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Monthly Archives: June 2010
Change Background of Google Homepage
Because I use the FireFox plug-in for Google Search, I had not noticed this earlier but I am glad I did today. Seems like Google is going Bing way in more than one way. I was also lucky enough earlier to catch the PacMan doodle on Google.
Earlier Google updated the way Search results came up and though I am a fan of Google I was not so happy with the update. The new looked so much like Bing that it was hard to tell how much innovation has got in there. But now I am used to the new UI and find it pretty handy.
So now back to main agenda of this post. Custom backgrounds for Google Homepage. Yup its on now! Go to Google.com (duh!) and you will be getting the option in the lower left side of the browser window. I have tried this in Firefox but I think it should work for all browsers.
Convert your Laptop into a Wi-Fi Hotspot with Windows 7 – Buddy Tuts
Sharing internet over Wi-fi has become quite popular now a days. Since service providers themselves are providing Wi-fi routers, accessing internet on multiple devices such as laptops, PDAs, mobile phones with a single internet connection has become very easy.
But if you have a normal broadband connection and want to create your own wireless network for sharing internet, either you can buy a Wi-Fi router which costs around 2500 INR or use the Windows 7′s Wireless Hosted Network (Virtual Wi-fi) technology which will turn your Windows 7 Laptop in to a Wi-Fi hotspot without any additional hardware. If you want to share internet with a desktop that doesn’t support Wi-Fi, you can get a USB Wi-Fi adapter or a PCI Wireless network card.
How to convert Windows 7 into wifi Hotspot?
If you are wondering what a Wi-Fi Hotspot is, well it is simply put a device that enables users to access internet over wireless LAN. Now how do we set up our Windows 7 machine to act like a Wi-Fi Hotspot? Well actually there are couple of ways to do it.
Windows 7 comes with a feature called Ad-hoc network (This was available on Windows Vista also), using which you can share internet with another device. I tried the same but did not feel it to be quite impressive. Here is a youtube video which explains how to do it.
Better and easier way is to use a tool called Called Connectify Me
How to use Connectify Me?
With Connectify me all you need to do is just follow a simple wizard which will ask you a Network Name, a Password for the wireless network and the connection you would like to share.
Once you are done with the wizard, you can start the hotspot by clicking on Start Hotspot, which will make the network available for other devices. Just scan for the wireless network on another device, key in the password and you are done.
Connectify sits on your system tray and displays the number of clients connected to the network. Now starting and stopping the wireless network is just a click of button. Connectify also enables local sharing such as file sharing. All your shared folders will be available on the network, all you need to do is enter your windows login id and password to access your files wirelessly on another device.
This was a simple click and go method, but if you are interested in exploring more read on.
For the more Techie Readers here
If you wanted more features and wanted to change the functionality of the sharing then there is more for you.
There is a Open Source tool called Virtual Router on codeplex, which is entirely developed in C# 3.5 with WPF. Now comes the real fun, just download the code and create your own version of the Virtual Router…! You can go ahead and add a module to limit the internet bandwidth shared on the wireless network. You can add a module which logs all the URLs browsed on the wireless network for each connection, in case if you are planning to use it in an office environment, this will be helpful.
I tried both Connectify Me and Virtual Router from My Windows 7 laptop and could access internet on other devices such as another laptop, an iPhone, a blackberry mobile without any hiccups.
This is a guest post by my friend and another techie, Amitkumar Hegde.
Buy Fitness and Sports Goods Online – Makais.com
Someone once told me, “If you gotta stay happy, stay fit!” and I said, “Ya right” but that was the end. I could not make the lazy me get up and even go on jogging early in the morning. When it comes to sports, Sleeping is my favorite sport 
followed by I would say cycling.
Its been a long time since I have been cycling around coz,
a. Read para 1
b. I don’t have a bicycle.
Though there is hardly any solution for reason ‘a.’, if I would have been in US today this post would have been the answer for reason (b.). Yes, this post is a review of Makais.com, the look of which got me excited enough to go and check out the latest bicycles in town.
About Makais.com
Before I dive into my review on how the site looks and functions, its better to understand what it is all about. As we know every business has an interesting history behind it, so does Makais which was known as MakaiBikes earlier(in 2008) when they used to deal in only Cruiser bikes. As time passed, there business boomed and on customer demand new products were added to the list.
Today they have relaunched themselves with a bigger office in California and a new name Makais.com You can read about them from the Our Story section.
Makais.com is a online ecommerce story where one can order fitness and outdoor sports goods. They have a long list of positive feedback and many satisfied customers.
What do they sell?
