Kiran Upadhyay

Google’s at it again! This time, it’s changing the way it’s displaying its ads — a change that could very well get you involved without ever meaning to. The new ads are called “Shared Endorsements” and show just how private your online information really is. Hint: it isn’t. Are you ready for your face to appear in ads? What Are Shared Endorsements? As you probably know, most ads you see are personalized for you. Shared Endorsements are a new type of ad that makes the ads you see even more personalized and informative. For example, right now you might see an ad about a product that you researched half an hour ago. This already involves quite a bit of personalization because Google knows what you’ve been searching for. Shared Endorsements takes it up another notch. Say you’ve been researching a product half an hour ago, and an ad for that product appears. However, this time you’ll also see one of your friends in the ad, their profile picture, and a review of the product

Did you plug a USB drive into your computer yesterday, but today it doesn’t show up? Yet that drive works in the other USB ports on your computer. The problem may be the port! This is one of those computer issues that happens so rarely, we tend to blame the USB drive itself; just plug it in somewhere else and carry on. However, USB devices are still on the rise in popularity and show no signs of slowing down. USB flash drives, USB chargers for your phone, USB to connect your iPod, USB coffee warmers, USB is everywhere! So you NEED all your ports working. Here’s what you can do to check out your USB port and some tips on fixing it. Physical Examination The first thing that you want to do is to see if the USB port is physically damaged. A simple test is to put your USB Flash Drive into the port and see if it wiggles up and down really easily. Be gentle doing this! You don’t want to create a hardware problem if you don’t already have one. If you’re not sure how sturdy th

Have you got microSD cards lying around that you’re not really using? Make better use of them with adaptors, tablet storage and more. How many microSD cards do you have in your drawers, desk tidy or cluttering up shelves? Easily lost, these small storage devices have capacity seemingly beyond their physical dimensions, but there is no reason to leave them scattered aimlessly around your office or desk. Rather, you can make very good use of them. MicroSD Cards: Sizes And Suitability MicroSD cards might appear small, but they come in a range of storage capacities and ratings. You might have a standard capacity card, which would be labelled as SDSC; alternatively, you might have SDHC (high capacity) or even SDXC (extended capacity, up to 2 TB). In addition, speed class ratings are also printed on the cards and packaging to help you to purchase the right card for your project. You might have a Class 2 card, which will transfer at least 2 MB/s of data; ratings increase ba

Now, every Facebook user is searchable by anyone else on the social network. Facebook announced that it has removed the privacy setting that allowed users to remain hidden from Timeline searches. Facebook reasoned that only a small percentage of its 1.2 billion users were using the privacy setting in the first place. According to them, the best way to limit what people can find about you on Facebook is to choose who can see the individual things you share. The “Who can look up your Timeline by name?” was a Facebook feature that moderated the visibility of your account through a search from the search bar on top. You could decide if you wanted to be found by everyone or selectively stay visible to your friends and friends of friends. Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer Michael Richter said that this privacy was glitch prone as people could still come to your Timeline by clicking your name in a story on the News Feed. Furthermore, it made things confusing for a circle of fri

Most of us know how to use search engines generally. Most of us do not understand how search engines work — actually. In the age of Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird, it could be a skill failure if one has anything to do with working on the Web. A basic understanding of how to position your work for high web traffic is a much needed skill if you are a freelancer trying to get a blog listed on Google, a social media writer, digital marketer, or an entrepreneur planning to start any sort of business. Search engine mastery takes knowledge, experience, and lots of trial and error. The good thing is, you can begin learning the fundamentals and avoid common SEO mistakes easily with the help of many SEO guides available on the Web. Begin your learning now. Moz Beginner Guide to SEO Moz made its beginnings as an SEO consulting company in 2004 and even today is a premier destination for search engine knowledge on the Web. Along with great content, it has web marketing analytics tools if

Random Access Memory, more frequently known as RAM, is a common component that every PC needs. Users building a new computer always need to buy it, and those with older hardware often seek to upgrade it as an easy way to improve performance. RAM can also be found in a variety of products like smartphones, tablets, video cards and more, though in those cases, it is usually soldered to a mainboard and can’t be replaced. The sheer amount of this technology in the market would lead most people to assume it is a cheap product with relatively stable prices. That’s how mass-produced commodities usually work, after all; no one worries about the price of bubble gum going up next year. Yet consumer RAM prices have, since the beginning of this year, nearly doubled. But why? RAM Is Expensive To Make   RAM, like most things, is made in a factory, but not just any factory will do. Extremely complex equipment is required to fabricate the chips and, because impurities in or on t

