Most of us do have to either send or receive faxes at one or the other time. During such moments, either we look up to the Fax machine located centrally somewhere in our office or go to the nearest center which provides fax services.

Image Source : Flickr

In this post, i shall describe some free services using which you can send and receive your faxes over the Internet for Free. However, this post shall be of interest mostly to readers outside India and primarily from US / Canada.

Over the internet we have many services which claim to provide free Fax service. However, they do bring with them a lot of strings. In this post, i am trying to categorize the service for a particular use : Sending Faxes and Receiving Faxes.

If you wish to Send Fax for Free, Faxzero.com is an interesting service. With FaxZero you can send 2 faxes daily. FaxZero only handles the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada at this time. The following are the terms for sending free faxes using FaxZero

• Free!
• Ad on the cover page
• Fax 1 document—maximum 3 pages
• Maximum 2 free faxes per day

In order to receive fax for free, visit efax.com. Using eFax , you can receive unlimited faxes and it shows up in your email as and when you receive the fax. With eFax, you’ll get a local or toll-free fax number that’s tied to your email.

Another interesting service you could consider for receiving faxes is FaxDigits. With FaxDigits, the faxes are sent to your email as a PDF. Also, like eFax, you can receive unlimited faxes.

Also read: [How-To] Get Serial numbers for your favorite softwares

[How-To] Automating data backup in Windows

[How-To] View Webcontent without Passwords

Create HTML Signatures in GMAIL using Better Gmail 2

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

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Cheers

Vaibhav

The below embedded slow motion video from Youtube shows a bullet hitting various objects and the after effects captured in multiple frames played in slow motion. Have a look.

Lets keep the GUNS off the Streets and make peace. Live life to the full.

Also read: How Google Search Really Works

What is Twitter?

RSS in Plain English

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Recently, At JavaOne 2008, LinkedIn employees presented two sessions about the LinkedIn architecture. Find below the embedded slides which talk about the architecture of LinkedIn as discussed during the JavaOne event.

LinkedIn Communication Architecture

LinkedIn - A Professional Social Network Built with Java™ Technologies and Agile Practices

Visit my LinkedIn Profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/vaibhavpandey

Also read: LinkedIn is now available on Mobile

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

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Cheers

Vaibhav

I usually get this question about the varying Broadband speed from many of my readers. The usual question goes like this

I am on a 512 kbps unlimited plan but still my download speed is not more than 64kbps . Do you have any clues. Is my ISP cheating? Where can i measure my actual broadband speed?

So here you go, The first thing to remember is that most of the ISP’s sell the speed as upto speed and not a guaranteed speed. Also, upto speed usually is not the speed we get most of the times. In such scenarios if you really wish to test your current internet speed, Speedtest.net is for you.

Speedtest.net is a broadband connection analysis tool with a huge selection of geographically dispersed testing servers. Speedtest.net measures the performance of your broadband connection. At the end of each test, you are presented with the download (the speed of data from the server to your computer) and upload (the speed of sending data from your computer to the server) bandwidth speeds. The tests are performed completely within your web browser over HTTP (just like normal web browsing).

Speedtest.net initially recommends a server based on what it thinks is the shortest physical distance between you and one of the servers. However, because the Internet does not operate in direct paths, this recommendation may not be ideal. To best utilize Speedtest.net, find the server that provides the fastest and most consistent results and set it as your preferred server.

Click here to visit Speedtest.net and carry out your tests.

Also read: Open DNS: A big DNS Cache

Windows XP: Speed up Folder Browsing.

Get a faster firefox: FASTERFOX

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

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Cheers

Vaibhav

Laptop theft is one of the fastest growing problems in this age of Information Technology and Security. Who can forget the nightmare scenario that occurred at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs around 2006 May?
A department analyst loaded a file onto his laptop and took it home for the night, where burglars promptly walked off with it — along with identifying information on 26.5 million veterans. While the laptop was eventually retrieved, most are not.

I derive the motivation for this post from such incidents. In this post, lets learn about a few basic tips which can certainly prevent your laptop from getting stolen.

1. Visual deterrents - A laptop in the office environment should be secured with a lock or put into a secure locker when not in use. An opportunistic burglar could be put off by a lock as they have only a small window of time to get out before they are discovered.

2. Don’t make it obvious you are carrying a laptop - Rather that a tell-tale laptop bag, laptops should be carried in inconspicuous bags, such as backpacks or tote bags.

3. Avoid leaving laptops unattended - Lock them in cupboards or other secure facilities when not being used. If they must be left in a car, they should be covered up or locked in the boot.

4. Discourage theft by publicising the use of security products such as asset tracking software - If thieves think that they might be caught, they will be less likely to take it in the first place.

5. Add identification to your laptop - For example, adding barcodes or engraving details onto the device will act as a deterrent. Thieves usually steal laptops to immediately sell them on. Obvious identification makes it a less desirable target.

