Get to know how safe are the sites in your search result

What do you do when you Google for something, say Wallpapers? Click the links that appear on the top by making some guesses about the safety of the site. But since google doesn’t really filter the good and bad on the web[at least not extensively] you may end up at some malicious site that may infect yourPC with some virus or spyware. What if you could find out which sites were safe and which were not?

In my last post, I mentioned about open source, free antispyware Winpooch that integrates with ClamWin antivirus to provide real-time protection to your PC.

McAfee Site Advisor

All those lucky guys who use Mozilla Firefox web browser, you can make your PC more secure by getting real-time advice regarding the safety of the site and also the links that appear on webpages by installing McAfee Site Advisor plug-in for Firefox.

Real time virus, spyware protection using Winpooch-Clamwin

[Windows only] The web is a vast repository — both of good things and the malicious. As soon as you connect to the internet [or even without connecting] your computer is always vulnerable to attack from viruses that may damage your system or remain dormant without causing any apparent damage to the PC. There are also the dangers of spywares lurking on the web which are quick to capitalize on your slightest neglect or carelessness. a spyware infected computer does not only cause irritation but may also lead your to embarrassing situations. Imagine someone need to use your PC for sending a mail. You don’t want them to see the unwanted toolbar that was downloaded to your browser when you visited some malicious site.

Winpooch is a  free and open source anti spyware and anti trojan for Windows. It gives full protection against local or external spyware attacks by scanning the activity of programs in real time.

Just drop into Dropbox to store, share and syncronize files online

With the Web 2.0 phenomenon gaining momentum, there is a large number of services offering online file storage and sharing, like Xdrive, FreeDrive. [Learn about more file sharing sites, including media sharing sites, here.]

But you may still not be satisfied with these sites because they do not give you the complete freedom. You may have to cross several hurdles to access these ervices. But what if you can use an online-file sharing site that synchronizes with your Windows or Machintosh, allowing you to save and share your files and folders online as if you were saving it locally on your PC.

You can save and share you files very easily by just dragging-and-dropping your files and folders in a Dropbox, one of the most simple online file sharing and synchronizing service.

Dropbox is an intelligent combination of Box.net, dot.mac and Microsoft’s FolderShare* syncing service. It makes online storage and sharing of files as simple as dragging files into specially marked local folders.

Convert your PC into a web server

When I was new to computers and the internet, I used to wonder how websites were available. And once I knew that sites are hosted by web servers, I wanted to have one of my own to host my own site. I thought it would be difficult to have a web server but now i know it’s not that difficult. It’s really easy to have a small web server on your own PC.

What do you need to convert your Windows PC into a web server ?

• Web server application like Apache and Windows Server
• Database server [optional]
• Mail server [optional]
• FTP server [optional]
• Broadband internet

Get a web server application

The web server that’s very popular is Apache. But handling it on your own can be a bit tricky. Instead, we would like to use pre-configured packages which will gives us Apache, My SQL (database server) , a mail server and a FTP server.

NetServer: It is the most easy-to-use server package that I have come across. It’s controls are very indicative and can be easily tweaked to create your own aliases [domain names]. It also has My SQL database server, FileZilla FTP server and a mail server. The only minus point– you won’t get the latest applications as the package has not been improved since years. But this will not be a problem for us.

It does not require installation. Just unzip the package and run the server by clicking the NetServer icon. This works with Windows NT/2000/XP. It should work with Vista as well. [Freeware]

XAMPP: It a more popular server package. But I found it difficult to configure and handle. It is also free and does not require installation. It is available forWindows, Linux and Solaris.

WAMP: It is also a Windows freeware but requires installation.

Now you need to configure the server. I will tell here just about NetServer which I feel is the easiest to handle for enthusiasts like us.

The Book of Mozilla

If you are a Mozilla Firefox fan one thing that you must know about is its holy book –The Book of Mozilla. If you are among those who haven’t heard about this holy book, let me tell you that these are some verse written in the style of apocalyptic literature as you will find in the Bible. Though you can not get a copy of this book in any bookstore or library, you can still read the book by typing “about:mozilla” in your Firefox. [Even Netscape will give you the same result.]

You will gets a cryptic message in white text on a maroon background.

Here is the verse that my browser gave me.

