I'm starting a new "series" called android 101. I'm writing these tutorials for the less techy people. I'm hoping to help people, to gain a better understanding, of what their smartphone can do. The first part of these will describe the user interface.
No matter what flavor of android your using, or what skin is put on in, there are a few common elements. Every android has four buttons: home, menu, back, and search(this is not the case anymore with Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich). The home button takes you from wherever you are to the home screen. This doesn't make your app to quit, it only puts it in a "stand-by" mode. The menu brings up the application's(or depending on where you are the system's) menu. The back button take you back to the previous screen, even if that screen was in another application. And search is a dedicated search button, which will enable you to search an application, system or the internet for various things.
While the home screen, menu, and app drawer will most likely differ from android to android, there are a couple of basic things you do the same on every android(exception being Honeycomb, but unless you have a tablet you don't need to worry about this). Long pressing the desktop will give you the same options as menu will. This is the way to change desktop wallpaper, add an icon/widget/shortcut to the home screen. Long pressing an icon or widget will enable you to move it, remove it or on some cases re-size it. Android has a great notification system. It has had it since day one. If you pull down to top bar, then the notification drawer will open and you can see all notifications, and ongoing applications such as music which is playing, security software, battery saver, etc.
This was only a brief presentation of the user interface, but I'm planning to explore much deeper android, and give you a general view from simple settings to advanced stuff like rooting.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Lost but not forgotten
It really has been a while since I wrote anything here. It has been a very busy summer, with my new job and everything. But I will try to find some time to write stuff from now and then. I might post an iPhone 4 review soon(since it has been a huge "hit" this summer). I was waiting for the dust to settle first. And I might get one, somewhere along next month, then again I might change my mind...again. I really want a smartphone(I don't need one, I just want one). And I'm kind of thorn between an iPhone and some Android based phones. A little help here? Anyway I will try to post in the weeks following a review of my favorite sci-fi series, and the usual computery-gadgetery-geeky stuff. C u soon!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Spring PC Maintanance
A healthy PC is a faster PC.
This guide will show you how to clean up your system properly so it will run faster, and therefore you can be more productive with it.
1) Open up Add/Remove programs from the Control Panel, and uninstall every program you don't use. Surely you don't need 5 different media players, or 3 document viewers, etc.
2) Clean up your desktop! Your desktop isn't your personal folder! Delete all of the extra icons. You don't need Adobe Reader, or similar things there.
3) Open Accesories->System Tools->Disk Cleanup, and let it do it's job. Delete everything it finds.
4) Install http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download. And do a registry cleanup with it.
5) Clean up your personal files. Organize them, delete the trash, etc.
6) Open Accesories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter and defragment your drives
7) Do a virus scan.
And your all done. Your system will now run better. Maybe it won't be as fast as you'd expect, but it surely run smoother.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Going legal...well almost
Whoever lives in our beautiful country and uses Windows, has at least one(if not the whole system) pirated software. This is due to the fact that software is insanely expensive here. For example Windows 7 costs almost an average monthly salary, and this is the Home edition... Who would be willing to pay a monthly salary just to buy Windows? My point exactly!
Now of course the Linux trolls will come out from under the bridge, and say "Use Linux! It's free!". Well yes I agree. And for the average user, who will only do web browsing, IM, music, movies, and occasional document editing it would be a perfect choice, though they don't realize it. People are very uneducated on this topic. Most of you would say it's hard, it's not as good as Windows, and so on and so forth. These things are not true, but I can't fight the multi-million dollar Microsoft marketing budget on my own, now can I? For the people who want to play games, and use specific apps that just will not work under Linux is another question. I am one of those people.
I own a few products, and I can tell you from experience that no pirated software can be compared with an original!(Yeah, yeah keep trolling you know I'm right) Owners know what I'm talking about. There is a sense of security, quality to it. Not to mention a peace of mind, and proudness that your in legality. So I decided that I will make my computer as legal as I can. Mostly I will do this by using free software, though I am planning to buy a few. This will however not apply to music and movies. With all the good will that just isn't possible here.
