I am not using that often. It just mean feeling more in a control of your life, like being able collect it all together.
So, I am debating with myself, what exactly I am looking for in Facebook? What can I get there, which I cannot get from all mentioned and dozen unmentioned social networks and blogging communities, I am a member of? Communication? May be. My blogs promotion? Possibly. Most likely, I am trying to get recognition to all my blogs from my friends? I do not look for more traffic; it will not be comparable with the traffic I am getting from search engines. I have emails and comments from people, so I cannot say that I am not getting any feedback on what I am working on. But… all these people, who I do not now, and I will never meet in real life. So, I need some kind of recognition for people, who I meet regularly. Like the recognition, I once got, when was publishing computer-related articles in a local magazine. People were asking for advice, people were sharing stories… I felt good, when I was able to help. Now, when somebody is asking for web addresses of my blogs among friends, I am usually reluctant to give that information, since I feel it like a shameless promotion. But, Facebook posts give a chance to everybody on the list for a glimpse of what I am working on, and may be find something useful and touching. Everybody needs some sort of acceptance and self-realization. And purely virtual acceptance might not be sufficient. So, this is my own main reason to join Facebook. It is possible, with getting more experience with Facebook, the new perspectives will open up.

From technical points of view, I like the enormous abilities to integrate the adds-in applications in the Facebook profile. It might include calendar and organizers’ widgets, virtual home office, games, messengers, and informational widgets. That allows converting the Facebook start-up profile page into alternative homepage.

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Next, I took a close look, how and for which purposes other people use Facebook. Let’s review briefly main approaches:

