February, 2011 | TECHRENA dot Net

Picasa Web Albums Multiple File Uploader

February 27, 2011 by bharath

Google’s Picasa web albums is popular among the online community as a tool to quickly upload photos and videos to store and share them with others. But the problem with the online upload tool was that you were not allowed to upload multiple photos at once and you could only upload up to five photos at once. If you have some hundreds of photos to upload, this could be really tiresome process and wastes a lot of time. The only workaround this problem for all these days has been to install and use the Picasa desktop software which allows you to upload bulk pictures at once to Picasa Web Albums. But then, we have always wanted the web uploader to handle the multi-upload so as to possibly avoid the installation of another software just to get this missing tiny feature.

You no longer need to worry as Google has just lifted the five-at-a-time limitation to the image uploader in Picasa Web Albums, meaning that you can choose multiple photos and upload all of them at once (but be aware that a maximum of 1000 photos are allowed per album) to your album on the Picasa Web Albums.

To get started, open the Picasa Web Albums and login with your Google account. and click the “Upload” button if your are using Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari. You will now be asked to enter the album details and then in the next page you will be asked to choose the photos to upload. Once all get uploaded, you will see their thumbnails. You can then add captions, zoom in or delete from the upload screen.

Upload photos to picasa

Picasa web albums uploading photos

If you are using Internet Explorer, you can use the Upload Control plug-in in IE besides using the basic uploader.

Enable Reading Levels In Google Search

February 25, 2011 by bharath

Google reading level is a feature that lets you adjust the reading level in Google search results so that you get the most appropriate results based on your reading level so that you get webpages that you can read and understand easily. To get a better understanding, consider the scenario which Google mentioned in the help article (linked at the bottom of the post) about the reading level: A student or second-language learner might need a webpages more of basic reading levels when compared to a research scholar who might want to webpages of advanced reading levels. If you think, reading level matters for you, here’s how you can change

Go to Google homepage and click on the “Advanced Search” link found next to the search bar.

Locate the “Reading level” settings in the advanced search page:

Basically there are three reading levels to choose from: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced.

reading level options

You can either choose one of the three levels or you can also choose “annotate results with reading levels” and the reading level of the webpages will be displayed in the search results as shown:

You can then choose to read the webpages that are at your desired reading level.

These reading levels have been compiled by based on data provided by number of teachers hired by Google for the same purpose.

Source: Google Help article

[Tip] Change Internet Explorer 9 Search Provider

February 24, 2011 by bharath

If you have already downloaded and installed the Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) on your computer, you might well be aware that there’s no search sidebar in IE9. IE9 lets you search directly from the address bar so much so in the similar way Google Chrome does. You can also see the suggestions as you type (along with suggestions) in the address bar. But the problem here is by Bing set as the default search engine by default and most of the beginners will have tough time in figuring out how to change this default search engine to their liking, say Google. Here is a small tutorial explaining you the exact procedure to follow to change the default search engine in the Internet Explorer.

1. Type your search query in the IE9 address bar and click on “Add” button that you can see under the search suggestions (from Bing by default).

Icon of your current search engine is shown at the extreme left below the suggestions. As you can see from the above screenshot, it is Bing in my case and it should be in most of the cases as well.

2. You will now be taken to IE add-ons gallery page where you will find a whole lot of available search providers.

Locate your favorite and click on the “Add to Internet Explorer” link present next to it. All of the search providers listed there offer search suggestion as well.

3. In the new window that pops up, choose both the options (“Make this my default search provider” and “Use search suggestions from this provider”) and click the “Add” button.

That is it. We have successfully change the search provider in the Internet Explorer 9. And as you can see Google is my default search engine now!

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Wallpapers

February 24, 2011 by bharath

Honeycomb Wallpapers

Android 3.0 tablet-centered version, Honeycomb is finally set for a debut with Motorola XOOM tablet which goes for sale from February 24, 2010. Meanwhile, let’s celebrate the occasion with some wonderful Honeycomb wallpapers. There are 9 high resolution wallpapers, shipped along with the final SDK build for developers. We have got together all to a zipped file (2.86 MB in size) that you can download from the link added at the bottom of this post. The marching Androids (bots), blue crystals and lotus are my favorites. What are your favorite ones? Download and share with your friends and spread the love for Android.