Post to multiple blogs simultaneously

Those who maintain several blogs, with many posts being simultaneously being posted to multiple blogs, it’s a really difficult and annoying to copy-paste the same thing over and again. Alternative? WriteToMyBlog.com. It is a free web word-processor for your blog. Just compose your post and enter the details of your blog(s). The post gets published on a number of blogs simultaneously. The processor is also very good one and also allows you to post YouTube videos and images from Flickr. And a really good part of it — no registrations required.

http://writetomyblog.com/

Extend your Firefox

There are certain things that become a phenomenon. Mozilla Firefox web browser is one among them. There are many reasons behind the prolific propagation of this web browser. Its good looking and user-friendly interface with loads of features, along with being Open Source are some of them. But the main reason, that I think, behind the massive growth of this web browser is its extendability. You want some feature in your browser, you have it — either by getting free Firefox plug-ins developed by individuals, and made available either as Open Source, freely available for use, or as paid component. If you are more tech-savvy, you may also develop one to suit your needs.

Here I am going to list some useful and interesting extensions for Firefox that will surely make things lot easier for you.

1. Block image ads [Adblock Plus]

Images take lot of time to download, and take up lot of bandwidth. And if the image is an Ad, it is hardly welcome. To get rid of those ad and images that take longer to download than anything else on the page, install Adblock.
Just select a filter subscription when Adblock starts up the first time; it will block most advertisements automatically. If you want to still choose not to download any image element on the page, just Right Click on the banner-ad and choose Adblock. It will not be downloaded again. You can even replace parts of the banner address with star symbols to block similar banners by creating banner filters.

Adblock Plus: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Internet desktop: Access and share files, music, videos

Okay. I agree that streaming your media right from your PC can work the best only for sharing it with others, and not when you are out, your home being locked and your PC shut. So where do you head to? A no brainer, isn’t it?

The web offers a lot of options to store and share your stuff on the web. Here you will find some of the available options listed in this post.

FanBox (Internet Desktop) (2GB)

FanBox is a web-based desktop. Yup, it’s your own desktop that you get in your web browser, anywhere, anytime. The basic version of this service comes for free and gives you 2GB storage space. The site also offers free upgrade to 5GB for those registering with an educational email id. By default your web-desktop comes with Mozilla Firefox web browser and a word processor. You can also use other applications, but for a fee. If you wish you can use trial versions of various applications available on FanBox desktop. The site also offers social networking option for its users. You can also share your files using this service. This service is available only for windows users.

Access your music, photos, files on your PC from anywhere

Have you ever been listening to your friend’s collection at his home and suddenly wanted to let him listen to your collection? Or wanted to show him pictures of your last college bash, only to find yourself away from your computer? What about turning your computer into a media center capable of streaming music and sharing images. You know the solution — setting up a server that allows you to share files and photos, and stream your media. But even if you are not courageous enough to set up a home server on your system, there’s a solution — use web-based services that allow you to do this without having to set up a web server right on your system.

Now you can convert your computer into a online media sharing center without having to install a web server and setting a domain name for your computer. All that you need is a always-on broadband connection and an application that you can download and use for free.

WeBot (Windows, Linux, Mac)

WeBot is a free web-based solution to sharing photos and music. It allows the user to access and share music and images from anywhere using Internet. You download ehat the site calls a Bot and install it on your system, register and you are ready to go. Just configure your Bot and you have your media center up and running. Just access it from any other system or share it with your friend sitting somewhere else. It is also very secure and personal.

CyberLinkLive (Windows)

Test your Internet connection speed

Is your Internet speed not up to your satisfaction? Do you feel that you are not getting the correct speed from your service provider?

In India, as of now, you can not expect to get the speed that you are made to believe you will get, thanks to their sales and advertising team. The “up to’ clause gives them a leeway. Obviously, legally they are not breaking the promise. They never guaranteed a minimum speed. [We hope the telecom regulator of India shall make it binding to guarantee a minimum speed that shall be available all the time. Trai, the telecom regulator, had raised its concern over the wrong practice of the ISPs.]

If you are too bugged by the slow Internet speed and wondered why it took so long to download a file, let me first make it clear that the speed that an ISP promises, say 256kbps, does not mean that you would be able to download a 1 MB file in just 2 seconds. No, never. Not even if your ISP gives you full speed. “B” in KB, MB refers to “bytes” but “kbps” stands for “kilo bits per second”. Now given that 1byte(B)=8bits(b), even a 1mbps Internet connection would take at least 8 seconds to download 1MB.

Also, the speed promised by your ISP refers to the speed that connects you to your ISP node and not the speed that is available for downloading a file from any remote server. The connection between your computer and a web server, via your ISP, may give you less speed because of some limitations of the web server like less bandwidth and congestion.

Test your Internet connection speed

But this should not deter you from testing your Internet connection speed. At least you get to know the speed that you are actually getting. You can test your computer by simply loading a web page and clicking a link.

1. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest [I recommend this one.]

2. http://www.speedtest.net

I tried it over there and see what I got.

Miserable, isn’t it. What else can I expect from a 128kbps connection. Thankfully it’s always -on and unlimited.