Fortunately I don't have to buy Windows, I got an official copy from college, and that will do.
Here's a list of software with which I will have to do something:
Microsoft Office - Thinking OpenOffice or Google Docs. Not sure yet.
Total Commander - Despite belief this is only a demo, and can be used for a month. I'm going to try Free Commander
Surprisingly that's about it(ok I have a few games, but promise I'll get rid of it as soon as I'm done :D ).
Now of course the Linux trolls will come out from under the bridge, and say "Use Linux! It's free!". Well yes I agree. And for the average user, who will only do web browsing, IM, music, movies, and occasional document editing it would be a perfect choice, though they don't realize it. People are very uneducated on this topic. Most of you would say it's hard, it's not as good as Windows, and so on and so forth. These things are not true, but I can't fight the multi-million dollar Microsoft marketing budget on my own, now can I? For the people who want to play games, and use specific apps that just will not work under Linux is another question. I am one of those people.
I own a few products, and I can tell you from experience that no pirated software can be compared with an original!(Yeah, yeah keep trolling you know I'm right) Owners know what I'm talking about. There is a sense of security, quality to it. Not to mention a peace of mind, and proudness that your in legality. So I decided that I will make my computer as legal as I can. Mostly I will do this by using free software, though I am planning to buy a few. This will however not apply to music and movies. With all the good will that just isn't possible here.
Fortunately I don't have to buy Windows, I got an official copy from college, and that will do.
Here's a list of software with which I will have to do something:
Microsoft Office - Thinking OpenOffice or Google Docs. Not sure yet.
Total Commander - Despite belief this is only a demo, and can be used for a month. I'm going to try Free Commander
Surprisingly that's about it(ok I have a few games, but promise I'll get rid of it as soon as I'm done :D ).
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Windows security guide
Today there are tons of malware softwares out there. Malware are software that can damage your computer, and compromise your virtual identity, such as viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, etc.
The first rule that I have to tell you is that, there isn't a 100% safe system. And because Windows has the most security holes, I'm going to present you a guide with which you can make your system more secure. I will assume you know your way around the computer, and if you don't know how to do something you'll use Google. I will also assume that you have the default settings, and you didn't change anything manually.
Because Windows is very vulnerable, you'll need security updates. The only way you can get these, is by buying it. Having legit software is generally a good thing if you want to avoid malware. Have automatic updates turned on, an install them as soon as they come out.
Windows XP users HAVE AUTORUN TURNED OFF(this can be done in the Control Panel)! With autorun on you can be very easily infected without you even knowing it. This problem however does not affect Windows Vista and newer versions.
The next thing you'll need is security software. To have a secure system you'll need an anti-virus, a firewall and anti-spyware. You can get these separately or in a software suite.
We'll start with anti-viruses. There are free and payed versions available out there. While both of them are good, I recommend buying one. Commercial anti-viruses tend to use more resources, they however provide superior protection. While free anti-viruses do their jobs surprisingly well, some viruses may slip in. I scanned a computer with a free anti virus and it said the system was clean, while a scan with a commercial software reported 7 infected objects. Some free products I would recommend are Avast! Home Edition and Avira AntiVir Personal. I haven't decided yet on a commercial version because I'm still trying them out, but I'm not complaining about Bitdefender, and I had some really good experiences with Kaspersky. Having more than one antivirus installed is NOT a good idea! They would slow your system down, and even conflict with each other. Windows Defender is useless.
Firewalls protect your system from unwanted connections. They supervise the network(thus internet) traffic of your computer. If you have a hardware firewall(several newer generation routers have one, check your manual to be sure), then you don't need additional software to do this for you. If however you need one then I really only have one recommendation for you. Comodo Personal Firewall, it is free and one of the best out there. If you don't like Comodo you could try out ZoneAlarm Free. I don't recommend buying one since the free versions are doing their job very well. Using Windows firewall doesn't count as having one, turn it off and forget it even exists.
The rules about free and commercial apply to anti-spyware as with anti-viruses. Most commercial anti-viruses have anti-spyware too, so it's not a problem if you choose a commercial product. If you however want to use freeware then I recommend using: Ad-Aware Free or Spybot - Search & Destroy.
