web 2.0, tools, software reviews, tweaks and latest technology
Archive for August, 2006
Multiple instances of Yahoo Messenger 8
25 years ago
by Benedict Herold
in tweaks
A little tweak that will allow users to run multiple yahoo messengers on a same machine.
If you’re looking for ways to run couple or more yahoo messengers in the same machine then this article would be great help for you.
Yahoo Messenger let users to test their messenger by making a tweak in registry. To accomplish this key value for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\Test has to be altered. The key value is set to true then the messenger will function in test mode and users will be able to open up multiple instance of yahoo messenger.
To make yahoo messenger to open up multiple instance, you need to modify the registry key value. Here is a cut-short way of doing that.
Save the below code with .reg extension and double click to execute it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\Test]
"Plural"=dword:00000001
Once the above code is entered into registry yahoo messenger will function in Test mode. To revert back to normal mode use the below code in same manner.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\Test]
"Plural"=dword:00000000
The above will the remove the feature of having multiple messengers open.
Happy chatting 
Google Talk Conference Calling Tips and Ideas
45 years ago
by Benedict Herold
in tips tricks
Google’s instant messaging software gtalk is popular these days. But it misses few important functionality like video chat and voice conferencing. Here is a trick that will address the later one and would give you complete idea on how to make a voice conference call from gtalk.
Google’s new version of gtalk has come up with lot of improvements and features. Google’s trying to rule out Instant Messaging market as well. I really like gtalk for it stunning quality and fidelity when it comes to voice chat. The only drawback had with voice chat in gtalk is voice conferencing. Couple of day’s back I figured out roundabout way to make conference calls in gtalk as well. Thanks to Google’s fan blog which made me to discover the nomutex functionality that is been hidden in gtalk.
Here goes the step by step instruction,
- Open up a copy of Google Talk on all the computers which you wish you conference
- After a instance is opened up in all computers, make a new shortcut for Google Talk but at the end add /nomutex (to do this right click on the new shortcut icon and edit the target field; it should look something similar to “C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex assuming your gtalk installation is done in default location)
- Now open up the second instance on every computer using the shortcut. Nomutex argument will let gtalk to open multiple instances.
- Now, we need to create a chain to connect all the systems. Let us assume we do this for 3 participant now (say A, B and C)
- Participant A should call Participant B via one instance
- Participant B will call Participant C on other instance
- Participant C will connect to Participant A to form a loop
- Now all participants in the conference are connected and conference will being momentarily
Note: By default for incoming calls gtalk will take the latest instance as active one and gets connect to it. Hence to make a call you need to use the instance available initially.
Here is diagrammatic representation of the workaround way. Thanks to www.thegoogleblog.com for the image.
Enjoy voice conferencing in Google Talk:)
W800i Tips / Tricks / Shortcuts / FAQ and Resources
5 years ago
Sony Ericsson W800i Mobile tips, tricks, shortcuts and FAQ complete collection
I’ve been using Sony Ericsson W800i for more than month’s time. Initially I was not able to make use of my phone complete without the required tips and guidelines. I’d to do manually search a lot and try out a few. So I thought of getting this page up so that other W800i users would be benefited. If you’re a W800i or similar model user definitely you will find this useful unless you a more advanced user.
Tips / Trick / Shortcuts
1. Quick activation of camera
Open the back capping strip of camera’s lens. Works even keypad is locked
2. In messages by pressing “*” you can turn on/off T9.
3. In themes, sounds, videos… use easy searching by typing letters as in contacts.
4. Turn off the ringing without decline incoming calls… Just press some side button of volume or “#”.
5. By right side double-button you can show status of your phone. In sleep mode you can light clock.
6. In main menu you can move faster with shortcuts on keyboard which comes up to dislocation of menu icons. In next sub menus, numbers belongs to number of lines from the top.
7. Service menu (firmware): >*<<*<* where <> is right joystick
8. IMEI number: *#06#
9. Shutdown camera sound: hold button “#”
10. In horizontal viewing mode you can use the “+” and “–” volume keys to zoom in and out of the picture. You can also use the 1 and 3 keys to zoom.