Well one thing they sell is quite obvious by now, Bicycles but apart from that there are several outdoor and fitness gear lined up. They even sell unicycles and various kinds of trailers. I did not even know that such trailers existed. Apart from all the usual fitness equipments they have cool stuffs to help you with outdoor dining and even furniture.
Not only do they have such a great line-up, they are priced very low and they also offer free shipping.
Site Design
Well one thing that struck me the moment I saw their website was the lack of a logo. Though one can argue that the Name written in a specific font can act as a logo but in this case I disagree. For a ecommerce site with fitness/sports in mind, I feel a lively logo is a must. Somehow its also the most important step enabling branding and recognition.
The site design overall is very simple, easy flowing and pleasant. The design keeps everything straight-forward and easy to find. Something that I would say is a plus for the site. But still the freelance designer in me says that this site can do wonders with a redesign. Something that makes the site look more inviting and fun. Its about bicycles, adventure and outdoors afterall.
The current top sellers section in the right sidebar is good and works well. The product description page works with the overall site design and feel. So, the site design works and serves the purpose but it could have been better. But the folks at Makais should for sure get a logo that identifies themselves well.
eWebBuddy Review
Good website if you are in U.S. and you are looking forward to buying sports goods online. They have great feedback and free shipping on offer along with competitive price. Worth a try. I would really like to get one of those Unicycles.
Disclosure: This is a paid but unbiased post with 100% honest remarks. Get a paid Review for yourself here!
eWebBuddy rises to Google PR3 – Check your PageRank
Friends, lately I have not been posting so regularly on eWebBuddy and also have not been keeping track of my blog ratings and rankings. So today when I checked, a pleasant surprise awaited me.
Google has recently updated its PageRank (PR) and eWebBuddy’s PR rises to 3 from 2. Its not easy to get pageranks improved and that too when a site has not been so regularly updated but it has happened. Thanks to all the traffic my old posts have been garnering and many of you folks who regularly read my blog posts, this has been possible.
This PageRank update has not only been a good thing for the blog but it has also inspired me to post more regularly and make sure all the useful stuff/news reach you on time.
Also, for the people who do not know what PageRank exactly is…don’t worry I will do a separate post of the same. For now if you do have a website and you are listed on Google, you can check your page rank from the tool below.
Enjoy & 3 cheers to eWebBuddy.com
| Check Page Rank of any web site pages instantly: |
Get 1year Unlimited Web Hosting and Domain Name for $10 – Nexx
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Nexx Online. All opinions are 100% mine.
Offers, discounts and giveaways: they are so much fun and many not-to-be-missed ones. Here is one that eWebBuddy landed upon for you folks courtesy Nexx Hosting. I have my blog hosted on an unlimited plan with lunarpages and I am aware how much every year is spent on hosting. Afterall, when hosting your website, you need to be sure that the host is reliable with very low downtime.
Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to land upon an offer like this. Nexx hosting is offering Unlimited Web Hosting for a year + domain name for just $10. Makes me cry looking at my hosting bills I cleared last month. The guys at Nexx have relaunched their hosting platform with better support and options. To accompany this launch, they have come up with this super-cool limited-period offer.
What does the hosting package include?
This is a very important question as one should be aware of what is being offered as part of the package. The hosting package includes:
Diskspace: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
E-mail: Unlimited
Free Domains: 1
24/7 Customer Support
**Google Adwords Credits: $50
**Facebook Ads Credits: $50
One-Click WordPress and Blog installations.
Nexx Web Hosting includes an easy to use control panel which allows users to install popular open source apps like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Zen Cart at the click of a button.
All Nexx hosting services are powered by a top tier North American datacenter which utilizes clustered server technology, allowing proper resource allocation at all times so customers’ websites will never go down or slow down.
What do the folks at NEXX gotta say?
“We’re committed to providing customers with affordable solutions to establish and grow web presence. At just $10 for the first year, this unlimited hosting package provides a great opportunity to those who have not yet experienced our state-of-the-art technology and top quality customer service,” says Suat Alaybeyoglu, Director of Marketing. “On top of all the included rich features, we’re also providing a money back guarantee to all new customers.”
So added to all the features of any major hosting companies today, they are also providing money-back guarantee which is quite impressive.
How to get the offer?
Well simply click on the button below. In case you need a promotion code, use “SPARK01″. Please note that $10 is only for the 1st year. From then onwards, regular costs might be applicable.
eWebBuddy Review
The hosting service and package looks competitive enough and is worth a try. If you are not happy with the service, you can simply not-renew. Or even try their money-back guarantee. So go for it and enjoy the offer.
Tweet, Blog, Facebook this offer to let your friends know.. Enjoy!
