Thursday, August 14, 2014

Dark Side of Zodiac Signs

Aries
Most Arians tend to be chauvinistic, there is nobody who they think is worthy enough of even standing before them. Well, if that were true all the leaders of the world would be Aries. Their ego is bigger than the universe and dare you hurt it, you would have to deal with that vicious tongue of theirs that pierces straight through the heart. And last but not the least, they are insanely self-obsessed.
Taurus
The lazy bulls have this special quality about them that surely sets them a thousand miles apart from the rest and that is called avarice. Greed can drive them insane; they crave for all the luxury in the world but don`t want to work hard for it. Funny, isn`t it?
Gemini
Do you really think your Gemini friend listens when you share your problems with him/her? For one, they do not and even if they do, then all that we can say is God bless you. Geminis only know how to talk, they never listen. Well, only sometimes when they think the gossip to be juicy enough and at the blink of an eye they will be telling your most intimate secrets to everybody.
Cancer
The crabs are so nice that it hurts, but they do have a wicked side like everybody else, may be not as wicked though, and depends on how you look at it. They tend to be clingy and dependable, emotionally unstable and freak out at the silliest of things.
Leo
Now, how can a dangerous animal like Lion be nice? Proud and loud, Leos, just like their fire mates Aries, have a thing for being boisterous. Cross their line of fire and you`d be sorry you met them in the first place.
Virgo
Their sugar coated words should never be trusted. Beneath that calm and composed exterior is a cunning person who doesn`t really mean it when he/she says that they admire you. And yes, how can one forget about their knack for perfection or rather irritating need to poke their nose in every matter, whether it concerns them or not,  all the time.
Libra
No the scales do not turn in their favour, not this time. Vanity conscious and power hungry, this air sign literally takes the symbol of their sign, the scales too seriously. They can be so finicky and obsessed about equality that it makes them go crazy.
Scorpio
You probably were expecting a lot of "good things" about the Scorpio and well, you wouldn`t be disappointed. There are actually a lot of good things that you didn`t know (or already knew) about them. Manipulative, selfish, controlling all that`s fine but the best thing is they never forgive. Revenge is a dish best served cold and the Scorpio out of all the signs understands it the best.
Sagittarius
The saying - "promises are meant to be broken" was probably by a Sagittarius. To a Sagittarian, life without adventure is so plain and boring that they need to do everything adventurous (read stupid) to get their adrenaline pumping, even if it means breaking someone`s heart (but they do realize it later).
Capricorn
Goats and devilish? You`d probably say no way but here`s letting you on a little secret-they are selfish, very selfish indeed. One has to give it to the Capricorns for maintaining such a saintly image.
Aquarius
Aquarians have a deep desire for fame and they will do anything for it. Being detached is one thing and backstabbing is another but to an Aquarian they are all the same. They do so unintentionally though, if that is any consolation.
Pisces
Round and round the fish goes, planning the next best move to get what it wants. Sweet on the outside and "God knows what" on the inside, Pisceans can be really deceptive and manipulative. A grown up Piscean may even cry or bawl like a kid to get what he wants.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Lost your property documents? To do...

Lost your property documents? Here is the list to get it back....

Procedure for getting duplicate papers of property when you lose them
Missing documents play a vital role especially in sale and purchase of property transactions. Selling a property with a missing paper is not an easy task. Therefore, you should be clear about the options available to you. A person doing a property transaction will have to get the duplicate documents and also shell out extra money. Here are the steps required to get the duplicate papers for your property:

1. File a police complaint immediately
Whenever you come to know about loss of certain papers either by you or bank, you need to file a police complaint as soon as possible. FIR should be made only by the owner of the house and it will be stating that the papers of property have been misplaced, lost or stolen. Take the copy of FIR; hold it safely with you as at the time of sale, buyers may ask for that as well.

2. Publish an advertisement
Once you are done with the FIR, you need to publish an advertisement in an English daily newspaper and also in any regional newspaper about the loss of property documents. Then you have to wait for next 15 days as it might be possible that somebody finds it and returns it within the limited time frame.

3. File an application for share certificate
Now, on the basis of your FIR, you can file an application for share certificate from the society. The authorized Resident Welfare Association (RWA) calls a society meeting and checks your proof (FIR) of loss. If your application gets approved, the housing society will charge a fee and in return issues you a share certificate. Also, ask for a NOC from them as it plays an important role in transacting further.

4. Register with the notary
Next step is the preparation of undertaking on stamp paper about the loss of documents of particular property along with the text of advertisement which was published in newspaper and police complaint number. Documents will be then attested and registered with the notary, so that your undertaking becomes legal.

5. Get the duplicate sale deed
The final step is to get duplicate copy of property's sale deed. For this, you have to deposit copies of police complaint, text of advertisement, share certificate and the undertaking stamped by notary to registrar office since all the records regarding property transactions will be kept in that particular office. Then, you need to pay the fees and they would issue a duplicate copy of sale deed.

These are the few steps which are required to be taken at the time of loss of property documents. Although, a good sum of money is required to go through these steps, but at the end you will get legally proved duplicate copy of your property. Bank loans are not easily granted on such property but after the verification of all the documents as well as FIR, they will provide loan once they find the documents authentic. Loans in such cases are at the sole discretion of the bank.

Do remember that if you keep the documents in bank and they are misplaced, you can claim compensation from the bank. It is a basic duty of the bank to preserve your credentials, if not, they can be penalized.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

10 Wireless Router Features You Should Use

Wi-Fi routers can do so much than almost anyone asks of them, and it only takes a little bit of extra setup.

When it comes to wireless routers, most users just want to set them up and forget about them. They see the wireless router as a simple device that merely brings Internet connectivity and wireless access to networked devices. However, for those who are willing to do just a little bit more setup and configuration work, a Wi-Fi router can be tweaked to do much more, including boosting performance, tightening security, and giving remote access to internal network resources on home or small business networks.
There are some obvious wireless router settings that most users are aware of and (hopefully) use. Currently, just about all wireless clients can support the highest form of wireless encryption, WPA2, and most users should have WPA2 deployed in their home network. In fact, newer routers, such as the Cisco Linksys EA4500 will, by default, configure the router with strong WPA2 security on initial setup. When shopping for routers, you should make sure that WPA2 is a security option.
Other common features most known to users include firewall and parental controls. Today's routers come with built-in firewall protection that helps defend against Internet attacks such as DoS attacks and snooping. Parental controls are increasingly being bundled into consumer routers and vendors are making such controls easier and easier for the average user to configure and manage. Parental controls give adults the power to protect their children from accessing the more unsavory content on the Web.
Those are all important features, but there are additional powerful features common to most router management software about which most users know nothing. What follows is a look at ten lesser-known router settings that can help you improve performance and gain more control over security in your network.