11. At active camera:
1 – change size of photo
4 – turn on/off macro mode
7 – turn on/off night mode
* – turn on/off lightning diodes
Change of zoom: with right side buttons you can zoom in/out
Change of photo brightness: by moving joystick up/down.
12. At active video:
1 – change video size
4 – turn on/off macro mode
7 – turn on/off night mode
* – turn on/off lightning diodes
Change of zoom: with right side buttons you can zoom in/out
Change of video brightness: by moving joystick up/down
13. Reading of text files: send txt file to your phone, file will be saved in “Web pages” and you can open it. Bold and commas don’t work.
14. By holding buttons 2-9 you will get to phone book in telephone on given first letter of given button.
15. By holding “c” at calling you will turn off microphone.
16. By pressing button 1-220 and pressing “#” will be displayed number on SIM card on given position 1-220. Option “Calling from SIM card” will appear.
17. You can move in calendar with these shortcuts:
1 and 3 – week
4 and 6 – month
7 and 9 – year
18. At minimized or locked MP3 player you can change volume by right side buttons, or you can jump to next song by holding one of this buttons.
19. By pressing “*” and “lock” you can lock keyboard in menu of MP3 player or Video recorder.
20. Some special secret-smiles (Any where you can type in the phone even phone book)
big-smile :-] or
sad-smile :-[
chick-smile [:]
kiss-smileor :-*
lazy-smile |-l
neutral-smile :-l
surprise-smile
21. If you are using Dictionary (T9) to write SMS, you can press the 1 key (3 times in line), than slide the joystick down to choose your smile.
22. Want to see your notes on the main standby screen? Simply access the Main Menu -> Organizer -> Notes -> Add a New Note. Once you’ve added the note, save it. Highlight the new Note, press the right button for the More option, and choose Show on Standby.
23. To capture a video frame as an image file, first Pause the Video, then select More -> Capture frame. The image will be stored in your phone memory’s Pictures folder.
24. Slide the joystick down during video playback and the video will be in slow-motion.
25. Press > for next track, <>
26. Press and hold > or <>
27. While player Minimized mode, press and hold the “-” volume button for next song. Conversely, press and hold “+” for previous song.
28. Behind the battery, on the white sticker inside the phone, you will see a code (4th line above the barcode), for example 03W21. This means your phone was manufactured in week 21, 2003
29. This code will lead you to the network-lock menu Code:
< * *< (<> means left or right with your joystick).
30. Instead of the joystick, you can press the 1 or 3 key to navigate between tracks. Press 2 to pause/play, and 4 or 6 can be used to fast forward or rewind a track.
31. Pressing # during radio play and you’ll be able to type in the radio station frequency.
32. While in Radio Minimized mode, press and hold the “-” volume button for next available station (note: not next preset station). The “+” volume button will tune to the previous available station.
FAQ
Messaging:-
1. How much SMS I can store the max in W800i?
You can save 200 SMS on your mobile. There are several methods to unlock the phone feature to store unlimited SMS by editing the SE FS.
2. How to check the status of number of messages stored in inbox?
Go to the file manager, press more-> memory status->scroll down to messages. You will see the message count there.
Camera:-
1. Pictures taken in daylight are awesome, but in artificial light I get some dots in the images, not that good clarity?
Off course night needs higher brightness, just night mode isn’t sufficient. With flash and adjustment in joystick (brightness) level clarity can be increased to certain level. But it would be injustice to expect more from a camera phone and not a high mega pixel digital camera
2. What is auto focus? How do I use that?
The camera automatically focuses on a subject or object at which it is pointed. The focus helps to achieve best image quality. It exactly the same technology used in Digital Cameras. To make use of Auto focus feature in W800i, make sure that you hear a peep sound and a green indicator not blinking point and frame. Once you get this go for the shot
3. How do I record videos longer than 10 seconds?
You’ll need to switch the Shoot Mode to High Quality. Press 0 when in video mode.
