Faster: 100 Ways to Improve your Digital Life
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SwipePad and the SwipePad logo are the registered trademarks of SwipePad, used with permission.
Once you have configured a hotspot region on your phone, tap on that region and, without releasing your finger, move it towards the centre of the screen. You will notice that a launch pad automatically appears on the screen. The first time you create a hotspot region, the launch pad will be completely empty.
SwipePad and the SwipePad logo are the registered trademarks of SwipePad, used with permission.
To add or edit a shortcut on the launch pad, hold your finger on the shortcut region for more than two seconds and release when it turns orange. You will now be given the option to add or edit the shortcut to any app of your choice.
SwipePad and the SwipePad logo are the registered trademarks of SwipePad, used with permission.
Once you have added all the shortcuts of your choice to the launch pad, the next time you swipe your finger in the hotspot region, you will be able to easily switch to any app of your choice. Just release your finger once it is on the shortcut you wish to launch and that app will get launched. With SwipePad on your phone, you no longer need to go to the home screen to switch to some other app. Irrespective of what you are doing on your mobile device, just swipe your finger in the hotspot region instead!
With SwipePad on your mobile device, switching between apps will become a breeze.
If you are using an iOS device, to smartly switch between apps, you don’t need any third-party app. Instead, simply double press the Home button to reveal all the recently used apps in the bottom bar of the screen.
55. How to access websites normally available only in a particular region
< 180 Seconds
There are various websites on the Internet that provide free and legal access to your favourite TV shows, music, movies, news and other content. Unfortunately, most of these websites have restrictions that only allow people from a particular region or country to be able to access theor content. This can be quite frustrating. If anyone from outside the ‘allowed’ region or country tries to access such a website, they are greeted with an error message. In such a case, if you still want to access the website, you need to somehow disguise your location and pretend to be in the ‘allowed’ region.
This is where something known as a VPN or a Virtual Private Network comes in handy. Using a VPN, is it possible for you to pretend to be located in some other part of the world (like the USA, for example). And once you are able to do that, you will also be able to access all the content on the region-restricted website without paying any money.
A VPN is typically used by companies and organizations to allow their employees to remotely connect to their central office network from anywhere in the world. For example, let us assume that you work for a company that is headquartered in Singapore. If you are travelling to Japan, the United States or Brazil for work and want to access your files, folders, database, printers and other network resources back in your Singapore headquarters, you can use a VPN.
However, there are several public VPNs available on the Internet that can be used to disguise your location (in technical parlance, they allow you to change the IP address of your computer) and pretend to be in some other part of the world. In other words, if you directly connect to a website then you will not be allowed to access the content on it, since the website will know from your IP address that you are outside the ‘allowed’ region. However, if you first connect to a VPN service based in an ‘allowed’ region, the website will get fooled and will give you access to all its content for free. As simple as that!
For this example, let us assume that you want to access content on a website that is normally only available to users in the USA. One of my favourite public free VPN services is HotSpot Shield (http://hotspotshield.com). It is a free VPN service, supported by some basic light ads, that establishes a secure encrypted VPN connection between your computer and their Internet gateway, hence giving you full unrestricted access to everything on the Internet. Most of their servers are located in the USA, so by connecting to the Hotspot Shield VPN service, you can change your identity and seem to be located in the USA.
Hotspot Shield can be downloaded from http://hotspotshield.com and installation takes only a few minutes. Once Hotspot Shield has been installed on your computer, you need to start it to tunnel all Internet traffic from all apps on your computer through their server. It is very user-friendly and you don’t need to be a techie to be able to use it. There is no configuration of settings that is required.
Hotspot Shield and the Hotspot Shield logo are registered trademarks of AnchorFree Inc., used with permission.
Once Hotspot Shield is running in the background on your computer, whenever you launch any app on your computer, it will automatically route your Internet access through the VPN server of Hotspot Shield in the USA.
Hotspot Shield and the Hotspot Shield logo are registered trademarks of AnchorFree Inc., used with permission.
If you want to make sure that your identity and location has been changed to that of a USA-based system, simply start your browser and connect to the website http://www.whatismyipaddress.com. When I open this website on my computer, it reveals that my IP address is 64.145.82.169 and my location is California, USA even though I am actually in India!
Now that you have successfully changed your location, you can easily bypass the region restriction placed by various websites and access all your favourite TV shows, movies, music, games, news and other content for free. It is also possible to connect your laptop to your LCD or plasma TV to watch the HD-quality episodes on the big screen with surround sound audio.