1. Channel Width


Think of data being transferred over a wireless signal as vehicles on a highway. The larger the highway, the more vehicles it can handle. However, the more vehicles on one given highway, the greater the chance for accidents and other problems. Channel width works in a similar way. Setting channel width controls how broad the wireless signal is for transferring data. Channel width can be set for both the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands, and it's configured in 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or now, even 60MHz for 802.11ac within a router's settings.
By default, 2.4 GHz uses a 20 MHz channel width. Data doesn't move as fast across 20 MHz as it does across the broader 40 or 60 MHz channels, but 20 MHz channel width supports legacy 802.11x devices and has typically has better range than 40 MHz.
Most routers' default channel width configuration will be set to "Auto (20 or 40 MHz)" and lets the router do the heavy lifting in determining the appropriate channel width.
If you want to tweak performance with gaming or high-definition video streaming and have a dual-band 802.11n router, try setting the 5 GHz network's channel width to only use 40 MHz, instead of the slower 20 MHz channel. You have to ensure that any computers or devices you use for streaming or gaming can support 802.11n, the 5GHz band and 40 MHz and that those devices are connected to the 5 GHz band. Note that you'll be sacrificing some range at this setting, but then you won't want to be broadcasting video over great distances. Still, if you have other devices at the edge of the router's range, you may want to add a repeater, if you find that the 40 MHz channel's range limitations are too great. Check out some our story 8 Devices That Can Fix Your Wi-Fi Signal Problems if you need hardware suggestions.
Currently, there are no wireless clients for 802.11ac. However, the same principle applies when they do come to market: to get the most performance, place your future 802.11ac devices on the 5 GHz WLAN and try setting the channel to the ultra-wide 60 MHz available with 802.11ac.
2. MAC Filtering


Any device that connects to a network has a MAC address assigned to its network adapter. To help lock security down on a network, use MAC address filtering to deny or provide access to your network. MAC filtering is a standard feature on just about any wireless router. It can be used one of two ways: to prevent specific devices from accessing a network or to allow specific devices access.
To use it, enable it within the router's management interface. You then add each device's MAC address and select if you want to deny or grant that device access. The steps may vary a bit depending on the routers you have, but this is essentially how MAC filtering is configured on home and small business wireless routers. Quick tip: in most wireless devices the MAC address can be found in the network settings. From a Windows client, run the command "ipconfig/all." The physical address associated with the machine's wireless card is the MAC address. For OS X, find the MAC address under "Network Preferences," and in Linux use the "ifconfig –a" command as root user.
3. QoS (Quality of Service)


QoS, or Quality of Service, is a feature that can help increase performance of specific types of network traffic such as video streaming, gaming, or even Skype. Most routers offer some form of QoS although some vendor will market their version of QoS under a proprietary brand name. D-Link at one point had its own QoS for gaming, GameFuel, bundled into some of its routers. When QoS is enabled, most routers can be set to give highest bandwidth priority to the applications and types of traffic you specify. For example, in the image show here I have enabled QoS to give iTunes traffic high priority. This means the router will use the most available bandwidth for iTunes, giving me a more lag free, peppier iTunes experience.
Some routers allow you even more sophisticated management over QoS. For a detailed look at how to manually set QoS for different types of network traffic check out: How to Set Up Your Wireless Router for Gaming, How to Set Up Your Router for HD Video Streaming and How to Set Up Your Router for Skype. Using QoS and getting maximum performance in your network can take some trial and error, but QoS is worth fiddling around with if you are having performance issues.
4. WMM Support


WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) is an automated, built-in QoS technology that is specifically designed to keep the integrity of multimedia: video, voice and audio. Typically, you just enable or disable it in a router with no further configuration. Enabling WMM on a router is not a guarantee that you will gain any performance improvements. In fact, sometimes WMM can degrade performance, especially if you have QoS already configured. Still, if you are having performance issues, WMM is worth testing out to see there is any effect on performance.
5. Frame Burst


Here's where we get into slightly dangerous territory. There are some really advanced wireless settings that can be found and tweaked it within a router. Just about every router vendor advises users not to mess with those settings. Playing around with advanced wireless settings can impede or even cut out your wireless signal. However, some of the settings, when configured from manufacturer's default, can help boost performance. Frame Burst is one such setting. With Frame Burst enabled, wireless clients are supposed to transfer data at faster speeds. Most routers have Frame Burst enabled by default. You can typically just turn it on or off. Try running your router with it turned on and also off to monitor performance. Typically, enabling Frame Burst can help increase overall network speed, but I've seen posts on networking forums where some users lessened connectivity drops by turning Frame Burst off.


6. Advanced Wireless Settings

advanced wireless settings

Most routers have an advanced wireless settings section. These settings should never be changed in most cases, except as a last resort in trying to troubleshoot persistent connection issues such as drops or slow speeds. These settings manage how data packets are handled on the network. Within advanced wireless settings, set the Beacon Interval to 50 (the default is usually 100), set the Fragmentation Threshold to 2306 (default is typically 2346), and set the RTS Threshold to 2307 (the default is 2347). Make sure you take note of what the settings were before you change in case anything goes wrong. 7. Dynamic DNS (DDNS)


Dynamic DNS is a feature that is common in routers now. With DDNS, you can associate your router with a public IP address hosted by a DNS provider. DDNS is useful if you want to access your network remotely, or if you host a Web or email server. With DDNS, you can access these types of network resources by a hostname such as "mywebsite.ddns.com" instead of an IP address. Most routers offer configuration options within the router interface of DDNS. The actual service is provided by a DNS hosting company; two of the more widely-used ones are DynDNSD.org and TZO.com. Usually, you have to go to the provider's site and setup an account (most accounts are offered free of charge) and then you can configure DNS within the router interface.
8. Backup and Restore


Most of us have a hard time remembering to back up our data, let alone our routers. However, once you have a router configured just the way you want, it's worth backing up the configuration. Just about all routers have backup and restore capabilities, and backing and restoring takes little more than a click of a button. Backing the router isn't so much used to recover if the router gets hosed, but more to put your settings back if you have to reset it back to factory default—which you might have to do if you forget the password, for example. If your router dies on you, though, you can replace the settings if you replace it with the same make and model. When you back up the settings, the configuration is normally saved as .cfg file which you can save on a USB drive, backup service or store safely in some other location. 9. VPN Pass Through


Having problems connecting to your work network through VPN when you are at home? VPN pass through can help you out. VPN pass through is not VPN. Higher-end consumer and business routers often will have a VPN server feature that allows you to setup your own private VPN. More commonly, most consumer routers support VPN pass through. When enabled, this feature allows VPN traffic to "pass through" to your network. There's different types of VPN traffic that can be enabled to pass through including: IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP. You can choose to allow all VPN traffic to pass through, or check to see which protocol the VPN you want to connect to uses.
VPN is a way to connect two secure networks over the Internet — for example a home network and one in a business. It needs special equipment or software at both ends.
10. Network Address Translation (NAT)


Network Address Translation is a feature which allows all of the devices on you network to share the one IP address most consumers are assigned by their ISP. By default, most routers have NAT enabled—which you want so all of your devices can access the Internet. However, if you have two routers deployed in your network, one performing WAN-LAN routing and the other serving as a bridge, you want to ensure that only the router that's connected to the actual WAN connection serving as a router if the only device performing NAT. A second router serving as a bridge should be in bridge mode with NAT disabled.
Double-NAT can cause packet collision and bottle-necks in a network, placing a stranglehold on performance. You can disable NAT on a secondary router functioning as a bridge by going into the management console.


Friday, January 18, 2013

Get a totally free point-of-sale system for your small business


It goes without saying that Square has revolutionized payment processing for many a small business—but it's not the ideal solution for every small business.
For one thing, it doesn't accommodate cash. For another, it doesn't print receipts (not without a third-party printer, that is). And it requires you to own a smartphone or tablet, hardware not every business owner can afford.
If you're looking for a more traditional point-of-sale system, but with Square-like pricing, check out GoPago Live. It's a soup-to-nuts POS setup that's absolutely free.
Update: GoPago Live now charges $99 per month.
Yeah, I was skeptical, too, but there's no catch that I could find. Instead, there's something of an embarrassment of riches in what the company offers.
GoPago Live comes with an Android-powered tablet, a tablet stand with credit card reader, a cash drawer, a receipt printer, and, perhaps most amazing of all, a free 4G data plan courtesy of Verizon.
Once again, there's no charge for any of this. Your only expense is a per-transaction fee of 2.85 percent—and that applies only to credit-card transactions, not cash. (Customers can also use the GoPago app to make mobile payments.) There are no other charges, no monthly fees.
Granted, Square charges 2.75 percent per transaction, and other payment-system providers have rates slightly lower than that. But a few tenths of a percent probably isn't make-or-break for most businesses, especially considering what you stand to save if you're replacing a provider that fees you to death.
You can, of course, customize GoPago's payment software for your business's products and services, and the system offers to promote your business via Facebook, Twitter, and your customers' smartphones.
Because I don't run a POS business, I can't really put GoPago to the test. If you've had a chance to try it yourself, or you can see any reasons why it's not as sweet as it sounds on paper, let's hear from you in the comments.