4. How to snap photos while in Flight Mode?
The w800i’s Flight Mode allows you to access the WALKMAN Player function without turning on the phone’s transmitting functions (ideal for use during flights). You can actually also access the Camera function while in Flight Mode. Simply lock the keypad, open the camera lens and snap away! (This function works only with the initial firmware release. Reportedly in most of the latest firmware release this option doesn’t work)
5. Can you use the camera without SIM?
Well it can be done. But needed some research to figure out this option. Thanks Sailesh for sharing this tip. He is running r1bc002 firmware. Here is the tip; Switch on the mobile and in the Main menu (where it asks to select Flight mode or Phone) lock the keypad. After locking the keypad, open up the camera. You’re snap all the way (don’t miss to check Sailesh snaps done this way, here)
Walkman:-
1. Does W800i support mp4 files?
Yes, the walkman phone support mp4 files to be plays. But make sure you give correct parameters while you convert the video into mp4 file. Check out the Rockstar sample video for correct parameter.
2. Does W800i support Bluetooth stereo headset to play song?
Unfortunately No, W800i does not support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). Hence we will not be able to listen to music using Bluetooth stereo headset. 
3. Can W800i play AVI files?
Sorry no, it does not support AVI files to be played. Current firmware supports Video Support: mpeg-4, 3gpp, h.263, xmf, svgt and Audio Support: midi, midi40, amr, aac, wav, mp3, mp4.
4. What is RDS and how do I use it?
RDS stands for Radio Data Service. If a particular radio station supports this, then info like the name of the station will be automatically shown. Not all stations support this, so it does not work for all stations.
Miscellaneous:-
1. What do those 3 overlapping squares at the top left denote?
It signifies that you are using a profile other than the default “normal” profile.
2. How do I read text files with the phone?
You can create *.txt files and then send the file to the Web Pages/Save Pages folder. You can also create text files with MS Word and save them as a web page (*.htm). This is useful especially if you are using foreign characters, as they will sometimes not appear if saved as a *.txt file.
3. What is the maximum storage supported?
According to the official specifications, w800i supports Memory Stick PRO Duo of up to 2GB.
4. Is it possible to use the phone as a remote control for the television, music system, etc?
Yes, it can be done if your system support Bluetooth interface. Unfortunately IR remote control doesn’t work in W800i since the IR features works well only with Symbian phones.
5. Can I set different ring tones for different profiles?
No, you can’t. Only one ring tone can be set for all profiles.
6. Is it required to drain the battery before every recharge?
With Lithium batteries there is no advantage to draining the battery. The battery will in fact last longer with partial rather than full discharges. There is no battery memory effect with a lithium battery – you can charge the battery whenever you like without fear of reducing its charge capacity, and you do not need to drain a lithium battery completely before recharging it. Please refer www.batteryuniversity.com for more information.
7. How to update my firmware?
If you are updating your firmware for the 1st time, follow the Step by Step Instructions available in SE official site. Your firmware can be updated through the Sony Ericsson Update Service II (SEUS II). In order to use SEUS you will need to have internet access (preferably Broadband) and attach your phone to your PC via the supplied USB cable.
Finally at Last, the cool, gorgeous, sexy W800i was discontinued by Sony Ericsson to promote its successor W810i. W800i is no more in production. Still W800i rockz!!!
At last but not the least thanks for the Sony Ericsson India community members in Orkut from where I’ve formulate the FAQ page and collate few good tips from esato.com
Most of tips mentioned here works well with Sony Ericsson K750 / W810i / W850i / W700i / W900i / W950i / W880i / W200i / W300i / W550i and most other Walkman models.