Hotspot Shield and the Hotspot Shield logo are registered trademarks of AnchorFree Inc., used with permission.
Once you are done accessing the content, you can disconnect from the HotSpot Shield VPN network by clicking on its icon in the taskbar notification area.
LOOK AND FEEL
56. How to search visually
< 120 Seconds
Have you ever come across a photo and wished there was a way to get more information about it? Maybe you are reading a magazine and see a beautiful hotel or some exotic beach in an ad, and you really want to know where it is. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to upload a photo of something that you like and get information about it? Google Images (http://images.google.com) allows you to search for photos similar to a photo that you already have.
Google Images and the Google Images logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
Once you have opened the Google Images website, simply click on the camera image in the input box to reveal the various search options. You can either upload a photo of your choice or paste the URL web address of a photo and submit it to Google, so that it can start the visual search.
Google Images and the Google Images logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
In this example, I have taken a picture of a beautiful landscape photo that I found in a magazine, and uploaded it. I want to find out where this place is and plan my next holiday there. I have to click on the Upload an image feature and then click on the Search button.
Within a few seconds, Google Images shows me the search result that the picture that I uploaded is of Machu Picchu in Peru. It shows me some websites where I can read about Machu Picchu, and provides a bunch of other pictures of Machu Picchu. Since Machu Picchu is one of the Wonders of the World, in the search results, Google also shows me pictures of some of the other Wonders of the World. You could also do this for images of products that you see online.
Google Images and the Google Images logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
57. How to resize pictures easily
< 180 Seconds
Most popular websites on the Internet (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others) require you to submit photos in a particular size, resolution and style. You might then have to fiddle around with some primi
tive apps to manually resize your photos. Eventually, you will get a photo that fits the website’s requirements, but maybe you don’t like it. This is where the website PicResize (www.picresize.com) can be used. It allows you to edit your photos from any format into any other size, resolution or style of your choice in a matter of a few minutes.
PicResize and the PicResize logo are registered trademarks of Internich LLC, used with permission.
Open your browser and connect to PicResize. This website allows you to resize any photo located on your hard drive or the Internet. You can either drag and drop the photo into this website tool or enter the photo’s URL. To upload the selected photo to PicResize, click on the Continue button.
Once you have uploaded the photo to the PicResize, as a first step, it will give you the option to crop your photo and rotate it in any direction.
PicResize and the PicResize logo are registered trademarks of Internich LLC, used with permission.
Next, you need to select the final size to which you want to resize your photo. You can either select from any of the sizes available in the drop-down list, or you can choose to enter a custom size.
PicResize and the PicResize logo are registered trademarks of Internich LLC, used with permission.
As an optional feature, PicResize also allows you to add several special effects to your resized photo.
PicResize and the PicResize logo are registered trademarks of Internich LLC, used with permission.
PicResize and the PicResize logo are registered trademarks of Internich LLC, used with permission.
Finally, you need to select the format in which you want the final resized photo. You can also choose to specify a maximum size for the final photo, if required. Once you are done, click on the I’m Done, Resize My Picture! button.
Within a few seconds, your photo will be resized according to the options that you selected and will be available for your download.
58. How to beautify Facebook Chat
< 60 Seconds
If you spend a lot of time chatting with your friends on Facebook Chat, chances are that you would get bored of its plain-looking interface. It is possible to completely customize the look and feel of the Facebook Chat interface to suit your preferences using the Pretty Facebook Chat browser app.
You can install Pretty Facebook Chat from the Google Chrome Web Store. Unfortunately, this app is currently not available for any browser except Google Chrome. Once installed, the next time you go to your Facebook account, you will see a new icon in the URL address bar of your browser and also next to the Facebook Chat window in the bottom right corner of your browser. You can use these icons to change the various settings related to Pretty Facebook Chat, and also switch it on and off.
Pretty Facebook Chat and the Pretty Facebook Chat logo are registered trademarks of Luca Rainone, used with permission.
One of the most useful features of Pretty Facebook Chat is that it adds hundreds of smileys, memes and special letters to your Facebook Chat that are normally not available. Installing this app will surely make your Facebook Chat experience a lot more fun. You can also use Pretty Facebook Chat to completely customize the look and feel of the Facebook Chat messages that you send to your friends (text size, colour, font family etc.) and the Facebook Chat window in which you are chatting (window size, shadow effect, location on screen and theme). For example, using this browser app, you can send chat messages in different colours and styles with the background in a special theme, like the Hello Kitty theme.