0 superb free tools for all of your basic business needs


Introducing new software into a typical small business environment can be costly, to say the least. Depending on the size of your business, buying multiple copies of a program—or its licenses—can quickly drive your balance sheet into the red.
The alternative isn’t especially appealing, however. Sifting through the Web in the hopes of finding an effective no-cost software solution could wind up costing a small business just as much time, money, and manpower to use effectively as it would have cost to buy a fully functional app in the first place.
What’s a business owner on a budget to do? Simple: Read this article.
Below, you’ll find 10 superb pieces of software that can increase productivity without decreasing your bank account. We included options for most major business functions—from productivity to human resource management to the operating system itself—in an effort to create a front-to-back resource for getting your business up and running for the low, low cost of nada.
A word of warning, however: Free software isn’t always the deal it appears to be. While premium software typically comes with frequent updates and a helpful support staff that’s just a phone call away, gratis software can be a bit more rough around the edges—especially when it comes to documentation, ease-of-use, and nuanced feature support. That being said, the utilities outlined here are amongst the cream of the free software crop, so you shouldn’t have to roll up your sleeves and dive into a technical support forum too often.

Operating system: Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu: Clean and fairly simple.
The cost of Windows licenses adds up quickly, whereas open-source Linux costs nary a dime. Ubuntu is a pretty darn good operating system, too, provided your workforce doesn’t mind abandoning the familiarity of the traditional Windows desktop for more uncharted waters. The Linux software selection is different than the Windows app lineup, but every piece of software mentioned in this article—with the obvious exception of Microsoft’s security suite—run just fine on Ubuntu.
While it’s often joked that Linux is near-impossible to use, Canonical and a host of open-source enthusiasts have put a lot of work into making Ubuntu extremely user friendly. We’d also argue that it’s going to be equally frustrating to try and stuff Windows 8’s modern UI into the business environment. And don’t even get us started about how great it is to run Linux on low-powered systems that would wither and choke at the mere sight of Microsoft’s main OS. But if you’re still not convinced…

Productivity suite: LibreOffice

LibreOffice is composed of several modules, like Microsoft Office.
It’s fair to say that one of the biggest challenges businesses face in abandoning the tried-and-true-(and-pricy) Microsoft Office suite for a freeware office package like LibreOffice is compatibility. Specifically, the worries that newly created documents or spreadsheets—whose extensions end with the letter “x”—won’t work with LibreOffice and, even if they do, they won’t quite look the same.
While it’s certainly true that there might be a couple of general differences when opening up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in its original app versus LibreOffice’s Calc, and that we’d much rather use PowerPoint than LibreOffice’s more lackluster Impress (sorry!), the suite’s Writer app is downright excellent, especially for its price. And yes, LibreOffice Writer will open DOCX files, though you may run into some slight formatting issues in documents with major bells and whistles.
Our recommendation? If it’s not too much hassle, start saving your key Word documents in older file formats that LibreOffice will have less issues with—like Word 97-2003 documents, RTF or ODF (OpenDocument Format) files—for fewer issues during your switch.

Security: Windows Defender / Microsoft Security Essentials

Windows 8 PCs ship with Windows Defender pre-installed.
Two security apps at once? Not quite, though this'll require a quick explanation.
In all versions of Windows prior to Windows 8, Windows Defender is an anti-spyware app. It’s good to have, but not as mission critical as a real-time virus scanner. Microsoft Security Essentials fills that role in Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. For Windows 8, Microsoft merged AV and anti-spyware apps into a single, unified program called—you guessed it—Windows Defender. Got it?
While different kinds of businesses might need more robust security options than Microsoft’s free solutions provide, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with keeping Microsoft’s highly functional (and highly free) antivirus app in your back pocket for any systems that need basic protection. Just don't expect the apps to do a great job of reporting to a centralized authority about viruses found or updates needed.
Another powerful app worth checking out is the free version of Comodo Internet Security. With it, you can get the best of the aforementioned Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials in a single app: Anti-spyware, firewall, and antivirus capabilities, automatic sandboxing for locking out unknown files before they can do damage, and a locking capability that keeps your critical Windows files from being affected by problematic apps. Comodo frequently asks users to make security decisions, however, whereas the Microsoft software works more behind the scenes.

Email: Zimbra Desktop

Zimbra Desktop does email, but also a lot more.
Since Mozilla’s Thunderbird is basically on life support at this point, the world of “freeware alternatives to Microsoft Outlook” has taken a hit. However, Zimbra Desktop offers a compelling suite of features as a desktop email client—especially for employees tasked with monitoring your business's social channels.
Zimbra Desktop includes all of the staple elements of a desktop email client, such as a mail interface, a calendar, task lists, an offline mode, et cetera. The app also includes a section that allows users to keep tabs on social hotsposts like Twitter and Facebook; more business-friendly services like WebEx and LinkedIn; and general services like Yahoo Web Search and Local lookups.
Zimbra Desktop supports POP and IMAP email out of the box, along with Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL, Hotmail and—of course—Zimbra Collaboration Server accounts.

Project management: Freedcamp

Freedcamp sounds a lot like Basecamp, doesn’t it? There's a reason for that. This free project-tracking tool’s feature set has a lotin common with its costlier project tracking-counterpart.
If you’ve ever seen the Basecamp interface, you know what we’re talking about. If not, here’s a crash course: Freedcamp allows you to create projects, within which you can create and assign tasks to various users within your organization. (Due dates appear on a separate calendar.) When users log into their accounts, they’re presented with an easy-to-digest dashboard featuring all the activity that’s going on within a particular project, as well as to-do items and larger “Where are we on the overall timeline?” milestone elements that define what you’re working on. Users can even track their time on a particular task, which comes in handy if your business bills by the hour.

Human resource management: OrangeHRM

With a name like OrangeHRM, what color scheme did you expect?
Managing your human resources is critical in all but the smallest of one-person businesses, and keeping track of your employees' information in a thrown-together spreadsheet just won't cut it. That doesn't mean you need to spend an arm and a leg on premium human resource management software, however. OrangeHRM—a completely free and open-source HR system—spins a number of common HR “modules” around a single, centralized controller system.
In other words, functions such as the suite’s central employee database, employee leave tracker, timekeeping module, job applicant tracking system, and performance review system—to name but a few of the available options—all tie into a single administration module that allows a universal “admin” to assign out different rights and permissions for the aforementioned features at will.
Sounds complicated? It’s not. The easy learning curve of OrangeHRM is as big of a selling point as its comprehensiveness. If you need more advanced features or don't want the hassle of maintaining HRM software on your own hardware, however, a paid software as a service (Saas) version is available. You can also pay for training or customized software.

Website design: Weebly

The free version of Weebly is good for creating a basic website.
If you know absolutely nothing about Web design but still want some kind of Web presence that’s better than an about.me page or a default parked domain page, Weebly’s your ticket.
The free version of this Web app allows you to create a simple site—hosted by Weebly itself—that you build by dragging and dropping various page elements over a variety of preset templates. While certain parts of the templates are locked, you can grace editable sections with paragraphs, pictures, contact forms, or even a little bit of custom HTML if you’re so inclined. Fancier elements like embedding videos require a premium Weebly account.
Not only can you have multiple pages on your site, but you can also assign other users to act as editors for collaborative Web-building.