Download Honeycomb wallpapers [Zip file, password: techrena.net]

The US National Broadband Map

February 23, 2011 by bharath

You are moving to a new place in the United States and are in need of getting a new internet connection but not sure about who provides the best internet (better term may be ‘faster internet’) ?
No more worries, we now have a solution in the form of the ‘National Broadband Map’ here. It came from none other than the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) of the Obama administration.

The National Broadband map for the United States (developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration) is a national broadband map containing data for thousands of broadband providers with more than 25 million searchable records and the results will be delivered in a map. You just have to key in your ZIP code or even street name along with ZIP code for even better localized result. The National Broadband map will then show you all the different Internet Service Providers along with the actual speeds that they are offering in your area.

As you can in the screenshot above, I have around five different broadband providers to choose from for my query (ZIP Code 94043 in California) and you can see that Comcast is the fastest broadband provider in this area when compared to Etheric Networks (which is also offering decent speeds), AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. You can quickly get to know about availability of a particular ISP in your area (anywhere in the United States), or compare the available providers without needing to enter their websites or view the overall broadband connectivity map of the U.S.

Visit National Broadband Map

[via]

[Download] Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)

February 23, 2011 by bharath

Windows 7 SP1 update

Microsoft has released the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM for everyone. Windows 7 SP1 was earlier released for MSDN and TechNet subscribers last week. Starting today users of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 can download the the Service Pack 1 (SP1) via Windows Update (as KB976932) when it becomes available to them. Most of the Service Pack 1 contains updates most of which have already been released through Windows Update.

You can either download the SP1 for Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 through the Windows Update or also from the direct links from Microsoft Download Center, made available by Microsoft (added at the bottom of this post). The advantage with downloading and installing Service Pack 1 through Windows Update is that it automatically detects the updates that have been installed previously on your Windows 7 and downloads only the ongoing updates that are not yet installed on your computer.

The build number of the final RTM is 7601.17514.101119-1850 and it does indicate the build has been compiled on November 19, 2010. The SP1 (KB976932) package includes client-side support for RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory two new features that are enabled in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

If you have installed a pre-release version of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (like Beta or Release Candidate versions) on your machine, you must uninstall them before proceeding further with installing the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 final RTM version.

Download:

Windows 7 SP1: 32-bit (537.8 MB) | 64-bit (903.19 MB)

[Via] [Image credit]

[How To] Change IP Address of Your Network Adapters in Windows 7

February 22, 2011 by dennis

Windows 7 logo

Changing the IP(Internet Protocol) address of your computer is a basic thing we do at times. Well the IP address we see in our local computer network adapters are mostly for a local networking purpose. There is always a global Internet IP provided by our Internet Service Providers(ISP).

But why do we need to change the IP address? It may be required when you want a local connection be done with no DHCP(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) servers. It is because of the DHCP servers are present in most of our systems, we need not provide an IP for every connection, the DHCP host takes cares of the IP allocation. But when you are in your own custom network without a DHCP host, we definitely require to set the IPs of our own to fit in the network.

Here I am going to demonstrate changing an IP address of a local network adapter. This can be used to change the IP Address of any adapter like Wireless LAN, Local Area Connection, Bluetooth Adapters or even virtual Network Adapters.

Step 1:

Go to the following location: Control Panel—>Network and Internet—>Network and Sharing Center

Click on Change adapter settings in the top left corner.

Step 2:

In the next window, you can see all your adapters. Right click on the adapter you want to change the IP, say Wireless Network Connection. Click on Properties.

Step 3:

In the properties window, select Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4) and click on properties.

Step 4:

Now Select Use the following IP address. Type the IP address details you need. and Click OK.

Your IP address has been successfully changed.