  1. Looking for old co-workers and current connections.  By adding old coworkers and old friends to Facebook, you can feel more connected to them without having to actively maintain a conversation via email. You feel you can touch base with them any time you feel like that, even thou you might not need that for long time. Also, you can look for business opportunities out of shared interests.
  2. Add friends selectively. Contrary to popular belief, Facebook isn’t about “collecting” friends. There’s no reward for quantity, and you can have a rich experience on the platform with only a handful of connections. The quality of your Facebook experience will be based on the quality of the people in your network. You can create a limited profile for those people that you are on the fence about whether to include. By default your limited profile contains everything in your full profile, so take the time to edit it down.
  3. Add apps selectively. Right now, there are over 2000 apps you can add to your Facebook profile. The temptation may be to try them all. Don’t. Just because you can add Love Quotes to your profile, it doesn’t mean you should if you want Facebook to be a professional tool for you. Pick apps that won’t waste your time when you visit your Facebook home page, so avoid those that involve playing games. Read the app description carefully and know exactly what you’re getting, and what the privacy settings are before you go. It helps to see how your contacts are using the app first. But never fear, worst comes to worst you can remove an app as easily as you added it. Think of your apps in two ways…what do you want to see (that will appear on your Facebook home page) and what do I want the world to see (that will appear on your profile)? You might consider adding an app that you don’t display on your profile at all, but it uses the collective wisdom and usage patterns of your network to provide you with valuable information. Or, if you visit your Facebook home page often it can help keep you organized having nothing to do with your friends’ actions.
  4. Edit your news feed preferences. You don’t necessarily have to know the moment someone adds a new picture, but you may want to know when they’ve made a new connection you may have in common. Click the “preferences” button on your Facebook home page and use the sliders to give preference to the type of information you want. The more you fine-tune this information, the less time you’ll waste sifting through useless updates.
  5. Edit your profile and security settings. Give careful consideration to exactly who sees your profile and when. Don’t take the default settings which tend to expose more information than you may be comfortable. Take the time to go through each link in the Privacy area and make necessary adjustments. Maybe you don’t want people who are casually searching to know who your friends are or “poke” you. Maybe you don’t want a public profile (accessible to people who are not on Facebook). This is especially true if your primary network is geography-based. It’s one thing to share your full profile with everyone who went to the same college or high school you did, it’s another to share your profile with everyone in the New York City metropolitan area.
  6. Incorporate the tools you’re already using into your profile. Web workers like playing with all the latest toys. Do you blog? Do you Twitter, Pownce or Jaiku? Do you read feeds? There are Facebook apps available for all these services. If you have already use these tools professionally, why not add them to your Facebook profile? After you add the respective app, you simply do what you were already doing and let the app do the work. You can see the Twitter updates from your Facebook contacts without necessarily following their updates in Twitter itself. If your blog is on WordPress.com, you can add the WordPress app and your posts will automatically be pushed to your Facebook profile, along with recent comments. If you don’t host your blog with WordPress.com, you can easily use the built-in Notes application to post your blog feed as you publish. It will let your contacts know through your mini-feed when you’ve posted a new entry. Since your friends can edit their news feeds as easilly as you can, they can control how much of your life they really want to see. The Google Reader Shared Items app publishes to your profile those items you’ve shared in Google Reader, as the name implies. Do you think your contacts would like to read that interesting post? Don’t disturb them by emailing them, click the “Share” button in Google Reader and now it’s right there on your profile with minimal added effort on your part. The “Top Shared” panel takes a del.icio.us/popular approach to showing the most shared posts across everyone who has installed the app.
  7. Join Groups related to your business interests. Many groups on Facebook are nonsense, but there are quite a few that can provide useful information and professional connections. Each group can feature a Wall (like a guestbook…a continuous scroll of messages) and threaded discussion lists. Rather than trying to search for groups, watch the groups that your friends are joining, as often you will find them of interest for yourself. After all, they’re in your contact list because you have something in common, right?
  8. Limit time wasted on Facebook. Facebook can suck you in easily. Remember, you have work to do. You won’t help your career if you fall behind on projects because you were too busy playing with embedded games and applications. If you find that you’re spending too much time reading Facebook message boards or reading about your friends’ favorite book selections then set limits for yourself. Facebook is a black hole. In order to get the most of Facebook, you have to be on the platform. Consider the Facebook toolbar for Firefox which will notify when you have a reason to go check the home page. You can also work with Facebook from your mobile phone, so think about babysitting your profile while you’re waiting in line or otherwise bored and not being productive anyway. 
  9. Be philanthropic. And look good to your friends while doing it. Can Facebook change the world? Probably not. But you can do your part and show it off. You can join groups that stand for actions you believe in. Use your Facebook profile to show the best side of you to your contacts, and if the environment or a cause benefits from your actions then all the better.
  10. Ask Questions. Don’t know the best resource for a particular problem? Maybe your network can provide some insight. Many of us have used our blogs for this very purpose. Asking your question on Facebook instead filters out the general public, and doesn’t leave a trail for Google to follow.
  11. Look for events. It’s not all concerts. There’s some opportunity for good, face-to-face business networking if you’re open to it. Or you can use Facebook’s built-in events application to see what conferences and events your connections may be attending.
  12. Utilize FBML. Facebook Markup Language allows page developers to create their own applications to feature tools that aren’t available by traditional Facebook applications. With FBML, you can allow users to sign up for email updates and make a donation without leaving Facebook. 
  13. Use Facebook Connect. This tool allows you to link your page with your Web site. Facebook users can publish stories from your site to their Facebook page which will then show up in their friends’ news feeds. Recent studies have shown that an established website experiences an increase of growth from using Facebook Connect.   
  14. Publish photos. People love sharing photos on Facebook. If you want to get some buzz going on a company event, a new office, any newsworthy event whatsoever, take plenty of photos and share them on Facebook. Your friends will share the photos, comment on them, and talk about them on Twitter. All this attracts more people to your Page or group and solidifies relationships with your friends. And ... it's fun! 
  15. Do Video. Seriously. The barrier to creating videos has lowered so much, there’s almost no excuse to not make a video of what you’re doing. Phones do video. My camera does video. I’m pretty sure the toaster will do video soon enough. Video is an extraordinarily powerful medium to get stories and concepts across to people quickly. You've got a few options with Facebook video:
- use the Facebook video app. This is great for short videos, especially if your friends are in it. It has the same tagging functionality as the Photos app, so can spread through newsfeeds effectively.
- use a dedicated video site like YouTube or Vimeo. Both YouTube and Vimeo have pretty awesome Facebook integration. If you’re already using them then make sure you share the videos in your newsfeed or you can use the dedicated applications.