Customer relations management: ZohoCRM

ZohoCRM helps you manage leads.
If your SMB really stresses the “S” bit—as in, you’d only need three or fewer users for your customer relationship management software—then ZohoCRM is the SaaS app for you. At its core, ZohoCRM helps businesses keep track of customers (and potential customers), conduct email marketing campaigns, capture opt-in lead generation, keep a finger on the pulse of sales pipelines, manage sales opportunities, and more—all through a single, easy-to-use Web interface.
ZohoCRM’s free version supports 100 megabytes of total storage and up to 100,000 records.
If you’re looking for more flexibility (or users) than the free version of ZohoCRM provides, you can upgrade to a premium tier for a reasonable price, or you might want to check out SugarCRM Community Edition. It’s more powerful than the free version of ZohoCRM, but it also requires hosting and setting up the software on your own server. You’ll need a bit more technical expertise—and the willingness to take to the robust SugarCRM help forums—to get this full-fledged tool up and running smoothly.

Accounting: GnuCash

GnuCash's UI is bland, but easy to use.
GnuCash is an open-source accounting program that uses a checkbook-style interface to track basic incomes and expenditures. And, because this app’s uses the double-billing accounting method, it assists you in balancing your books by ensuring that your cross-account transactions match up. In other words, money going in and out has to match your business’ assets and liabilities.
GnuCash allows users to set up transactions and reminders on a highly customizable schedule. The software was built with small business accounting in mind, complete with myriad report options (including profit and loss statements), customer and vendor tracking, invoice management, check printing, payroll management, and tons more. It does not, however, include dedicated inventory or POS tools.

Email marketing: MailChimp

MailChimp includes robust analytical tools.
MailChimp’s free as in “freemium,” but its gratisoffering is actually pretty gracious. The free tier of this popular email marketing management service lets you send up to 12,000 emails per month to a list that’s no larger than 2,000 email addresses. In other words, you can’t blast the world, but the typical small business can certainly email a significant portion of its customer base.
The free version of MailChimp is relatively unrestricted when it comes to creating and using templates, mailing to your subscribers according to location, and using dynamic content to email quasi-customized to different slices of your customer base. And no matter whether you’re using MailChimp’s free or pro versions, you get access to the app’s comprehensive reporting and A/B split testing.

How to install SystemRescueCd on an USB-stick

Introduction

This chapter explains how to install SystemRescueCD on a USB stick manually. If you prefer, you can order a pre-configured USB stick with the latest SystemRescueCd already on it from the popular osdisc website
Installing SystemRescueCd on an USB stick allows you to use the system from a USB stick (mini hard disk) instead of using a CD-ROM. You need a recent SystemResuceCD, and a USB stick with enough space. You need at least 512 MB unless you have removed files from the official version. Your BIOS must be able to boot from USB hard disks, and the USB device must be defined before other devices in the boot devices order.
There is now an official SystemRescueCD installer for Windows that you should use. This page explains how to install SystemRescueCD on a USB stick. Many methods are possible. You should really follow one of the three recommended methods (sections A, B, C). The other methods are more complicated and are more likely to fail.
You may also be interested in making a backing store to keep your changes between reboots.

A) Recommended USB installation method from Linux

Overview

If you are running Linux on your computer it's very easy to install SystemRescueCD on a USB stick. You just have to download the ISO image of SystemRescueCD, and then run a script which is at the root of the CD-ROM. You don't have to burn the ISO image to a disc to do that, you just need to have the ISO image available from a running Linux system. Formatting the USB stick will remove all its content, so make sure you don't need the data or make a backup first.
  1. Download the SystemRescueCd-3.0.0 (or more recent) ISO image from the Download page
  2. Mount the ISO image using the -o loop and -o exec options of the mount command
  3. Plug in your USB stick and wait 5 seconds to allow enough time for the system to detect it
  4. Unmount the USB stick if auto-mount is enabled or if it was already mounted
  5. Run bash ./usb_inst.sh in a shell then select the correct USB device and press OK/Enter

Mount the CD-ROM ISO image

You first have to mount the ISO image (or a media where you have burned it). You just need an empty directory on your system on which the ISO image can be mounted. We will use /tmp/cdrom in this example but you can use any directory such as /mnt/cdrom:
mkdir -p /tmp/cdrom
mount -o loop,exec /path/to/systemrescuecd-x86-x.y.z.iso /tmp/cdrom

Plug in the USB stick

Just make sure the USB stick has been plugged in, and wait a few seconds to be sure the device has been detected by the system.

Execute the installer

Now you just have to execute the installation script which is at the root of the CD-ROM. This script requires several commands to run but it won't be a problem. To be sure the script will always work, these commands are part of the CD-ROM:
cd /tmp/cdrom
bash ./usb_inst.sh
This script will show you a list of USB sticks detected on your system. Only removable medias are in the list. This way it's not possible to destroy a persistent device by accident.

Unmount the ISO image

Now you can unmount the ISO image
cd ~
umount /tmp/cdrom

B) Recommended USB installation method from Windows

If you are running Windows on your computer you can download and execute a graphical installation program that will install SystemRescueCd on a removable device. You have to download the ISO image of SystemRescueCd since the installer needs it. It will extract all files from the ISO image to a temp directory (called work directory) and then you can customize these files, and finally use these files to either recreate a new ISO image or install it on an USB device. The USB stick must contain a FAT32 filesystem, which is the case in general if you use your USB stick from computers running Windows. If it's not the case you can just format the USB device again from the Windows explorer (it will remove all files it contains). You have to run this program with the Windows administrator privileges since the installer has to run syslinux to make the removable device bootable. The partition must have the "active" flag set for the boot to work.
The official SystemRescueCd installer for Windows is quite a compact self-contained EXE program. It can be executed directly as it requires no installation on the hard disk.
  1. Download SystemRescueCd-3.0.0 (or more recent) ISO image from the Download page
  2. Download SystemRescueCd installer for Windows (or the old version)
  3. Plug in your USB-stick and wait 5 seconds to allow enough time for the system to detect it
  4. Format the USB stick with a FAT32 filesystem from the explorer
  5. Create an empty work directory on the hard-disk (could be C:\Temp\sysresccd-workdir)
  6. Execute the installer that you have just downloaded
  7. Select the work directory which has been previously created
  8. Select the original ISO image that you have downloaded previously
  9. Select the USB stick in the removable device drop-down list
  10. Click on the Install button to run the installation
If you have problems with the SystemRescueCd USB installer for Windows you can try linuxliveusb

C) Alternative USB installation method from the CD-ROM

Overview

If you boot the CD-ROM edition of SystemRescueCD (3.0.0 or more recent), you can use it to install SystemRescueCD onto a USB stick. If you have a Linux system on your computer you can also use the first method, which does not require booting from a CD-ROM at all.
SystemRescueCD comes with a script to help you to detect the right USB device and to install SystemRescueCD onto it. Formatting the USB stick will remove all of its contents, so make sure you don't need that contents, or make a backup first.
  1. Download the most recent SystemRescueCD ISO image from the Download page
  2. Burn it onto a CD-ROM. You can use software such as Nero or ImgBurn on Windows or cdrecord/wodim/k3b under Linux.
  3. Boot from that CD-ROM with the default boot options.
  4. Plug in your USB stick and wait 5 seconds to allow enough time for the system to detect it.
  5. Type sysresccd-usbstick dialog in a shell then select the correct USB device and press OK/Enter

Instructions for manual installation

Instead of sysresccd-usbstick dialog you can also run the following commands by hand:
  1. Run sysresccd-usbstick listdev to see which devices are seen as USB-sticks
  2. Run sysresccd-usbstick writembr xxx where xxx is the name of the usb device
  3. Run sysresccd-usbstick format xxx where xxx is the name of the partition on your device
  4. Run sysresccd-usbstick copyfiles xxx where xxx is the name of the partition on your device
  5. Run sysresccd-usbstick syslinux xxx where xxx is the name of the partition on your device