6. When flying, never check your laptop in as luggage - Laptops should be taken onto a plane as hand luggage. Be aware of thieves swapping briefcases coming out of the x-ray machine at security.

Also read: [How-To] Disable Simple File Sharing on Windows XP

[How-To] Recover lost Outlook PST Password

[How-To]Bypassing Passwords in Windows

Source: Astalavista

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Earlier i wrote about a simple Google trick which can let you get Serials and product keys of the various softwares. Today, lets see a website which can also help you get the same.

YouSerials is one such website using which you can gain access to the repository of 54000+ serials of various softwares. The website also has some interesting features like Recently Added, Top Serials and Just Added.

To search serials for your favorite software, follow the steps below

1.) Point your browser to www.youserials.com

2.) Enter the name of the software in the search box.

3.) Press on Search.
4.) The list displayed contains serials for your favorite software.

Kindly note that i haven’t tested this website and do not take the authority of its hit ratio.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Data Backup is a crucial step towards a risk free and Healthy PC. However, the task of backing up the data manually is quite a boring job. The good news is that you can automate the data backup process in windows by following the steps mentioned in this post.

Make it a habit to backup your data. The best strategy for backing up your data is to do a full image backup, create an incremental backup every day and create a new full-image backup once a week.

1.) In your Windows machine, Click on Start->All Programs ->Accessories->System Tools-> Backup.

2.) Click on Next. The screen then asks you for an input, select “Backup Files and Settings” and click on Next.

3.) The next screen asks for your decision, “What do you want to Backup”. Based on your choice, you can choose an optimal option. I usually choose ” My Documents and Settings”. Once selected, click on Next.

4.) The next screen asks for Backup Type ( Preselected as File), Destination and name for the backup. Select a location where you wish to save the backup file. Its always safe to have the backup in a different device. Click on Next.

5.) In the screen which follows, clicking on Finish, starts the backup immediately, however, if you click on Advanced and click Next, you get a screen asking for ” When do you want to run the backup?”, Click Later, enter the start date and click on Set Schedule to enter the information into the Scheduler. The scheduler then runs the task as per the schedule.

This above mentioned process shall backup your data into a .bkf file with a name as mentioned by you. You can then use the same utility to restore the data back in case of need. Remember to select the option ” Restore Files and Settings”.

Also read: [How-To] Disable Simple File Sharing on Windows XP

[How-To] Recover lost Outlook PST Password

[How-To]Bypassing Passwords in Windows

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

I earlier wrote about OpenDns and how it can help you stay ahead while making a dns query. But interestingly, i met someone recently who quite didn’t understand the whole DNS and the resolution thing, for him and for all those of you who might be interested, this is the post.

Have you ever thought about how the website address you type in the browser address bar gets resolved to the IP address. This post describes the way Domain Name Servers resolve the web address to IP Address.

When you enter the address of a website into your web browser, the browser tries to identify the IP address of the server hosting this website. Follow the steps below to identify what happens behind the scenes.

1.) The user enters the web address for Technofriends (www.technofriends.in) ( URL –> Universal resource locater) in the browser’s address bar.

2.) The browser then contacts the local nameserver ( usually assigned in the IPCONFIG) and asks for the IP address of the webserver.

3.) If the local nameserver has this information in its cache, it passes this on to the client browser. If not, it sends back the reference to the Root DNS Servers.

4.) The client browser then gets in touch with the ROOT DNS Server and asks for the IP address of www.technofriends.in . The Root DNS server, then gives back a reference for .in DNS servers.

5.) The client then gets in touch with the .IN DNS servers for the IP of www.technofriends.in

6.) The .IN Server then returns a reference to the name server of TECHNOFRIENDS.IN

7.) Client then contacts the TECHNOFRIENDS.IN nameserver to get the IP of www.technofriends.in.

8.) The TECHNOFRIENDS.IN nameserver returns the IP Address of www.technofriends.in.

9.) Client browser then connects to the IP Address and gets the content.

You can get the DNS resolution steps of the website using DIG in Unix or NSLOOKUP in windows. You might even try out the web based dig tool available here.

Also read: What’s your IP Address?

Open DNS: A big DNS Cache

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Often while surfing the web for some particular content, we land up at websites which require us to register in order to view the requested content. This post will help you get a handle to an interesting service which helps you get rid of this problem.

BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times). BugMeNot.com has a repository of login information for 194153 websites.

In order to access webcontent without registering with the website follow the steps below

1.) Point the URL of your browser to www.bugmenot.com

2.) In the Input box, enter the name of the URL for which you wish to get the login information.

3.) Press the Get Logins button to get the list of Login and Password information for the website.

4.) Make a note of a username and password combination with high success percentage score and use it to log on to the website in question. The chances of your being able to login to the website shall be pretty high this ways.

