Award For The "Best Blog - 2010" Goes To Dummy Essentials! Another One In The Row..!
Well, this has taken us completely by surprise, because we weren't even aware of Dummy Essentials getting nominated for the "Best Blog" (overall) category for the "About Web Search 2010 Reader's Choice Category" (ref: HERE) and here we were informed sometime back by one of our readers, that we have been chosen as winners by the About Web Search for being the Best Blog for 2010. It honestly sounds too good to be true.. 2 awards in a row, followed by the excitement of winning 2 categories in the recent Blogger's Choice Awards 2009 for the Best Geek Blog and the Best Blog Design, just around a month back (ref: HERE) We would like to thank all our readers and for appreciating the work we do, because without you all, our blog couldn't have been a success. Here's the screenshot of the Award presented (on your left, you would need to click on the image to enlarge it) and if you would like to visit the link, you would need to CLICK HERE.We would say, its just the beginning and there is still a lot to come, with our promise to deliver the best to our readers. Thank you all!
To see more of Awards that have been conferred on Dummy Essentials, you can visit the "Awards" page, HERE.
Dummy Essentials Scoops Another Award!
The About.com Reader's Choice Awards 2010- Best of Google (ref: HERE) were announced yesterday and Dummy Essentials scooped another award for the top position, after the winning the Blogger's Choice Awards 2009 (ref: HERE) around a month back.
After the nomination followed by a whole month's assessment and voting by the readers of one of the biggest tech networks on the Web - About.com, Dummy Essentials won the award for excellence in the blogging world, once again. We would personally like to thank all the readers of About.com who found our blog interesting and helpful and in turn voted for us.Dummy Essentials was one of the five blogger blogs, selected for the 2010 Reader's Choice Awards.
The read the details, kindly click the image below, else you can visit the website HERE.
Following were the Poll Results:
We are glad that we grabbed the honor again and the appreciation for our past efforts will encourage us to meet more challenges in the future. Thank you all!
To see more of Awards that have been conferred on Dummy Essentials, you can visit the "Awards" page, HERE.
End Program Automatically At Shutdown
Does your PC take a long time to shutdown, when you actually want it to, within seconds?
Here's a simple way to fasten the shutdown process, where all your active processes automatically end, with the click of 'Shutdown PC'.
Let's begin by clicking on the "Start" menu on the taskbar. Followed which, click on "Run".
In the "Run" window, type: regedit and click on "OK"
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT USER\Control Panel\Desktop
On the right side of the window, locate the key titled "AutoEndTasks" and double click on it and in the "Edit String" pop-up window, change the value data to "1" and click on "OK"
That's it and you are done! Close the registry editor, never to wait again for your PC to shutdown.
Here's a simple way to fasten the shutdown process, where all your active processes automatically end, with the click of 'Shutdown PC'.
Let's begin by clicking on the "Start" menu on the taskbar. Followed which, click on "Run".
In the "Run" window, type: regedit and click on "OK"
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT USER\Control Panel\Desktop
On the right side of the window, locate the key titled "AutoEndTasks" and double click on it and in the "Edit String" pop-up window, change the value data to "1" and click on "OK"
That's it and you are done! Close the registry editor, never to wait again for your PC to shutdown.
Apple iPad: A Super Sized iPhone?
Apple Computer has just launched its touchscreen tablet computer that further obscures the line between a smartphone and a laptop. "More intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smartphone", the iPad is intended to serve as an instant-on Internet device which can used for browsing and e-mail, an e-book reader, audio-video media playback, as well as computing and gaming.
The much-anticipated tablet offers a 9.7-inch, capacitive multitouch, LED-backlit glass display with a 178 degree viewing angle. Interaction, input and navigation is exactly the same as that on the iPhone or the Touch -through intuitive finger taps, swipes, pinches and stretches.
There is no physical keyboard.
Apart from 12 next-generation multitouch native applications, it has the ability to run most of the 1,40,000 apps available on the Apple App Store currently.