Example of manual installation

root@sysresccd % sysresccd-usbstick listdev
Device [/dev/sdb] [Kingston DataTraveler U3 ] is removable and size=957MB
Device [/dev/sdb] is not mounted
Device [/dev/sdb] has one partition: /dev/sdb1

root@sysresccd % sysresccd-usbstick writembr /dev/sdb
The device [/dev/sdb] seems to be big enough: 957 MB.
--> install-mbr /dev/sdb --force
--> parted -s /dev/sdb mklabel msdos
--> parted -s /dev/sdb mkpartfs primary fat32 0 100%
--> parted -s /dev/sdb set 1 boot on

root@sysresccd % sysresccd-usbstick format /dev/sdb1
The device [/dev/sdb1] seems to be big enough: 956 MB.
mkfs.vfat 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
Partition /dev/sdb1 has been successfully formatted

root@sysresccd % sysresccd-usbstick copyfiles /dev/sdb1
The device [/dev/sdb1] seems to be big enough: 956 MB.
/dev/sdb1 successfully mounted on /mnt/usbstick
Free space on /mnt/usbstick is 956MB
Files have been successfully copied to /dev/sdb1

root@sysresccd % sysresccd-usbstick syslinux /dev/sdb1
syslinux has successfully prepared /dev/sdb1

D) Installation from Linux using an ext3/ext4 filesystem

If you are a Linux user, you may prefer having a Linux filesystem such as ext3/ext4 instead of vfat on your USB stick. It should work with any filesystem supported by GRUB such as ext3, reiserfs, ... In that case you can use GRUB (legacy - version 0.9x) instead of syslinux to boot. Thanks to Christian Hesse who suggested these instructions.
  • Format the USB stick from Linux using the normal mkfs tool that comes with your favorite filesystem
If you are using SystemRescueCD-1.2 or more recent, it's recommended that you use an ext4 filesystem with the journal turned off (this is possible with Linux >= 2.6.29). USB sticks are Flash filesystems and this type of memory only supports a limited number of writes. Journaling filesystems will make many writes at the same location (where the journal is stored). Therefore, to extend the lifespan of the memory we should limit the number of writes. Here is how to use ext4 with the journaling turned off:
mke2fs -t ext4 -O ^has_journal /dev/sdf1
You could also use ext2 but it does not support extents, and then it requires more accesses to read/write large files to the disk.
  • Mount this filesystem to /media/usbstick and copy the files from your SystemRescueCD into this directory. (cf normal instructions)
  • Copy GRUB staging files from an existing GRUB installation: mkdir -p /media/usbstick/boot/grub ; cp -a /boot/grub/* /media/usbstick/boot/grub
  • Run grub-install --root-directory=/media/usbstick/ /dev/sdf (replace /dev/sdf with the name of your USB stick)
  • Create a menu.lst in /media/usbstick/boot/grub/. You have to replace (hd0,1) with the GRUB name of your USB partition.
timeout 5
color light-gray/black light-blue/black

title SystemRescueCd std-32bit
   kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/rescuecd
   initrd (hd0,1)/isolinux/initram.igz

title SystemRescueCd std-64bit
   kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/rescue64
   initrd (hd0,1)/isolinux/initram.igz

title SystemRescueCd alt-32bit
   kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/altker32
   initrd (hd0,1)/isolinux/initram.igz

title SystemRescueCd alt-64bit
   kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/altker64
   initrd (hd0,1)/isolinux/initram.igz

title MemTest+
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memtestp
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/initrd.cgz

title NT Password Editor
    kernel (hd0,1)/ntpasswd/vmlinuz
    initrd (hd0,1)/ntpasswd/initrd.cgz

title Gag
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/gag.img

title MHDD
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/mhdd.img

title Hardware Detection Tool
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/hdt.img

title Aida
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/aida.img

title Ranish Partition Manager
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/ranish.img

title FreeDOS
    kernel (hd0,1)/isolinux/memdisk
    initrd (hd0,1)/bootdisk/freedos.img
You should now be able to boot from this USB stick. You can also have a look at another usb-installation tutorial based on ext4 and grub.

E) Manual installation from Linux using cp (deprecated)

This method is a bit complicated so you should really consider using the automated installation script if you are running Linux. You can follow it anyway if you know what you are doing, or if you want to make extra customizations.

Step 1: Find the device name

You need the device of the USB stick. In most cases, Linux detects this device as an SCSI hard disk. In other words, it is detected as /dev/sda1 (first partition of first SCSI device), or /dev/sdb1 if you have another SCSI device. Since kernel 2.6.8 USB sticks may be seen as /dev/uba, /dev/ubb, ...
Here is how you can find the device name. First, start your computer under Linux with the USB stick unplugged. Then, load all USB modules (you may need to load other USB modules first). This command should not be required if the USB storage support is built-in in the kernel. If modprobe can't find this module, it might be normal.
modprobe usb-storage
Now, you have to plug in your USB stick, and have a look at the kernel messages. You may find the device name using either dmesg | tail -n 50 or fsarchiver probe
Here is an example of a report from the kernel:
kernel: usb 1-7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
kernel: usb 1-7: New USB device found, idVendor=1516, idProduct=1213
kernel: usb 1-7: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
kernel: usb 1-7: Product: DISK 2.0
kernel: usb 1-7: Manufacturer: USB
kernel: usb 1-7: SerialNumber: 0018F3218E76A9C0D2CF846A
kernel: usb 1-7: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
kernel: scsi6 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
kernel: scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access    USB DISK 2.0    1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg6 type 0
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] 16035840 512-byte logical blocks: (8.21 GB/7.64 GiB)
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] Write Protect is off
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] Assuming drive cache: write through
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] Assuming drive cache: write through
kernel: sdf: sdf1
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] Assuming drive cache: write through
kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdf] Attached SCSI removable disk
Here you can see that fsarchiver probe reports all devices and partitions found on your system:
# fsarchiver probe
[======DISK======] [=============NAME==============] [====SIZE====] [MAJ] [MIN]
[sda             ] [ST3808110AS                    ] [    74.53 GB] [  8] [  0]
[sdf             ] [DISK 2.0                       ] [     7.65 GB] [  8] [ 80]

[=====DEVICE=====] [==FILESYS==] [======LABEL======] [====SIZE====] [MAJ] [MIN] 
[sda1            ] [ext3       ] [boot             ] [   768.70 MB] [  8] [  1] 
[sda2            ] [LVM2_member] [<unknown>        ] [    65.78 GB] [  8] [  2] 
[sda3            ] [ext3       ] [spare            ] [     8.00 GB] [  8] [  3] 
[sdf1            ] [ext4       ] [usb8gb           ] [     7.64 GB] [  8] [ 81] 
Then, you should try to mount the device:
mkdir /mnt/usbstick
mount -t vfat /dev/sdf1 /mnt/usbstick
If there is not enough space left on the device (about 230 MB), you will have to erase the current files (all data will be lost):
rm -rf /mnt/usbstick/*
In the next sections we will assume your stick is /dev/sdf. It's very important that you use the right device name.