Other things you may want to keep in mind is that you can get infected via decoy mp3 files. These are mp3 only by name, they are in fact malware droppers. I don't recommend using Limewire(Frostwire) since these networks are highly infected. Visiting porn sites can also get you infected very easily. Don't use the same passwords. For important things use strong passwords(at least 6-8 characters containing numbers, small and big letters and special characters).
As a conclusion preventing security disasters is easier than managing them.
Here's a list of websites of the mentioned software:
Anti-virus:
Bitdefender(commercial): http://www.bitdefender.com
Kaspersky(commercial): http://www.kaspersky.com
Avast! Home Edition(free): http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download
Avira Antivirus Personal(free): http://www.free-av.com/
Firewall:
Comodo Internet Firewall(free): http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/
ZoneAlarm Free(free): http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm
Anti-Spyware:
Ad-Adware(free): http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Spybot Search & Destroy(free): http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
The first rule that I have to tell you is that, there isn't a 100% safe system. And because Windows has the most security holes, I'm going to present you a guide with which you can make your system more secure. I will assume you know your way around the computer, and if you don't know how to do something you'll use Google. I will also assume that you have the default settings, and you didn't change anything manually.
Because Windows is very vulnerable, you'll need security updates. The only way you can get these, is by buying it. Having legit software is generally a good thing if you want to avoid malware. Have automatic updates turned on, an install them as soon as they come out.
Windows XP users HAVE AUTORUN TURNED OFF(this can be done in the Control Panel)! With autorun on you can be very easily infected without you even knowing it. This problem however does not affect Windows Vista and newer versions.
The next thing you'll need is security software. To have a secure system you'll need an anti-virus, a firewall and anti-spyware. You can get these separately or in a software suite.
We'll start with anti-viruses. There are free and payed versions available out there. While both of them are good, I recommend buying one. Commercial anti-viruses tend to use more resources, they however provide superior protection. While free anti-viruses do their jobs surprisingly well, some viruses may slip in. I scanned a computer with a free anti virus and it said the system was clean, while a scan with a commercial software reported 7 infected objects. Some free products I would recommend are Avast! Home Edition and Avira AntiVir Personal. I haven't decided yet on a commercial version because I'm still trying them out, but I'm not complaining about Bitdefender, and I had some really good experiences with Kaspersky. Having more than one antivirus installed is NOT a good idea! They would slow your system down, and even conflict with each other. Windows Defender is useless.
Firewalls protect your system from unwanted connections. They supervise the network(thus internet) traffic of your computer. If you have a hardware firewall(several newer generation routers have one, check your manual to be sure), then you don't need additional software to do this for you. If however you need one then I really only have one recommendation for you. Comodo Personal Firewall, it is free and one of the best out there. If you don't like Comodo you could try out ZoneAlarm Free. I don't recommend buying one since the free versions are doing their job very well. Using Windows firewall doesn't count as having one, turn it off and forget it even exists.
The rules about free and commercial apply to anti-spyware as with anti-viruses. Most commercial anti-viruses have anti-spyware too, so it's not a problem if you choose a commercial product. If you however want to use freeware then I recommend using: Ad-Aware Free or Spybot - Search & Destroy.
Other things you may want to keep in mind is that you can get infected via decoy mp3 files. These are mp3 only by name, they are in fact malware droppers. I don't recommend using Limewire(Frostwire) since these networks are highly infected. Visiting porn sites can also get you infected very easily. Don't use the same passwords. For important things use strong passwords(at least 6-8 characters containing numbers, small and big letters and special characters).
As a conclusion preventing security disasters is easier than managing them.