Then there is a new iBooks app to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device and a new multitouch version of iWork (Apple's office suite).
Like with the iPhone and Touch, the 0.5 inches thick, 1.5 pounds iPad employs iTunes to sync contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications etc. to a PC or Mac. All apps and content you download from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library. The iPad can be hooked to a new iPad Keyboard Dock if you want to use a full-size traditional (hardware) keyboard.
The iPad will be launched in two versions: one with WiFi and the other with WiFi as well as 3G. The 3G version will be able to notch up speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. The iPad, powered by Apple's A4 claims to offer a battery life of up to 10 hours which is built for a 1,000 charge cycles lifespan without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.
The WiFi only iPad will be available in March 2010 worldwide. 3G models will be available April onwards.
The iPad can't multi-task, offers no Flash support, wireless syncing, handwriting recognition, and has no webcam winking at you. Yet two factors give it a definite edge: a humongous library of existing apps and very good value for money if you are on the lookout for a netbook or an ebook reader... because it is both and more...
The much-anticipated tablet offers a 9.7-inch, capacitive multitouch, LED-backlit glass display with a 178 degree viewing angle. Interaction, input and navigation is exactly the same as that on the iPhone or the Touch -through intuitive finger taps, swipes, pinches and stretches.
There is no physical keyboard.
Apart from 12 next-generation multitouch native applications, it has the ability to run most of the 1,40,000 apps available on the Apple App Store currently.Then there is a new iBooks app to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device and a new multitouch version of iWork (Apple's office suite).
Like with the iPhone and Touch, the 0.5 inches thick, 1.5 pounds iPad employs iTunes to sync contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications etc. to a PC or Mac. All apps and content you download from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library. The iPad can be hooked to a new iPad Keyboard Dock if you want to use a full-size traditional (hardware) keyboard.
The iPad will be launched in two versions: one with WiFi and the other with WiFi as well as 3G. The 3G version will be able to notch up speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. The iPad, powered by Apple's A4 claims to offer a battery life of up to 10 hours which is built for a 1,000 charge cycles lifespan without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.
The WiFi only iPad will be available in March 2010 worldwide. 3G models will be available April onwards.
The iPad can't multi-task, offers no Flash support, wireless syncing, handwriting recognition, and has no webcam winking at you. Yet two factors give it a definite edge: a humongous library of existing apps and very good value for money if you are on the lookout for a netbook or an ebook reader... because it is both and more...
Facebook Privacy Tips!
If Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckeberg has shielded his friend's list, events calendar and photos etc. to his immediate circle, shouldn't you?
The Internet is not a place where privacy is respected. When it comes to social network sites where you and your associates are constantly volunteering personal information and images, you need to be extra cautious. The implications could be far reaching and at times disastrous, to both your work and personal life. So log into your Facebook (FB) account right now.
Go to Settings and then Privacy and examine each subsection: Profile Information, Contact Information, and Search etc. You will be able to control who can see your profile, post to your wall, contact you, what information is available to Facebook-enhanced applications and websites and who can see your FB search results etc. Avoid the "Everyone" setting everywhere. Don't accept Facebook's recommended settings. Unless you want your life to be an open book, of course. If you leave it at that, everything you post -- status, image, or link, will be visible to not just everyone of Facebook's 350 million users but also search engines like Google. By and large, and if in doubt, stick to "friends only". Don't add-on FB applications with careless impunity. Once you allow an application in, it has access to your account/profile and this can always be misused by that company. Which is why it is also vital that you don't skip the much ignored Applications and Websites section of Privacy Settings. Go to Settings > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites, then "What your friends can share about you - Edit Settings:" You can't hide the photos other people put up of you or tag, but you can restrict the audience to Only Friends. Go to Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile Information and tweak "Photos and Videos of me." If you don't want your phone number to be passed around among little people, please don't put it up on Facebook. The people within your immediate circle who matter will have it anyway. And the ones who need it, can send message you for it.