Ah, the Internet. Over the years, the Internet and technology has brought many great benefits into our lives. Today, we no longer need to step out of our houses every morning to fetch the daily paper. We no longer need to visit the bank to find out how much money we have. We don’t even need to remember trivial information like phone numbers or how to spell properly. Technology does it all for us. Here’s a list of 15 things and practises that no longer exist, or could be on the brink of extinction, thanks to the glory of the Internet. What would you add to this list? 1. Public phones Image credit: AcidFlask/flickr 2. CDs and cassettes Image credit: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos/flickr 3. The Rolodex Image credit: TOKY Branding and Design/flickr 4. Encyclopedias Image credit: jev55/flickr 5. Classified ads in newspapers Image credit: engineroomblog/flickr 6. Disposable cameras Image credit: Kai Schreiber/flickr 7. Yard sales Image credit: Bradl

Your choice of desktop wallpaper says a lot about who you are. On the one hand, it’s not good to make judgments and assumptions about people from such a small data set, but on the other hand, wallpapers that display expensive cars, fantasy art, scantily clad women, landscapes, or even solid blocks of color can speak volumes. Your wallpaper is an expression of who you are, so where can you find wallpapers that fit you? Within the past decade or so, there’s been a surge in wallpaper sites that allow users to upload and share their wallpaper creations for download. Non-social wallpaper sites have, for the most part, fallen by the wayside, but there are still a few good ones out there. Which of the available sites are the best? Which ones have the most variety or the largest gallery? Here are what I consider to be the best wallpaper sites available today. Wallbase Whenever I have the urge to binge on new wallpapers, Wallbase is the first site I visit. The interface is m

When you purchase a computer that comes with Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows 8, that copy of Windows is tied to your computer’s hardware. It’s an OEM copy, which means it can only be used on that computer. Even if you purchase a retail, boxed copy of Windows and install it, that copy of Windows will become tied to your hardware after it activates itself with Microsoft. If you change your hardware later, your copy of Windows may become “non-genuine,” turn your desktop background black, and start pestering you to use a genuine version of Windows. You’re allowed to make certain hardware changes under the Windows license agreement, but even making allowed hardware changes may turn your copy of Windows into a “non-genuine” copy that requires reactivation with Microsoft. Why Windows May Become Non-Genuine Windows becomes non-genuine after some hardware changes to prevent you from taking a copy of Windows tied to one computer’s hardware and move it to a new computer. T

Someone performed a factory reset on their wireless router and now they’re calling you for help. “I don’t remember the username or password!” they lament. As the go-to tech person for all your friends, you know what it is, or at least where to find it, right? You do, right?! Don’t worry if you don’t – today’s article is going to show you some great websites that act as archives for the default usernames and passwords for thousands of routers, modems, and devices of all kinds. Just get the make and model number of the device and you’ll be fine. If your friend is resorting to resetting their devices because they can’t remember their own passwords, you might want to suggest a password manager app. RouterPasswords.com If the issue is specifically with a router – and for home users, that usually seems to be the case – RouterPasswords.com should be your first stop. It’s definitely an easy to remember a domain name. Simply select the router manufacturer from the drop-down bo

It took some time for Skype to get rid of one of its oldest annoyances. Skype will finally enable message syncing across all devices. This should remove the troublesome job of going through all your old chat messages when you start Skype on another device. The syncing of chat messages across multiple devices was announced quietly among a host of other technical improvements which Skype plans to make going forward. Long time users of Skype however will welcome a move that was for a long time on everyone’s wish list. Jumping from using Skype on the desktop to another device, for instance a smartphone, often meant a long lag as the smartphone version of the chat software would again download the entire message history. This not only put a crimp on quick communication, but also led to the phone hanging if you were on a slow connection. The update is being brought about as part of the improvements for mobile usage. Though no date has been attached to the introduction of the feature,

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about tablets — devices that usually run Android or iOS that look like supersized smartphones. While they’re certainly useful for various different purposes, there was something else called a tablet before the modern tablet became popular — pen tablets. These tablets don’t run an operating system, don’t have a conventional touch screen, and don’t run any apps or other similar functionality. Instead, they provide a pen and a surface that is receptive to the pen’s input. These pen tablets are fantastic for handwritten notes, drawing applications, and plenty more as they receive the pen input and send it to the computer that it’s attached to. While less common, they’re still useful today, and I picked up a  Wacom Bamboo Create Pen and Touch  tablet to see just how useful they are. There is one thing to note — shortly after we ordered the Wacom Bamboo Create Pen and Touch tablet, Wacom seems to have discontinued the line. The way it