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Sources and Additional Information:

Monday, September 14, 2009

Use GMail Account for Big Files Transfer between Computers

GMail Drive shell extension description                                                                                                               
GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium.You can save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer.

GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.

Ever since Google started to offer users a GMail e-mail account, which includes storage space of a 1000 megabytes, you have had plenty of storage space but not a lot to fill it up with.

With GMail Drive you can easily copy files to your GMail account and retrieve them again. When you create a new file using GMail Drive, it generates an e-mail and posts it to your account.

The e-mail appears in your normal Inbox folder, and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks your mail account (using the GMail search function) to see if new files have arrived and to rebuild the directory structures.

But basically GMail Drive acts as any other hard-drive installed on your computer.
You can copy files to and from the GMail Drive folder simply by using drag'n'drop like you're used to with the normal Explorer folders.

Because the GMail files will clutter up your Inbox folder, you may wish to create a filter in GMail to automatically move the files (prefixed with the GMAILFS letters) to your archived mail folder.
Or you can create totally new account, dedicated exclusively to the data transfer.

Using the first approach, you can create a rule that puts all your stored files into the Gmail Archive instead, which will keep the Inbox clutter free. All files uploaded using the GMail Drive have a subject that contains the text GMAILFS. Using this text we will create a filter that automatically places any messages with that subject into the Archive.
  1. Logon to Gmail. 
  2. Click on the Create a filter link which is next to the Search the Web button at the top of the Gmail screen. 
  3. In the Create a Filter dialog, enter GMAILFS into the Subject: field. Then press the Next Step button. 
  4. Put a checkmark in the Skip the Inbox (Archive it) checkbox and then press the Create Filter button.
Now when you upload a file using Gmail Drive, it will automatically bypass your Inbox and be stored in the Archive. To view the files in the Archive, simply click on the All Mail link in the left hand navigation menu.
Please note that GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There are still a number of limitations of the file-system:
  • Total filename size must be less than 40 characters.
  • English characters only in the file names.
  • You can't create and edit files directly on the drive - it is only meant to copy or move files there.
  • It doesn't make full use of the secure internet protocols available.
Video Presentation:

Thursday, September 10, 2009

FTP at Hand: Overview for New Users





What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the simplest and most secure way to exchange files over the Internet. Whether you know it or not, you most likely use FTP all the time.

The most common use for FTP is to download files from the Internet. Because of this, FTP is the backbone of the MP3 music craze, and vital to most online auction and game enthusiasts. In addition, the ability to transfer files back-and-forth makes FTP essential for anyone creating a Web page, amateurs and professionals alike.

When downloading a file from the Internet you’re actually transferring the file to your computer from another computer over the Internet. This is why the T (transfer) is in FTP. You may not know where the computer is that the file is coming from but you most likely know it’s URL or Internet address.
An FTP address looks a lot like an HTTP, or Website, address except it uses the prefix ftp:// instead of http://.

Most often, a computer with an FTP address is dedicated to receive an FTP connection. Just as a computer that is setup to host Web pages is referred to as a Web server or Website, a computer dedicated to receiving an FTP connection is referred to as an FTP server or FTP site.

What is an FTP Site?

An FTP site is like a large filing cabinet. With a traditional filing cabinet, the person who does the filing has the option to label and organize the files how ever they see fit. They also decide which files to keep locked and which remain public. It is the same with an FTP site.