Pretty Facebook Chat and the Pretty Facebook Chat logo are registered trademarks of Luca Rainone, used with permission.
59. How to customize everything in YouTube
< 120 Seconds
YouTube has become one of the most popular video-viewing and sharing platforms in the world. Every month, there are hundreds of millions of unique users who view videos on YouTube. A limitation associated with YouTube is that it normally does not allow users to customize its look and feel, functionality and features. But the true power of a platform like YouTube can only be experienced when you are able to completely customize it to suit your personal needs and preferences. There is a very useful browser app called YouTube Options, which is available as a free download for both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
YouTube Options and the YouTube Options logo are registered trademarks of YouTube LLC, used with permission.
Once you have installed the YouTube Options app in your browser, the YTO icon will appear in the URL address bar each time you go to YouTube. When you click on the YTO icon, a console interface will show up on the screen that will allow you to control just about everything related to your YouTube video-watching experience, including:
1. Size and resolution of videos
YouTube Options allows you to completely customize the size and resolution of any video that you are watching.
2. Advertisements
If you don’t like to watch the annoying ads before the start of YouTube videos, then you can choose to disable them using YouTube Options.
3. Look and feel of the YouTube screen
You can also control everything that gets displayed on the YouTube screen along with your video. You can get rid of anything that you don’t like. For example, you can get rid of YouTube comments and suggested videos vertical column.
4. Automatic loop
If you want to keep watching a video over and over again, then you should turn the loop option to On.
5. Auto-play and Auto-buffer
Using these options, you can choose to enable or disable auto-play and auto-buffer of the videos that you watch on YouTube.
Although most of the features available in YouTube Options are designed to work only on YouTube, many of them are even supported on other video platforms like Vimeo, DailyMotion, MetaCafe and Hulu.
60. How to improve your photo-viewing experience on Facebook
< 60 Seconds
Most of us have spent endless hours looking at other people’s photos on Facebook. Normally, when you are looking at photos on Facebook, you have to click on each photo individually to open and view it. However, there is a faster and better way to view photos on Facebook using the Photo Zoom for Facebook browser extension. It is available on both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers, and you can install it from the Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com) or the Mozilla Firefox add-ons website (https://addons.mozilla.org).
Once you have installed Photo Zoom for Facebook, you can see a larger version of any photo on Facebook simply by hovering your mouse over it for a few seconds. If you are viewing your friend’s photo album, the usually miniature versions of all the photos in that album are displayed on a single page. However, it is possible for you now to quickly view a large maximized version of any of the photos in the album by hovering the mouse cursor over the photo for a few seconds.
Similarly, even within your Facebook feed, it is possible to see a larger version of your friends’ profile pictures by simply hovering your mouse cursor over their picture for a few seconds. With the help of Photo Zoom for Facebook, your photo-viewing experience on Facebook will improve significantly.
61. How to add special effects to text on Facebook and Twitter
< 120 Seconds
Usually, social networking websites do not give you too many options to customize how the text that you enter (status updates, tweets, comments, wall posts etc.) will end up looking. If you want to add special effects to text entered by you on social networking websites to surprise your friends, this tip is just for you.
You don’t need to restrict the language that you enter text in to English—it is even possible to write on your favourite social networking sites in various regional languages. Start your browser and connect to Google Transliteration (http://www.google.com/transliterate) and select the Hindi language option from the drop-down menu. This website allows you to type in English, but will then automatically convert the text into the regional language you have chosen.
In the space provided, type the text. The trick to remember here is that you need to think of the text in Hindi, but write it in English. As you are typing, whenever you press the spacebar key, Google Transliteration will automatically convert your text into Hindi.
Google Transliteration and the Google Transliteration logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
Copy the text and paste it into your favourite social networking site, e.g. Facebook. You will notice that your Facebook status has been updated in Hindi. You can also click on the drop-down button in Google Transliteration and select any other language of your choice.
Google Transliteration and the Google Transliteration logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
It is also possible for you to write text in reverse in various places on popular social networking websites. For this effect, start your browser and connect to the website Reverse Text Generator (http://textmechanic.com/Reverse-Text-Generator.html). In the space provided, simply type any text of your choice, and then, choose from any of the special effects buttons at the top.
62. How to gather information as you travel using your mobile phone
< 270 Seconds