Step 2: Reinitialization of the stick

The following instructions may not be required, it depends on how your USB stick is configured. So you can try to skip this the first time. In case of problems getting the USB stick to boot, you should really try this. Confirm that you have a backup of the data that are on your stick before you do this. Thanks to jadjay in the forums for this addition to the instructions. We assume your device is /dev/sdf but you must replace it with the device name of your own USB stick. Be very sure that this is the correct device !
First, run cfdisk to check that the partition has the correct ID in the partition table of your USB stick. Select type LBA FAT32 may be 0B or 0C, to make it bootable.
cfdisk /dev/sdf
Use mkfs.vfat to format the partition. All data will be erased, so make sure you don't need the data which it contains.
mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n SYSRESC /dev/sdf1
The following dd command will overwrite the first 404 bytes of the MBR of your stick. It will erase the previous boot instructions with the default ones to make sure that it will work. It does not change anything in the partition table since the partition table starts at offset 446 in the MBR.
 dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdf
Synchronize to make sure that all the changes have been flushed to the disk.
sync

Step 3: Copy files from the CD-ROM

Now, you have to copy the most important files. The SystemRescueCD disc must be mounted on /mnt/cdrom. You can mount the ISO file too, in order to avoid burning a CD-R. The stick is mounted on /mnt/usbstick. Be careful, according to a user in the forums the order matters:
You should check that you are using syslinux-4.05 or newer.
cp -af /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usbstick/
rm -rf /mnt/usbstick/syslinux
mv /mnt/usbstick/isolinux/isolinux.cfg /mnt/usbstick/isolinux/syslinux.cfg
sed -i -e 's/scandelay=1/scandelay=5/g' /mnt/usbstick/isolinux/syslinux.cfg
mv /mnt/usbstick/isolinux /mnt/usbstick/syslinux

Step 4: Make the disk bootable

Now, you have to unmount the USB stick, and make it bootable with syslinux. Of course, you have to replace /dev/sdf1 with the device name of your stick:
umount /mnt/usbstick
syslinux /dev/sdf1
sync
A user reported that ms-sys -s /dev/sdX helps in case of problems. So you may consider that if you initially have a problem.

Turn your flash drive into a portable PC survival kit

If you're using your flash drive as a vehicle for simple file transfers, you’re missing out on one of the single-best roles one of these wee data buckets can fulfill. Indeed, hardcore enthusiasts know that simple flash drives are perfect portable repositories for all the software that can breathe life into an otherwise ailing PC.
All the web apps in the world won’t help you when your PC breaks down or falls prey to a particularly nasty piece of malware and refuses connect to the Internet. A properly loaded USB drive, on the other hand, can be a machine saver. And when your grandma calls with a dire PC emergency, you'll be glad to have an always-ready "ninja drive" to slip into your pocket as you run out the door.
In this article we’ll show you how to load out a USB drive with everything you need in case of a PC emergency. So next time your computer breaks down, don’t panic. Instead, take a deep breath, plug in your ninja drive, and start making things right.

PortableApps

The Portable apps UI.
The first thing you’ll want to install on your drive is PortableApps—a free, open source platform for installing desktop applications on removable media, like a USB drive. PortableApps manages the installation of new portable software on your USB drive, and also acts as a frontend when you’re actually using the USB drive, letting you easily browse and launch applications.
PortableApps maintains a list of hundreds “portable” versions of popular free programs, designed to work without installation. You can find the full list here.
Each of the following apps with the word “Portable” in their title is available for the PortableApps platform. You can download them at the links provided, or just start PortableApps and click on Apps > Get More Apps. You’ll see a large list of applications appear. Just check the ones you want and click Next to download and install them all automatically.

Chrome Portable

Even though it’s not a maintenance application, strictly speaking, a mobile browser is a great inclusion on your emergency thumb drive. Why? A lot of malware targets your web browser, so it’s one of the most likely components of your system to be out of commission, or otherwise compromised. Chrome's sandboxing security feature and Safe Browsing functionality—which guards against malicious websites and downloads—make it one of the better options for mucking around on a potentially infected system.

Spybot Search and Destroy Portable

Spybot ain't fancy, but it works well.
If your computer is running slow because of malware, Spybot S&D should be the first (and often last) weapon in your arsenal. It’s one of the oldest and best spyware removal suites around, and should be able to weed out most malware on even the slowest of machines.

ClamWin Portable

ClamWin is a Windows graphical interface for the Clam open source antivirus engine. It doesn’t provide real-time scanning like you’d get in an installed antivirus application, but the portable versions provides powerful on-demand virus scanning for any suspicious files.

Malwarebytes

Many unofficial tech support geeks consider Malwarebytes to be a go-to malware scanning solution, but it doesn't offer a portable version. You can, however, save the Malwarebytes installation file to your emergency drive and unpack the app directly onto the maligned PC after you've taken a first pass at badware using ClamWin and Spybot portable. A second opinion never hurts when you're dealing with viruses.

Kaspersky TDSSKiller

When you need to root out stubborn malware, a rootkit detector does the trick.
If you’ve tried running malware removal programs like Spybot Search and Destroy but your computer is still exhibiting malware symptoms like bogus error messages and browser hijacking, you might be dealing with a rootkit. Rootkits are designed to conceal malware running on your system, and can be very hard to detect themselves. If you suspect your computer might be infected with one, try running TDSSKiller, a rootkit scanner from Kaspersky. Just leave the .exe file on your thumb drive, and run it on the infected computer—it will find and remove most rootkit malware.

FileAssassin

Even if you’re not trying to uninstall whole programs, deleting files can prove to be a challenge—especially when you're dealing with an infected system. Windows might tell you that access is denied to a file, or that another program or user is currently using it, or otherwise tell you that the file you want gone isn’t going anywhere at all.
FileAssassin lets you get around those roadblocks, and delete any file you want. Make sure you really want it gone, though, because it’s going to be.
When you snag the program, make sure to grab the portable version, at the bottom of the download list.

Eraser Portable

Sometimes the problem isn’t that you can’t delete a file, it’s that you want to make sure that it’s really, really gone. If you need to securely delete sensitive documents or files, use Eraser—an application for securely erasing and overwriting files and directories stored on standard mechanical hard drives. You can also user Eraser to overwrite all the empty space on a disk, making sure anything you’ve deleted in the past is truly gone.

Revo Uninstaller Portable

Revo Uninstaller makes uninstalling lots of programs a breeze.
One of the simplest ways to get a gridlocked computer running faster is to remove programs that you don’t need. This has two benefits: you clear up hard disk space, which can speed up your computer, and you reduce the number of apps running at startup, which can make your boot time shorter. You can uninstall programs by hand, but that’s slow going and the programs aren’t always completely removed. Instead, keep a portable copy of Revo Uninstaller handy to quickly and completely uninstall as many programs as you want.

Autoruns Portable

One of the main reasons that older systems gradually slow down is the accumulation of programs and services set to automatically run at startup. Autoruns is a powerful app from Sysinternals that shows you every single process that will start with your computer, along with other common sources of trouble, including browser toolbars and shell extensions. Telling a process to not run at startup is as simple as unchecking a box.

KeePass Portable

If you use KeePass to store your passwords (and if you don’t, you should think about it), it’s not a bad idea to keep your KeePass install and password database on a thumb drive. That way, you’ll always be able to access your online accounts, no matter what computer you’re on. Even better, you don’t have to worry about identity theft if you lose the USB drive, because the Keepass database is encrypted and requires a master password. Be careful about logging in to potentially infected computers with KeePass, though.

The other USB drive: SystemRescueCD

SystemRescueCD: Perfect for that oh-so-bonked PC.
If you want to be really, truly prepared for a PC disaster, you can go one step further than just creating an emergency app thumb drive. By loading up a second drive with a Live install of the SystemRescueCD operating system, you’ll be prepared even if your computer’s OS is so FUBARed that you can’t even log in.
SystemRescueCD is a free live operating system, meaning you don’t have to install it on a hard drive. Just insert the SystemRescueCD USB drive into the computer, restart, and boot from the thumb drive. The Linux-based operating comes equipped with software that you can use to access the data on your hard drives and back it up across the network, along with various other handy-dandy utilities—basically, everything you need to fix (or at least recover) as much of your broken OS as possible. The makers of the distribution were even kind enough to provide step-by-step instructions on how to get a SystemRescueCD live drive up and running.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Sun Signs and their weaknesses

All astrology signs are blessed with unique strengths; likewise they also have some weaknesses. Astrology signs have a deep connection with elements like fire, water, air, wood and earth. As the planets change their positions, the circumstances of human beings change too. Let's take a look at some of the weaknesses that are considered to be common according to one's astrology sign

Aries: Starting with the fire sign, Aries' weakness is their anger and their explosive reaction. They are known as the 'emperor'. They don't believe in yelling or ignoring the unfair, they just hit and prove their superiority by showing their emperorship. Their stubborn and head strong nature may prove to be destructive.