W800i Resources (Ring tones, Themes, JAVA apps, Screensavers, Wallpapers, Games)
Sony Ericsson Developer Tools:-
developer.sonyericsson.com
Exclusive W800i Site:-
Themes
www.zedge.no
www.mobile9.com
www.eseth.net
Games/ JAVA application :-
www.getjar.com
masyaka.ru/games
4se.ru/index.php?go=Files
www.mobileplayground.co.uk/uploads/SonyEricsson
kilgor-box.narod.ru/javagames.html
www.java2phone.ru/eng
www.zedge.net/?side=javagames
tagtag.com/site/javalist.php3
masyaka.ru/games
sonyericsson.paradisezone.net
www.esato.com/games
www.imserba.com/download
Other Resource:-
www.blanksms.com
www.funmaza.com
www.crazy4mobilez.com
Reviews:-
ww.gsmarena.com/nokia_n90_vs_sonyericsson_w800-review-46.php
www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/model.jsp?model_id=52130
If you think something is missing out here; Please add them as comments.
Update:- Read my review about W800i at MouthShut.com
Windows Live Writer, a blog publishing tool
25 years ago
by Benedict Herold
in tools
Windows Live Writer is a new off-line WYSIWYG blog publishing system by Microsoft
Microsoft launched Windows Live Writer, a blog publishing tool few days back. After reading couple of reviews about this tool, I made my mind to take a chance to try out the windows app, which is freely downloadable from Microsoft site. This windows application allows you to blog directly to your site without a web interface. At the first site it resembles to FrontPage, a web publishing software from Microsoft. Windows Live Writer with integrated WYSIWYG editor will be useful for blog authors who like do thing pretty fast.
Windows Live Writer has a lot of bells and whistles – preview in WYSIWYG or HTML mode, support for most blogging platforms (Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress and others), easy insertion of photos and things like Live.com Maps, and tagging. What’s nice about Windows Live Writer is that it reads your current blog’s template and it lets you preview your content while creating it. It’s like seeing your blog post growing.
The rich-text editor is not impressing, as it contains the usual elements and doesn’t produce clean code (you’ll notice many unneeded tags). When you insert pictures, you’ve got more options: you can resize the picture, add a nice shadow, adjust brightness and even use some simple effects like sepia. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn’t allow you to publish images for the hosted blogs
Windows Live Writer is available only for windows and more over it’s still beta. The simple interface and the innovative additions make this tool a good replacement for the standard blogging interfaces and it’s a good alternative to Performancing for Firefox, Qumana, but it’s still far from a commercial application like ecto.
Windows Live Writer needs lot of improvements with features like categories, tags, etc., should show up. Moreover the formatting code should be clean.
For more information about the tool read the writer team blog at http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/
YotoPhoto.com: Free Image Search Engine
05 years ago
by Benedict Herold
in websites
YotoPhoto is an alternative for Google Image search. YotoPhoto can be used for searching free / open images. YotoPhoto can be great resource for bloggers and designers.
I was looking for a decent image for my new design. I initially tried using Google’s Image search. I was fed up with Google, since it had a huge source and most of the decent images are copy protected as well So I was not able to get what I wanted. Only then I came to know about the existence of image search engine where we can find free to use images.
YotoPhoto.com was really decent which managed to give me decent images with Creative Commons, Public Domain, GNU FDL, and various other ‘copyleft’ licenses.YotoPhoto is an image search engine with a difference. It allows you to search for free-to-use stock photographs and images.
They index various sources of free imagery on the web including Flickr, Wikipedia, Stock.Xchng, Morguefile, Pixelperfect Digital and OpenPhoto. Only photographs are indexed at this time. Other image types like maps, graphics, illustrations, 3D renderings, charts and the like are not indexed currently.
In short these are images you can use without paying anything. However an attribution may be required in some cases. They also provide a link to the type of license the image is under for convenience.
You can search by tags, keywords or by color. You can include stop words and specify image orientation. You can also combine keyword search with color attribute. YotoPhoto gives the copyright information about the image in search results which is great for Developers/ Designers etc,
Finally I got a decent image for the my new design
Kudoz to YotoPhoto!
Installing Apache / PHP / MySQL on Windows machine
75 years ago
by Benedict Herold
in tutorial
Tutorial for hassle free Apache / PHP / MySQL installation.
Hello, I decided to write this post since I knew few people who are not be able to getaway with the installation since they are too new to this world!So to make their/your installation trouble free i’d to write this guide
This method works well with all Windows PC. Hope this helps people.!