If career is important to you avoid flaming your boss or work place on FB. You never know, something harmless today could well result in a lost job opportunity tomorrow. So, do this today. It won't take you more the 10-15 minutes but it could save you lifetime of heartache. If you are really in a soup, you can resort to a programme called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine (www.suicidemachine.org) to eradicate your entire existence from Facebook -- or even Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. But that's the last resort.
Go to Settings and then Privacy and examine each subsection: Profile Information, Contact Information, and Search etc. You will be able to control who can see your profile, post to your wall, contact you, what information is available to Facebook-enhanced applications and websites and who can see your FB search results etc. Avoid the "Everyone" setting everywhere. Don't accept Facebook's recommended settings. Unless you want your life to be an open book, of course. If you leave it at that, everything you post -- status, image, or link, will be visible to not just everyone of Facebook's 350 million users but also search engines like Google. By and large, and if in doubt, stick to "friends only". Don't add-on FB applications with careless impunity. Once you allow an application in, it has access to your account/profile and this can always be misused by that company. Which is why it is also vital that you don't skip the much ignored Applications and Websites section of Privacy Settings. Go to Settings > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites, then "What your friends can share about you - Edit Settings:" You can't hide the photos other people put up of you or tag, but you can restrict the audience to Only Friends. Go to Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile Information and tweak "Photos and Videos of me." If you don't want your phone number to be passed around among little people, please don't put it up on Facebook. The people within your immediate circle who matter will have it anyway. And the ones who need it, can send message you for it.If career is important to you avoid flaming your boss or work place on FB. You never know, something harmless today could well result in a lost job opportunity tomorrow. So, do this today. It won't take you more the 10-15 minutes but it could save you lifetime of heartache. If you are really in a soup, you can resort to a programme called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine (www.suicidemachine.org) to eradicate your entire existence from Facebook -- or even Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. But that's the last resort.
Dummy Essentials Features In Top Online Business Magazine DailyBusiness.ro
It is an honor for Dummy Essentials to get featured in a Romanian online magazine, DailyBusiness.ro one of the leading online business publications of Romania. Dummy Essentials was interviewed a few days after winning the prestigious Blogger's Choice Awards 2009 for two categories. To follow up on the excerpts taken from the interview, you may click on the image below:
Here's a snapshot captured from the article published in the magazine. Only the details mentioned for Dummy Essentials are shown. To check the original article, mentioning the other 3 sites and details about them, kindly visit HERE.
(click on the image to read the original size)
For those of you, who would be more comfortable reading the same in English, here's the translation: (The original Romanian text has been translated word by word. We have only translated the text related to Dummy Essentials):
How to get to the real success and online: Las advice for Romania, from Big 4 international sites.
How many local online entrepreneurs would not want to reach 2 million unique visitors per day, to win international awards, fame, money and default? DailyBusiness.ro discussed with representatives of large international projects to see where it comes from their success, which guides the strategic thinking and what advice i have for online site in Romania.
We selected four projects that have blogs and international flavor that won awards and, over time, developed into real businesses online, surpassing the status of simple project or personal page.
In short:
- Dummy-Essentials.blogspot.com offers tutorials written in plain language to help users solve their technology dilemmas. The blog has been chosen as "Best Geek Blog" and "Best Blog Design" in 2009, following the votes received in a competition online.
- If I write only tips `n` tricks, visitors would come, would read, would leave the next day. We offer concrete solutions, easy to enforce - founder
- We should not promise "the salt sea" and then not get up to expectations. Even if the traffic will increase on time, it won't help in the long-term
- We do not do reviews unless we really believe that the products are good, doing otherwise we would lose our readers.
- You have to stay 'on topic' in a blog. If you get to write about anything you find interesting, that would just induce confusion among readers.
Indian IT blog wants to conquer the world.