Taurus: Taurus is rigid, unchanging and lazy. They are bound around their regular routine and makes really slow moves, so they miss out many good opportunities. They also become stubborn and have a tendency to exaggerate.

Gemini: The air bearing twins are very fast and unpredictable; they move in different directions and work in different fields. They don't care about their health so much and are considered to be double faced. They may act differently for personal gain.

Cancer: Cancer is a shy, secretive and moody sign. They do not forget things easily and may seek revenge. They get jealous easily and may speak ill of others.  Their money-minded nature may be perceived as a negative trait.

Leo: The son of the sun, lion (the Leo) is the sign of royalty and domination. Their weaknesses are that they have a deep desire to rule over all, they are stubborn in believing themself and excessively use their power. Staying in the limelight is fine, but hogging it all the time is not.

Virgo: Virgo has a problem when it comes to trusting others. They wouldn't even trust their best friends.They are reluctant spenders. They criticize and nag; qualities which many find to be annoying.

Libra: Libra gets confused all the time. Once in a while is fine, but to be indecisive whenever you ask something can be a frustrating thing to experience. They may be critical without paying heed to others' emotions.

Scorpio: They can be very vindictive as an enemy, so try not to bring out the worst in Scorpio. Their inability to make the right decision in love is their biggest weakness. They are stubborn too.

Sagittarius: They get distracted very easily and also change their personality according to the situation. They have this desire to do too many things together, which can lead to problems later. They forget about all the practical things in the world.

Capricorn: Capricorn is too detached from reality and may also appear cold when in love. They are slow learners who take their time before adapting to something new.

Aquarius: Aquarius desires freedom too much and believes in doing things alone. They have a quality of being coolly sarcastic and become highly impatient when they are hungry.

Pisces: They are not very determined and excessively trust others. Pisceans are most difficult to understand. They are extremely sensitive and also very gullible. People may take advantage of Pisces' naivete.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Get an online EPF Pass book

Employees Provident Fund (EPF), generally known as PF is a retirement benefit scheme available to the salaried class in India, wherein both the employer and employee contribute an equal amount towards the fund. This year, the EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organization) has introduced an e-passbook facility for members, which enables them to check their PF account online.

What is an EPF e-passbook?


The EPF e-passbook is an online version of the employee’s provident fund account. Transactions are recorded date-wise and these can be tracked easily by the member. You can check your EPF balance online anytime you wish to.

How to register online?

Registration on the EPFO website is necessary to avail the e-passbook facility. The following steps need to be followed to register online -

1.      Visit the EPFO members site - http://members.epfoservices.in/

2.      Click on the “Register” at the bottom of the page or “Click here to Register” button under the Login area.

3.      You will reach the registration page, where you will have to enter your mobile number mandatorily. You will also need to enter your date of birth, email id and select one of the eight documents (PAN number, Aadhar (UID), NPR (National Population Register), bank account number, voter ID card, driving license, passport number or ration card number) along with its unique number and your name as it is in the document. On entering a six digit unique text character, you will have to click “GET PIN” to get a four digit authorization PIN on your mobile.

4.      Once you receive the PIN on your mobile, you will have to enter this PIN in the box provided at the bottom of the page. Check the “I agree” box and click on “Submit” button.

5.      After clicking on “Submit”, your registration will be complete and you will get a confirmation message on your mobile.
This completes the registration process on the EPFO member website.

How to generate e-passbook?     

After successful registration, you will need to login to your account in the member login area to generate the e-passbook. The following steps need to be followed.

1.      Log in to your account by selecting your document, entering the document number and your mobile number that you entered on the Registration page and click on the “Sign In” button.

2.      When you successfully login, you will see your name on the right hand side of the page. This is the page on which you can edit your personal details and also download your EPF e-passbook.

3.      When you click on “Download E Passbook” link, you will be prompted to select the state under which your establishment is covered.

4.      On selecting the state, you will be asked to choose the EPFO office. If you are unaware about the EPFO to which you belong, you can use the establishment search facility to get these details.

5.      When you have selected the EPFO office, you should now enter your EPF account number. The next step is to enter your name, which should exactly match EPF records.

6.      Click on “Get PIN” to receive the PIN on your mobile and email. Do not close this page till you receive the PIN on your mobile/email.

7.      When you receive the authorization PIN, you will need to enter this in the “Enter Authorization PIN” box, check the “I Agree” button and then click on “Get Detail”.

8.      You will then be able to download the PDF.

Points to remember while using EPFO’s e-passbook facility:

1.      Only one mobile number can be used for one registration. However, your mobile number details can be edited subsequently.

2.      You can view details of only one EPF account under one establishment. If you wish to view details of all your EPF accounts under a single establishment, then you will have to first transfer one EPF to another.

3.      You can view a total of 10 EPF accounts under different establishments. You can view your accounts any number of times and transfer old EPF accounts to existing ones too.

4.      You will not be able to view details of inoperative accounts and also EPF accounts which have been settled.

5.      If you have left your job before March 2012, then you will not be able to see details online. However, you can place a request for the same on the website and it will be uploaded in a few days.

6.      For logging into your account you just need your mobile number, document name and document number.

7.      You can use multiple ids to register by using different document types.

The EPFO’s e-Passbook facility is a welcome move which will enable employees in managing their EPF accounts in a better manner. The success of this facility depends on the efficiency of the EPFO in managing the website and handling requests from the members.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Navratri and number 9

What is Navratri?

Navratri, or Navaratri, is a Hindu festival to worship the nine forms of Goddess Durga (Shakti/Devi). It is usually celebrated in the month of October; the dates, however, are determined by the lunar calendar. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit (nava means nine and ratri means night).

Significance of the Nine Nights

The Navratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin. The nine days of the Navratras are devoted to Maa Durga, Maa Lakshmi and Maa Saraswati, with each goddess being worshipped for three days, respectively.

1st to 3rd Day: The initial days of the Navratras are dedicated to Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor. During the first three days, Maa Durga is dressed in red and mounted on a lion, and her various incarnations are worshipped. On the very first day of Navratri, barley seeds are sown on a bed of mud prepared in the puja room.

4th to 6th Day: The next three days are devoted to Maa Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. She is dressed in white and mounted on an owl, and is worshipped for peace and prosperity.

7th & 8th Day: The final days are dedicated to Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. She is being worshipped to acquire spiritual knowledge. Yagna, or holy fire, is performed on the 8th day of the Navratras.

Mahanavami: The 9th and final day of the Navratras is called the Mahanavami, the day when the festival of Navratri culminates. On this final day, nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped and it is known as Kanya Puja.

The festival of Navratri is one of the most celebrated festivals among the Hindus. Dancing, feasting and fasting become the daily routine for the Hindus during the nine days of the Navratras. Although it is celebrated all across India, the festival of Navratri is most popular in Gujarat and Bengal. While Dandiya and Garba Raas are the highlights of the Navratras in Gujarat, people in Bengal pamper themselves with new, bright clothes and indulge in feasting sweets during this festive season.

Now, it is that time of the year again when one needs to get into the festive mood and start chanting 'Bolo Durga Maiyya ki Jai!!!'

Numerological meaning of number 9

This festival is celebrated for nine days. What is the importance of number 9 in numerology? Read on to find out the significance and numerological meaning of number 9:

In numerological world, number 9 is ruled by the Planet Mars. People with ruling number 9 are aggressive, courageous, dashing and quick. They are naturally attracted to people born between July 21 and August 20 and between November 21 and December 20. They also have an affinity for those governed by the numbers 3, 6 and 9. They are very lucky as far as career and financial status are concerned.