Install Apache
Apache is most trusted web server that suits for the installation of PHP on your machine. Apache is an open source web server, which has captured almost 80% of web server market today.
Download latest version of apache windows binary installation from http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. The latest version that is available today is Win32 Binary (MSI Installer): apache_2.2.3-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
Before installing make sure to disable IIS web server if running. Since it might conflict with the default HTTP port 80, in which apache runs by default.
Now let us install Apache web server into your PC. Execute the previously downloaded apache installation file which is standard Windows installation file and thus very straightforward. Just fill in the required information on screen and end the installation.
Once you have done your apache installation try visiting http://localhost; you should get an apache test page. If you’re done with successful test page, you’re ready to proceed to next step.
Install PHP
Congrats! You’ve made a wise decision to install PHP, a leading open source web programming language.
Now visit http://www.php.net/downloads.php to download latest version of PHP. Download the latest available windows binary version in ZIP format.
Once download is complete; unzip the package into a directory preferably in root drive say C:\PHP. Now you’ve to move the file named “phpXts.dll” from the PHP installation directory to Windows directory (C:\Windows or C:\winnt depending upon your OS version); X stands for the version of PHP being installed. Make an entry to C:\PHP in the PATH environment variable.
Configuring PHP
Now you need to tell apache web server what to do when it encounters PHP file. To make this work we need to make some modification in both apache and PHP configuration files.
Before doing any modification to configuration files, create a directory where you’re going to place the web application. Say C:\www
First rename the php.ini-dist to php.ini in PHP installation directory, in our case C:\PHP. Then modify the following in php.ini
doc_root = “c:\www”
extension_dir = “C:\php\ext
Change the location if you’ve installed in different location.
Note: Use backslashes while you specify any path in configuration files.
Now open httpd.conf file available in apache configuration directory (generally C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\). Edit the DocumentRoot entry to DocumentRoot “C:/www”
Then change the Directory Entry as
ScriptAlias /php/ “c:/php/”
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .php5
Action application/x-httpd-php “/php/php-cgi.exe” # if PHP5
Action application/x-httpd-php “/php/php.exe” # if PHP4
SetEnv PHPRC “C:/php”
Finally add index.php to the DirectoryIndex entry as well like “DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.php”
Now you’re ready before testing the PHP; you need to restart Apache web server to effect the changes.
Testing PHP
Create a file named phpinfo.php in C:\www or whether you configured as home directory. In phpinfo.php add “ and save.
Now point your browser to http://localhost/phpinfo.php and you should be able to see the PHP environmental variables displayed. If you’ve not seen that page you need to review the installation process again, you might have missed or went wrong in any of the above steps
Install MySQL
Now we’re almost in the final stage, we need to prepare a backend so that our web applications can make use of it. MySQL is the best choice to combine with apache and php.
Download the latest version of MySQL from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads. You’ve to download the latest available stable Window MySQL into your PC.
Once download is complete, double click on the MSI installation file, which you have just downloaded. Follow the onscreen instruction to complete the installation. Skip the sign up section and make sure you check “configure the MySQL Server now” option.
Now you will get a configuration dialog box, which can be configured easily by reading the instruction. Make sure “Install As Windows Service” is checked in the configuration page. Then define your admin password as well.
Setting up MySQL
First of all, check the c:\php directory and make sure that the files libmysqli.dll and php_mysqli.dll are both there. If they are not there, check the c:\php\ext directory and copy the files into c:\php
Then open up the file c:\php\php.ini in your editor and ADD the line extension=php_mysqli.dll
Now restart the apache web server to reflect the changes made.
Create a php file and test the mysql functions to connect to the database. Make sure your MySQL server running before executing the php program.
You can use PHPMyAdmin (www.phpmyadmin.net/) to manage your MySQL database through easy to use web interface.
Learning PHP
The complete PHP reference manual can be obtained from the php website itself. You can start learning other basic books to start off with PHP!!!
Have fun with php!!
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