In May 2009, two passionate about technology in India, one of the countries' twinned with Romania "the evolution of the Internet, have proposed to launch a blog to help people" of all "to resolve their everyday problems that related to personal computers. Thus, Dummy-Essentials.blogspot.com offers tutorials written in plain language to help users solve their technology dilemmas. Articles cover solutions on Microsoft Windows, Linux or MS Office 2007.
The blog has been chosen as "Best Geek Blog" and "Best Blog Design" in 2009, following the votes received in a competition online.
"Blogging, though, more than a financial source, is a hobby for us. In everyday life I work in software development and Ankit Srivastava is a financial analyst," says the DailyBusiness.ro Pooja Singh, one the co-founders blog.
They consider that part of the beginning of the blog's good is because people can easily put into practice what they explain in the post. "If I write only tips` n `tricks, visitors would come, would read, and would leave the next day. If we place practical solutions, easy to implement, they are back and to read and follow" Says Pooja Singh, who they say have already begun to receive many emails and messages from readers who ask things.
The blog has been noted by several institutions and educational sites in the world, among them Detentionslip.org largest U.S. educational blog. "Many other sites have put a link to us, helping us so clearly.
17% of traffic comes from Europe. "There's only one big 'secret' in blogging. To be interactive, to communicate with your readers. We should not promise" the salt sea "that then do not get up to expectations. Even if traffic will increase on time, not long-term help, "said the turn and Ankit Srivastava.
The main sources of income for Dummy Essentials are advertising and paid reviews or promotion of new software products. "We do not do reviews unless we really believe that the products are good, otherwise we would lose our readers.
As in Romania, Internet penetration in India grow stronger from year to year. Since 2000, the increase was 1500%. Currently, Internet penetration in India is 7% of the population, meaning about 88 million people. "It is an appropriate time for the start of online projects in India," say the two.
Three tips `n` tricks on IT blogs
Before writing any site-ul/blogul on IT, it is imperative that the owners themselves test the software or hardware. If limited to compile reviews as many other sites, might be tempting, but would lack the originality. "Only if you're writing from your own observations and you get something new , should you", say the two.
Second, the bloggers should not blog everything they find interesting at the moment of its creators. "You have to stay 'on topic' blog. If you get to write about anything you find interesting you would induce confusion among readers.
Third, it matters very much to succeed as effectively nisezi field of activity. "If you want a blog just about IT tips for the uninitiated, stay at that level all the time, otherwise your audience dissipate. When you choose what niche you want to approach, you must be 100% sure you like what you write, otherwise you will remain in short time without issues.
As suggestion for start-ups like, Pooja Singh and Ankit Srivastava say "must start from below and slowly. Rome was not built in a day. Do not run to promote your blog anywhere, but choose sites where people really are interested in the topics addressed by you. In our case, the technology forums. Twitter is very fashionable these days, but one must be careful what messages you send. If you twit dozens daily, it would tire people reading those and in turn you would be ignored. Send only what is truly relevant to them. It goes for Facebook and other social networks too.
The above are the excerpts from an interview with Dummy Essentials team, by Alex Goaga, editor of DailyBusiness.ro, The interview took place on 1st February, 2010 and was published in the magazine on 13th February 2010.
(click on the image to read the original size)
For those of you, who would be more comfortable reading the same in English, here's the translation: (The original Romanian text has been translated word by word. We have only translated the text related to Dummy Essentials):How to get to the real success and online: Las advice for Romania, from Big 4 international sites.
How many local online entrepreneurs would not want to reach 2 million unique visitors per day, to win international awards, fame, money and default? DailyBusiness.ro discussed with representatives of large international projects to see where it comes from their success, which guides the strategic thinking and what advice i have for online site in Romania.
We selected four projects that have blogs and international flavor that won awards and, over time, developed into real businesses online, surpassing the status of simple project or personal page.
In short:
- Dummy-Essentials.blogspot.com offers tutorials written in plain language to help users solve their technology dilemmas. The blog has been chosen as "Best Geek Blog" and "Best Blog Design" in 2009, following the votes received in a competition online.