In numerology, if you are born on the 9th of the month, you are considered a fighter. You are aggressive and don't stop until you reach your goal. You have a fiery temperament and a dashing personality. You are full of vigour and vitality. You are brave and do not flinch from confrontation or conflict. You are exceedingly devoted to your friends and will go to any lengths to help them. You always sympathize with the underdog. Though you act in good faith, the lack of tact and delicacy in your manner often causes you to be misunderstood. You will need to be more discrete, especially when dealing with friends and relatives.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A calorie chart for various activities

A calorie chart for various activities

Your weight is determined by how many calories you consume per day, minus the calories you burn through activities. In order to lose weight, you either need to eat less calories or burn more of them through exercise and fitness. Imagine how much faster it would be to lose weight if you ate less calories and exercised at least thrice a week.
The number of calories that you burn in any activity or sport depends on your body weight and the intensity of your work out. Here we tried to give the values of calories burnt by various activities or sports per hour for an average adult weighing 70 kg.
If the person weighs more, the calories burnt are also more with the same duration of activity.

A calorie chart for YOUR various activities

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 15:38 IST

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Number love: Signs of Attractions

When you are attracted to someone, you tend to send out body signals either voluntarily or involuntarily. Numerologically, we are all ruled by different numbers and we are associated with certain personality traits accordingly. A ruling number 1 may be adventures and outspoken whereas a number 4 may be too engrossed in work to think about adventures. Continue reading and find out all about how you behave when you are infatuated with someone.

Ruling number 1: As a ruling number 1 you seek out the best when in love. You pay attention to how the opposite sex behaves around you. You may pretend to be shy but that's not the truth at all. You smile more around this person you find yourself attracted to.

Ruling number 2: Ruling number is quite reserved and a romantic at heart. You behave like you don't even care when you are around someone you are attracted to. You tend to show your caring and generous side to those you really like.

Ruling number 3: If your numerology ruling number is 3, expect to have a tough time keeping your feelings to yourself. You keep bringing up this person's name in your conversations. That's a sign of attraction and romantic feelings.

Ruling number 4: If your numerology ruling number is 4 you will do everything you can to not give out any outwardly signs of your attraction. You behave differently around this person though. Secret glances are another giveaway.

Ruling number 5: Ruling number 5 you are quite the demonstrator. You can't hide your feelings and may announce to the whole world when you fall for someone.  When you are attracted to someone, you may make it your mission to go after this person.

Ruling number 6: If your ruling number is 6, you are the kind who likes to run your hand through your hair and use other signs of attraction to draw attention. You do everything you can to make the one you are attracted to fall for you.

Ruling number 7: If your ruling number is 7, you are a romantic at heart and want to walk up to someone and confess how you really feel without beating around the bush. But you never act on your impulses. The person at the other end may never find out you even liked him or her.

Ruling number 8: If your ruling number is 8, you tend to become nervous around someone you are attracted to. You can't be your true self and behave awkwardly.  You wished you had control over your feelings, but it won't be that interesting if you could control everything now, would it?

Ruling number 9: As a ruling number 9, your personality does not allow you to give out to many signals to the one you are attracted to. You are the kind who admires from a distance. This may even lead to heart break but you don't do anything about it. You prefer to wait and see how things progress.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Reverse Tether: Sharing your PC’s Internet connection to your Android phone

Don’t you just hate it when your phone’s Internet connection is cut off? A lack of Internet connection really screws things up, especially if you are downloading something very important. You don’t have to worry anymore because there is now a way for you to enjoy the Internet on your phone by using your computer’s Internet connection. How, you ask? There’s an app called Reverse Tether that will do the trick for you. Read on to know more about Reverse Tether.
Apart from calling and text messaging functions, your Android device is quite useless without the Internet. With out an Internet connection, you cannot download apps, movies, music or even use most of your apps. That won’t be a problem anymore because there’s a new way to access your computer’s Internet connection. Reverse Tether is an app developed by lightlan and is especially useful if you have a limited mobile data plan or none at all. Use Reverse Tether to enjoy your computer’s fast Internet connection without paying for any extra charges on your monthly bill. You can also choose to show your connection as 3G.

How It Works

To use Reverse Tether, simply connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable. Using the app is very easy because the the app will guide you on how to set things up on your computer. There is no need for accompanying software; all you need is your phone’s drivers installed on your computer for Reverse Tether to work. On the other hand, if you know your way around your computer, there is also an option for manual configuration.

After you have set Reverse Tether up, you can connect to the Internet instantly and easily. Every time you want to access the Internet, simply plug your phone into your computer via the USB cable and you’re set.

Although setting up the app is quite easy, there are a few things that you need before you can install it. First and foremost, you need to have your device rooted for Reverse Tether to work. You also need to have a tether option on your device and you computer should have an option to edit the network connections, which most computers do.

Downside

Reverse Tether also has some downsides. One great limitation of Reverse Tether is that it is not guaranteed to work on all devices. Based on the reviews, the app worked on some devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy 5, and Sony Xperia Arc. Factors like carrier restrictions or the configuration of your phone will determine whether Reverse Tether will work on your phone. Also, the app is not free and although there is a trial version, it only allows you to connect for a certain length of time.
Some users, however, were able to use Reverse Tether on their phone and connected to the Internet with ease. Try Reverse Tether now and have a back up plan in case you lose phone’s Internet connection. You can download Reverse Tether from the Google Play Store.

How to Connect Your Android to Your PC’s Internet Connection Over USB

How to Connect Your Android to Your PC’s Internet Connection Over USB

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People often “tether” their computers to their smartphones, sending their computer’s network traffic over the device’s cellular data connection. “Reverse tethering” is the opposite – tethering your Android smartphone or tablet to your PC to use your PC’s Internet connection.
This method requires a rooted Android and a Windows PC, but it’s very easy to use. If your computer has Wi-Fi, it may be easier to create a Wi-Fi hotspot using a utility like Connectify instead.

Prerequisites

Before using this utility, you’ll have to enable USB debugging on your Android phone or tablet – open the Settings screen, tap Applications, tap Development, and tap the USB Debugging checkbox.

You will probably also want to disable SuperUser access notifications, or you’ll constantly see the SuperUser notification. Launch the SuperUser app on your device, open its menu, tap Preferences, and uncheck the Notifications check box under Notifications. If you don’t see the SuperUser app on your Android, your device probably isn’t rooted.

You’ll also need your device’s USB driver installed on your computer. You can get this from your device’s manufacturer or try downloading a generic driver from Google.

Android Reverse Tethering Tool

Android Reverse Tethering is a Windows utility that uses ADB – also known as Android Debug Bridge – to share your computer’s Internet connection with your Android over USB. It includes its own copy of ADB, so you don’t even need the Android SDK installed on your computer. You can download it from here – scroll down and click the latest ReverseTethering .zip file in the Attached Files section.

Extract the downloaded .zip file and run the AndroidTool.exe application inside its folder.

Connecting

Plug your Android smartphone or tablet into your computer with its USB cable, select it from the Select a device drop-down box, and click the Connect button in the Android Reverse Tethering Tool application. It will connect to your Android and install the required software (Busybox and Redsocks) on it.

Tap the Allow button in the SuperUser prompt to allow the USB Tunnel tool on your device.

If you encounter a crash, close the Android Reverse Tethering Tool application and start again. You can also try clicking the Kill ADB button on the Tools tab to relaunch the ADB process. You’ll see a connection notification when the tool establishes a connection.

Usage

After the setup process is complete, you can open apps on your device and use the Internet. Your Android will forward network traffic over the USB cable to your computer, where it will take advantage of your computer’s Internet connection. The Windows application shows information about the forwarded connections.

Some applications may complain that you don’t have an Internet connection, although most (with the notable exception of Google Play app downloads) will work properly. You can work around this problem by connecting to a 3G or Wi-Fi connection before activating reverse tethering – Android will think you have a normal connection, although all data will be send through your USB cable and not over the air.