Happy Surfing!!!

Also read: [How-To] Disable Simple File Sharing on Windows XP

[How-To] Recover lost Outlook PST Password

[How-To]Bypassing Passwords in Windows

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

TVChannelsFree brings many of your favorite TV Channels live and free to you over the internet. The website allows you to sort your channels based on your country/ category and most viewed channels. To view your favorite channel ensure that you have a compatible player. List of compatible players can be found here

Using TVChannelsFree, you can watch for free 2,961 Live TV stations broadcasting on the internet. You can stream live TV channels from over 60 different countries - starting from popular new channels like BBC, CNN and EuroSports to local channels in United States. Search for channels, browse by category, sort by country, see most watched ones, chat with other viewers in real-time and more.

Via: MakeUseOf.com

Also read: How-To: In GMAIL, show unread mails at the top in your inbox?

Gtalk adds Invisible Mode

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

If you are one of those who uses Firefox and always wonder about creating HTML Signatures in Gmail, here is good news for you. Better Gmail 2 firefox add-on has been released and it can certainly help you create HTML signatures in Gmail.

Apart from giving you an option for creating HTML Signatures in GMAIL, Better Gmail 2 also offers the following features

1.) Forces Encrypted connection. ( https) : Earlier you read how to connect and stay secure while working on Gmail. Now you need not worry about it. Better Gmail 2 does this all for you.

2.) Attachment Icons: This features adds icons for the attachments received.

3.) Add Row Highlights.

4.) Adding Skins for Gmail: Select from a range of available skins for Gmail.

5.) Create Folders for Gmail; This feature lists labels in a folder like structure.

6.) Hide your Spam Counts

Read more about Better Gmail 2 on Lifehacker blog.

Also read: How-To: In GMAIL, show unread mails at the top in your inbox?

Gtalk adds Invisible Mode

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Google has launched Google Health for public. Google Health is a completely free application by Google which can be used to collect, store, manage, and share your medical records and health infomation.

Here’s what you can do with Google Health:

• Build online health profiles
• Download medical records from doctors and pharmacies
• Learn about health issues and find helpful resources
• Connect to online tools and services
• Search for doctors and hospitals

Official Google Blog says

In terms of new products, we made Google Health publicly available. It offers users a safe and secure way to collect, store, and manage their medical records and health information online. How many of us have touched, or even seen, our medical records? In this day and age of information, isn’t it crazy that you don’t have a copy of your medical records under your control? You could use those records to develop a better understanding of your health and ultimately get better care. It’s your data about your own health; why shouldn’t you own and control it?

After creating your profile on Google Health, you can choose to link your profile to doctors, pharmacies, and other online resources to send or receive medical information. When you link accounts in this way, you can allow the third party to only send you information, or to let them both read from your profile and send you information.

If you choose to use this feature, please remember to keep your password private.

More on this in the upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

Also Read: [How-To] Embed Google Docs Forms in your Blog

[How-to] Get more blogging ideas using Google Alerts

How Google Search Really Works

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Simple File Sharing is one of the Windows service which is by default switched on in Windows XP. Though, you might not use it, its being enabled by default certainly takes away some of the essential Windows resources.In this post, i shall be presenting to you a step by step process of disabling Simple File Sharing service in Windows XP.

Follow the steps below to disable Simple File Sharing on Windows XP

1.) Open My Computer by double clicking on it.

2.) In the Explorer Windows which opens, click on Tools –> Folder Options

3.) Click on the View Tab.

4.) Scroll down to the item with the checkbox with the name “Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) “

5.) Uncheck the checkbox to stop the file sharing service.

Also read: [How-To]Bypassing Passwords in Windows

Recover lost wireless network key using WirelessKeyView

Asterisks Password Viewer

[How-To] Connect Securely to Gmail

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Often we wish to use some of the images, cursors or the AVI movies from an installed application. But as these applications happen to be .exe or .dll or .ocx files, we end up nowhere. This post will guide you to an interesting utility called ResourcesExtract.

ResourcesExtract is a small utility that scans dll/ocx/exe files and extract all resources (bitmaps, icons, cursors, AVI movies, HTML files, and more…) stored in them into the folder that you specify.You can use ResourcesExtract in user interface mode, or alternatively, you can run ResourcesExtract in command-line mode without displaying any user interface. ResourcesExtract doesn’t require any installation process or additional DLL files. In order to start using it, simply run the executable file.

Follow the step by step process below to extract images and other resources from any application

1.) Download the ResourcesExtract exe from Nirsoft by clicking here.

2.) Double click on the exe to launch the ResourcesExtract application.

3.) In the FileName/ Wildcard input box, enter the path for the application from which you wish to extract the resources.

4.) In the input box named Destination Folder specify the folder where you wish to save these resources.

5.) Select the resources ( Icons, Bitmaps, AVIs etc…) you wish to extract from the application.