- If I write only tips `n` tricks, visitors would come, would read, would leave the next day. We offer concrete solutions, easy to enforce - founder
- We should not promise "the salt sea" and then not get up to expectations. Even if the traffic will increase on time, it won't help in the long-term
- We do not do reviews unless we really believe that the products are good, doing otherwise we would lose our readers.
- You have to stay 'on topic' in a blog. If you get to write about anything you find interesting, that would just induce confusion among readers.
Indian IT blog wants to conquer the world.
In May 2009, two passionate about technology in India, one of the countries' twinned with Romania "the evolution of the Internet, have proposed to launch a blog to help people" of all "to resolve their everyday problems that related to personal computers. Thus, Dummy-Essentials.blogspot.com offers tutorials written in plain language to help users solve their technology dilemmas. Articles cover solutions on Microsoft Windows, Linux or MS Office 2007.
The blog has been chosen as "Best Geek Blog" and "Best Blog Design" in 2009, following the votes received in a competition online.
"Blogging, though, more than a financial source, is a hobby for us. In everyday life I work in software development and Ankit Srivastava is a financial analyst," says the DailyBusiness.ro Pooja Singh, one the co-founders blog.
They consider that part of the beginning of the blog's good is because people can easily put into practice what they explain in the post. "If I write only tips` n `tricks, visitors would come, would read, and would leave the next day. If we place practical solutions, easy to implement, they are back and to read and follow" Says Pooja Singh, who they say have already begun to receive many emails and messages from readers who ask things.
The blog has been noted by several institutions and educational sites in the world, among them Detentionslip.org largest U.S. educational blog. "Many other sites have put a link to us, helping us so clearly.
17% of traffic comes from Europe. "There's only one big 'secret' in blogging. To be interactive, to communicate with your readers. We should not promise" the salt sea "that then do not get up to expectations. Even if traffic will increase on time, not long-term help, "said the turn and Ankit Srivastava.
The main sources of income for Dummy Essentials are advertising and paid reviews or promotion of new software products. "We do not do reviews unless we really believe that the products are good, otherwise we would lose our readers.
As in Romania, Internet penetration in India grow stronger from year to year. Since 2000, the increase was 1500%. Currently, Internet penetration in India is 7% of the population, meaning about 88 million people. "It is an appropriate time for the start of online projects in India," say the two.
Three tips `n` tricks on IT blogs
Before writing any site-ul/blogul on IT, it is imperative that the owners themselves test the software or hardware. If limited to compile reviews as many other sites, might be tempting, but would lack the originality. "Only if you're writing from your own observations and you get something new , should you", say the two.
Second, the bloggers should not blog everything they find interesting at the moment of its creators. "You have to stay 'on topic' blog. If you get to write about anything you find interesting you would induce confusion among readers.
Third, it matters very much to succeed as effectively nisezi field of activity. "If you want a blog just about IT tips for the uninitiated, stay at that level all the time, otherwise your audience dissipate. When you choose what niche you want to approach, you must be 100% sure you like what you write, otherwise you will remain in short time without issues.
As suggestion for start-ups like, Pooja Singh and Ankit Srivastava say "must start from below and slowly. Rome was not built in a day. Do not run to promote your blog anywhere, but choose sites where people really are interested in the topics addressed by you. In our case, the technology forums. Twitter is very fashionable these days, but one must be careful what messages you send. If you twit dozens daily, it would tire people reading those and in turn you would be ignored. Send only what is truly relevant to them. It goes for Facebook and other social networks too.
The above are the excerpts from an interview with Dummy Essentials team, by Alex Goaga, editor of DailyBusiness.ro, The interview took place on 1st February, 2010 and was published in the magazine on 13th February 2010.