Here's a list of websites of the mentioned software:
Anti-virus:
Bitdefender(commercial): http://www.bitdefender.com
Kaspersky(commercial): http://www.kaspersky.com
Avast! Home Edition(free): http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download
Avira Antivirus Personal(free): http://www.free-av.com/
Firewall:
Comodo Internet Firewall(free): http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/
ZoneAlarm Free(free): http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm
Anti-Spyware:
Ad-Adware(free): http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Spybot Search & Destroy(free): http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Future is Now
The year is 2040. As every weekday I wake up at 6:30 AM to go to work. I grab a cup of tea, and sit down on the couch. I reach out and get the tablet, open up my favorite news sites. There are no more newspapers, since using paper for printing was banned three years ago. Today me and my wife, she is in the kitchen right now, are planning to go to the movies. I look up the schedule.
- Hey baby what do you think of 7:30?
- OK. - she says.
- Let's pick out the seats!
She grabs the tablet found in the kitchen. The icon of that computer appears on my screen, as she turns it on. The tablets are connected via wireless network. I drag and drop the webpage on the icon, wait a moment until our tablets synchronize, and pick out the seats together.
I'm ready to go, outside it's a little cloudy(mornings are not as clear as they used to be, because of the pollution. As I sit in the car, a pleasant voice asks me:
- Destination?
- Work.
The car computer recognizes my voice print and sets up GPS to the desired destination. As I drive the car doesn't emit polluting gases: it's electrical like all cars nowadays. I see a solar power quad rushing by me.
- Kids...
My car protects me from accidents. All cars have proximity emergency stops, because cities are heavily overcrowded due to the extreme rate of population growth.
The year is 2010. I have a vision of the near future. Will today's technologies be enough to save us?
- Hey baby what do you think of 7:30?
- OK. - she says.
- Let's pick out the seats!
She grabs the tablet found in the kitchen. The icon of that computer appears on my screen, as she turns it on. The tablets are connected via wireless network. I drag and drop the webpage on the icon, wait a moment until our tablets synchronize, and pick out the seats together.
I'm ready to go, outside it's a little cloudy(mornings are not as clear as they used to be, because of the pollution. As I sit in the car, a pleasant voice asks me:
- Destination?
- Work.
The car computer recognizes my voice print and sets up GPS to the desired destination. As I drive the car doesn't emit polluting gases: it's electrical like all cars nowadays. I see a solar power quad rushing by me.
- Kids...
My car protects me from accidents. All cars have proximity emergency stops, because cities are heavily overcrowded due to the extreme rate of population growth.
The year is 2010. I have a vision of the near future. Will today's technologies be enough to save us?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Apple iPad
After weeks of whispers, Apple finally announced the iPad, the first tablet computer from Apple.
Apple promises the best web browsing, photo sharing and email experience. And if experience thought us one thing, is that when Apple promises, Apple delivers!
"You have the whole web page in the palm of your hand." This is the quote used by Steven Jobs Apple's CEO. And he wasn't kidding, you can literally see the whole web page. It's no wonder photo sharing is better on a tablet, since it is lighter and all that. It's like holding a photo frame. What I didn't like is that it's too much like the iPhone. It's practically a bigger iPhone. And no the iPad(since it's so similar to the iPhone) isn't multi-task.
The pricing starts from around $400 and scales up depending on configuration. Though I wouldn't buy an iPad(or any tablet for that matter), it has its uses for the right people. And though I can't comprehend the reasons, for which anyone would prefer the iPad over the iMac as a home computer, I can definitely can see its uses for the near future which I will share in the next post.
Apple promises the best web browsing, photo sharing and email experience. And if experience thought us one thing, is that when Apple promises, Apple delivers!
"You have the whole web page in the palm of your hand." This is the quote used by Steven Jobs Apple's CEO. And he wasn't kidding, you can literally see the whole web page. It's no wonder photo sharing is better on a tablet, since it is lighter and all that. It's like holding a photo frame. What I didn't like is that it's too much like the iPhone. It's practically a bigger iPhone. And no the iPad(since it's so similar to the iPhone) isn't multi-task.
The pricing starts from around $400 and scales up depending on configuration. Though I wouldn't buy an iPad(or any tablet for that matter), it has its uses for the right people. And though I can't comprehend the reasons, for which anyone would prefer the iPad over the iMac as a home computer, I can definitely can see its uses for the near future which I will share in the next post.
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