Notes:

1. Default gateway is required when you have to connect to the internet using a router or another computer.

2. DNS servers may be required in case of a direct connection to the internet through you adapter.

3. Validate settings upon exit can also be used to validate the IP if you want.

Given below is some of the IP address formats that we use. You can always use a private network format for your personal use.

ipv4 address format

IP formats source: Wikipedia

Important Note: Once you set your IP address manually, the DHCP host will not allocate the IP address for your network adapter. Make sure you set it to Obtain an IP address automatically in Step 4 in order to use DHCP host addresses.

[Tip] Disable Built-In PDF Viewer In Google Chrome

February 22, 2011 by bharath

Google has started shipping the Google Chrome browser with a built-in PDF viewer since the release of Chrome 8. Even when you install native PDF readers like Adobe Reader of any other applications to view the PDF files on your system, Google Chrome will automatically disable the browser PDF plugins and enable the built-in PDF viewer. But the built-in PDF viewer in Chrome has got some limitations compared to a standalone PDF viewer. If you want to disable the built-in PDF viewer in Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Type about:plugins in the Google Chrome address bar and hit Enter.

about:plugins in Chrome

2. All the plugins installed in the Google Chrome will now be shows in the window. Scroll down the list until you locate “Chrome PDF Viewer”.

Chrome PDF Viewer plugin settings

3. Click on the “Disable” link under the “Chrome PDF Viewer”.

Google Chrome’s built-in PDF Viewer will now be disabled and all the PDF files from now on, will be opened using the external PDF reader plugin that you have installed. In case you want to activate the built-n PDF Viewer in future, just follow the step-1 and click the “Enable” link under “Chrome PDF Viewer”.

[Tip] Import Delicious Bookmarks To Google Bookmarks

February 21, 2011 by bharath

Delicious to Google Bookmarks

Delicious, the popular social bookmarking service was in news in December 2010 when Yahoo said that it would ‘sunset’ the bookmarking web service which made the users think that Yahoo was trying to shut down the service. Later it turned out to be a rumor when Yahoo! clarified that it wouldn’t be shutting down the service but they would be selling Delicious. And so many Delicious importers uprose ever since the ‘sunset’ rumors surfaced. Now it’s Google’s turn! Google has launched a new Delicious Bookmark importer service to enable the Delicious users to import their bookmarks to the Google’s own bookmarking service. The usage is straightforward:

1. Login to your Google account and open this Delicious import page.

Delicious to Google Bookmarks import

2. Just provide your Delicious login credentials or login through your Yahoo! account in case if you have merged your Delicious account (the importer uses the oAuth process in this case).

Delicious Bookmarks Imported To Google Bookmarks

Select the ones that you want to import and click the “Import” button and that is it. You should now have all of your Delicious bookmarks (favorites) in your Google Bookmarks.

[Tip] Disable The New Photo Viewer In Facebook

February 20, 2011 by bharath

Facebook has recently introduced a new Photo Viewer (called ‘Photo Theater’) last week. It has become a topic of debate among the Facebook users since then with most of them not supporting the initiative from Facebook to introduce the new theater version of the Photo Viewer. The new Photo Viewer is all about popup slideshow covering up almost the entire Facebook page in black background. If you are one of those that doesn’t like this annoying Photo Viewer, you might want to disable it and revert back to the good old Facebook Photo Viewer. These are the set of workarounds to get rid of the new Facebook Photo Viewer.

Using F5:

Facebook appends the URL of a photo in Facebook with this “&theater” parameter to the URL to trigger the new Photo Viewer instead of the old one (You can manually delete the “&theater” tag from the URL and hit enter to load the photo in the old viewer). But it is found that refreshing the page loads the same photo in the old Photo Viewer. So all you have to do is to press F5 button and the photo should load again in the old Photo Viewer instead of the new one and you will see the rest of the photos in the album in the old Photo Viewer. However, this is not a permanent solution, and you might want to automate the things for you, and this is why you should scroll down to the next workaround.

Using Browser Extensions:

If you are using Firefox, you should first install the Greasemonkey add-on and then use the following Facebook Photo Theater Killer script. This script works in Google Chrome too. Alternatively, if you are on Google Chrome, you can install Revert Facebook Photo Viewer extension for this purpose.