Reason Why Only One Anti-Virus Program Should Be Used On a PC
An anti-virus program is a very advanced piece of software specifically crafted to detect advanced, sneaky, irritating viruses which are designed to hide deep inside the operating system. Anti-virus tools themselves are sometimes designed to be sneaky to help find these viruses. Due to this fact, the presence of two anti-virus tools, could lead to confusion, false detections and chew up significantly more CPU resources and therefore may slow down system performance, than if it were running by itself. Most anti-virus tools also have a database with virus "signatures" in it. Some anti-virus tools may think that this is actually an infected file and may force the user to do things which could later destabilize the system. Thus its advisable to stick to just one anti-virus program for your PC to respond to it better.7 Reasons to Upgrade to Windows 7
While the contemplation is still on whether it's a major re-work (as Microsoft wants us to believe) or an incremental "Vista service pack" (as critics insist), the fact remains that Windows 7 is a necessary upgrade for dwellers of the Windows world. Pedigree polished by perseverance now ensures that the OS doesn't take forever to power up and shut down, notifications don't nag you every now and then, it doesn't hog up precious PC resources and it's compatible with a vast array of peripherals and programmes. Yes, some even insist on calling it Vista, done right...
With its 100 new features, Windows 7 comes in four flavors, including Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.
Seven good reasons to upgrade Windows 7 offers
With its 100 new features, Windows 7 comes in four flavors, including Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.
Seven good reasons to upgrade Windows 7 offers
- Definite and measurable performance gains over Vista and XP. While the stress is on simplification, Windows 7 also promises speed, simplification, stability, security while improvements in productivity.
- It is much faster than any Windows you have known so far - faster startups, faster operations, faster resumes (from sleep mode), and faster shutdowns.
- Win7 betters battery life on laptops - almost a 15 to 25 per cent gain. However, netbooks users upgrading to Win7, though experiencing other benefits, can expect decreased battery performance.
- Win7 boasts features like an improved Taskbar (the strip at the bottom of the screen where you can spy all the applications that are running), larger icons for easier viewing and click-ability, the ability to preset the order of preference or reorder, the preview thumbnails of all the various applications and browser windows that are open so you can simply go directly to the one you want.
- Networking your PC is much easier.
Right from setting up a local area network - wired or wireless - to sharing documents and files, Win7 is much friendlier than previous versions. Media sharing across devices enables you to play audio/video right off any PC on the network without copying files to yours. - The growing use of touchscreen computing has prompted Microsoft to go for enhanced finger-usability. Larger, more responsive touch-sensitive areas in the Start menu and taskbar aside, scrolling, resizing, media playing, panning, shrinking and zooming is now far easier onscreen. Better handwriting recognition and pen input improvements assure greater accuracy and faster speeds. Added now is the ability to create personalized custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition as well as the acceptance of mathematical expressions.
- If you never upgraded from XP to Vista - due to hardware compulsions or have a lack of faith in the OS, go for Win7 as it runs everything from low-end 1GB RAM netbooks and beyond. Migrating from XP to Win7 takes 15 to 20 minutes but you'll have to reinstall your applications. Upgrading from Vista doesn't require the reinstallation of apps. Here's a step-by-step guide for both XP and Vista users.
Moving onto Win7 isn't really a bad deal after all!
Sort By Color In MS Excel 2007
Today we will explain how you can sort out data in Microsoft Excel 2007 with the use of colors. Not only does this technique organize your sheet but it also helps in easy access to data. Let's learn how, with an example here. Consider the data of the following team members, as shown in the figure.
Now let us put up colors on the names as shown below:
Next, if we need some specific color that we wish to sort out, this is how we go about it.
After you apply the filters on your data, Click to sort as shown here:
Choose "Filter by color" and select the color you wish to sort from the list.
Once, you select your color, click on “OK”. And you are done.
As you see above that the data has got sorted by the color we selected (in this case, Yellow).
Now let us put up colors on the names as shown below:
Next, if we need some specific color that we wish to sort out, this is how we go about it.
After you apply the filters on your data, Click to sort as shown here:
Choose "Filter by color" and select the color you wish to sort from the list.
Once, you select your color, click on “OK”. And you are done.
As you see above that the data has got sorted by the color we selected (in this case, Yellow).
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