The virtual ‘key’ to get into an FTP site is the UserID and Password. If the creator of the FTP site is willing to give everyone access to the files, the UserID is ‘anonymous’ and the Password is your e-mail address (e.g. name@domain.com). If the FTP site is not public, there will be a unique UserID and Password for each person who is granted access.

When connecting to an FTP site that allows anonymous logins, you’re frequently not prompted for a name and password. Hence, when downloading from the Internet, you most likely are using an anonymous FTP login and you don’t even know it.

To make an FTP connection you can use a standard Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) or a dedicated FTP software program, referred to as an FTP ‘Client’.

When using a Web browser for an FTP connection, FTP uploads are difficult, or sometimes impossible, and downloads are not protected (not recommended for uploading or downloading large files).

When connecting with an FTP Client, uploads and downloads couldn’t be easier, and you have added security and additional features. For one, you’re able to to resume a download that did not successfully finish, which is a very nice feature for people using dial-up connections who frequently loose their Internet connection.

What is an FTP Client?

An FTP Client is software that is designed to transfer files back-and-forth between two computers over the Internet. It needs to be installed on your computer and can only be used with a live connection to the Internet.
The classic FTP Client look is a two-pane design. The pane on the left displays the files on your computer and the pane on the right displays the files on the remote computer.

File transfers are as easy as dragging-and-dropping files from one pane to the other or by highlighting a file and clicking one of the direction arrows located between the panes.

Additional features of the FTP Client include: multiple file transfer; the auto re-get or resuming feature; a queuing utility; the scheduling feature; an FTP find utility; a synchronize utility; and for the advanced user, a scripting utility.


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

How to send SMS to any Skype User for Free?

SMS to Skype is a free service from Connectotel allowing GSM mobile phone users to send Skype instant messages to any Skype user. SMS to Skype uses the standard Skype software. You do not need to install any other software. Your message, including the Skype name, can be up to 160 characters in length. Many phones will show you how many characters you have typed or how many characters you still have remaining in your message, whilst you are typing the message.

Sending a Skype message from your GSM mobile phone
  • Select the option on your phone to create a new SMS text message.
  • Type the word skype followed by a space.
  • Type the Skype name of the recipient followed by a space.
  • Type the text of your message
  • When asked to type the number, select the SMS to Skype entry from your phone book or type +447747782320.
  • Select the option to send the message.
Setting up your mobile phone
  • Select the option on your mobile phone to add a new entry to the phone book
  • Type the name SMS to Skype
  • Type the number +447747782320
  • Save the entry to the phone book
Example

You would like to send a Skype message to johndoe from your mobile phone asking him to call you. Here is an example showing how the message should be written:
skype johndoe This is an example message

You would then choose the SMS to Skype entry from your phone book and send the message.

Tip: Many mobile phones allow the creation of template SMS text messages, which can be used instead of having to type the same message each time. Save a template SMS text message for frequently used Skypenames, like this:
skype johndoe

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

piZap - Free Online Fun Photo Editor

Pizap is a fun free photo editor that lets people easily create wacky images with their digital pictures. PiZap was created as a tool primarily for social networking users who want to post their images to their favorite social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, Friendster, Bebo, miGente, Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, Tagged, and many more.

PiZap provides a very easy to use photo editor that lets you add photo effects, custom text or speech bubbles, hundreds of original colorful stickers, a full painting program, and much more. PiZap also has built in tools for sending e-cards, downloading your image, embedding your image in any website, or sharing the link directly to your image. PiZap has also partnered with Zazzle.com to provide you with the ability to add your image to thousands of customizable products. Above all piZap was made for people to have fun and be creative with the thousands of digital images that they currently store on their computers. With expert tools like Photoshop only available to a few, and many other online photo editors being clunky or hard to use, piZap is here to save the day.

The registration is optional, and you can enjoy all the features, offered by the site, being anonymous.
Access piZap: http://www.pizap.com/


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