6.) Press Start to begin the process. Once the process is completed, check for the resources in your destination folder.

Also read:[How-To] Automatically follow your new followers on Twitter

[How-To] Embed Google Docs Forms in your Blog

[How-To] Remove USB Devices Safely

[How-To] Connect Securely to Gmail

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

As soon as someone starts following you on Twitter, all you get is a email from the twitter service stating the profile of the person following you. Its upto you to respond back by following him/her or just let him follow you. However, now on, using TweetLater, you can start automatically following your new followers and even send a welcome note.

TweetLater is an interesting Twitter application which lets you schedule your tweets for future. This ways you can actually keep your twitter stream rolling even when you are away from the world of Twitter. However, the most interesting feature of this service is the auto-follow new followers feature. Using this, you can start following all your new followers and even send them a welcome note of your choice.

Follow the steps below to auto follow your new followers using TweetLater

1.) Create a new login account with TweetLater by filling up a simple form. An email is sent to you with a confirmation link for validating the newly created account.

2.) Validate your account by clicking on the link sent over the email.

3.) Once validated, login to your TweetLater account using the TweetLater user id and password created during the registration process.

4.) Add the twitter account details you wish to configure using Add a new twitter account link.

5.) While setting up the twitter account, you can choose to auto-follow the new followers, send welcome note, schedule tweets etc.

You can configure multiple twitter accounts to one TweetLater account.

Previously, we discussed about Summize, Twittercal, TweetStats, Twitterfeed.

Do share your favorite twitter application and i promise to cover them as well in the upcoming posts.

Also read: Multiple Ways to Access Twitter from your Mobile Phone.

Using Twitter to track your FedEx, UPS or DHL Shipments

Twitter can help you Quit Smoking

[How-To] Find Top Twitterers in your city

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

In this post, i will briefly try to explain what Javascript is all about and will point you to some interesting videos which you should watch if you are a newbie into the world of Javascript.

JavaScript is a scripting language most often used for client-side web development. This means it runs on your visitor’s computer and so does not require constant downloads from your web site. One most important thing to remember is that Javascript and Java are not the same.They are two completely different computer languages. Its just that Javascript has the mention of Java in it. Almost all the web browsers have built in support for Javascript. This means your javascript code will run on the browser of your website visitor everytime he/she visits your page provided they have Javascript enabled on their respective browser.

Because JavaScript code can run locally in a user’s browser (rather than on a remote server), it can respond to user actions quickly, making an application feel more responsive. Furthermore, JavaScript code can detect user actions which HTML alone cannot, such as individual keystrokes. Applications such as Gmail take advantage of this: much of the user-interface logic is written in JavaScript, and JavaScript dispatches requests for information (such as the content of an e-mail message) to the server.

Although, there are multiple books and free online resources available for learning JavaScript, i would suggest viewing these videos from the Senior JavaScript Architect at Yahoo and creator of JSON, Douglas Crockford.

Douglas in these four videos mentioned below, provides a comprehensive introduction to the JavaScript Programming Language. A must watch for anyone planning to learn Javascript.

• Douglas Crockford:The Javascript Programming Language Part 1
  
• Douglas Crockford:The Javascript Programming Language Part 2
  
• Douglas Crockford:The Javascript Programming Language Part 3
• Douglas Crockford:The Javascript Programming Language Part 4

Please see that sometimes Yahoo Videos says ” Sorry! This video is no longer available on Yahoo! Video. “ Try refreshing the link again in case of such an error.

If you know of any good videos on Javascript, do drop in your comments and share the same with other readers.

Reader Contribution :  Learning JavaScript Programming Language through Video Lectures (Thanks to Peteris for sharing this wonderful stuff)

Resources: Wikipedia
About.com

Flickr

Also read: Create Professional Business Logos for Free

What’s your IP Address?

Google Code University: Learn programming the Google way

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav

Sometime back Google Docs added Forms feature to spreadsheet. Starting yesterday, Google Docs has integrated the embedding feature with the Google Spreadsheet.

Now you can embed the same form into your website or blog. This answers the most important question ” How do i embed my form into my blog or website? ” The form inputs leads to the updation of the spreadsheet.

To create a Google Docs form to embed in your website or blog follow the steps mentioned below

1.) Create a spreadsheet with the form fields you wish to expose in the form.

2.) Save the Spreadsheet.

3.) Click on link called Share and select the form feature

4.) Copy the embed code and paste it in your blog or website where you wish this form to be displayed.

Another step which proves that fact that we just don’t need web versions of our desktop software. We, as end users need web software that takes advantage of being online.

[Update] : Inside Adsense blog has also come out with an interesting post on this topic. For further step by step  on this, follow this link from Google Docs Support

Also read: Google adds Forms Feature to Spreadsheets

You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vaibhav1981

Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav