How to rename multiple files in windows

Recently I had to upload about 100 photos of my daughter's birthday from my digital camera to the PC. These digital cameras generally give these uploaded pictures an unrecognizable name like DCMZ123 and so on. I wanted to change these to Birthday (1), Birthday (2) and so on.

It semes like it had to be done manually one by one.

But when I searched for an easy method, I came to know this.

Just select all the files at one one go, who are to be renamed, right click and selecet rename. In the dialog box, enter birthday and lo...you are through. All the files are renamed exactly as you have desired.

It is lot more convenient.

5 great Gmail web tools for doing things other than email

Gmail is a wonderful email service. The secure and robust email service from Google is probably using one of the most powerful spam blocking techniques and the ever increasing storage capacity, which is more than 2.6 GB at present, and still counting, gives you something more than you can wish for.

But there are lots of other application, which can over ride on Gmail and give you a unique experience.

One such application, which allows you to use the spare storage capacity of your Gmail account virtually as your hard disk, was mentioned elsewhere on this blog.

Here are some other applications, which you can use with Gmail.

Gmail Music: Allows you to store MP3 files in your Gmail account and play them on any computer using a web-based GUI. This application has been developed by SourceForge.net project.

GTDInBox: This is a firefox browser add-on, which allows you to be more organized. It incorporates a Getting Things Done tool with Gmail. It was once ranked #12 in the 'Top 50 Firefox Extensions' article in .NET Magazine. Gmail Todo is yet another tool from the stable of SourceForge.net project, which also allows you to do the same thing.

Gspace: Just like GmailDrive, this tool also lets you turn your Gmail account in to a virtual web drive that you can upload files to and store them. It is a firefox add-on makes your Gmail account look like a FTP host.

gTalk Sidebar: This great firefox add-on Google Talk into the Firefox sidebar for easy chatting on the same browser window you are browsing. This tool can also be used to send off mails quickly.

These are great web tools. Try them, they are free.

Fluther | Yet another place to find answers to any questions

After the success of Yahoo Answers, there are now many sites on the web, which provide answers to your questions. After the launch of websites like Microsoft's QnA and Ask Metafilter, now you can find your answers at Fluther.

The exact meaning of the word Fluther is a group of jellyfish. Fluther community of users, who ask questions and other answer that. It tracks your activities and let you monitor questions you've asked or answered in real time. They also promise to send your questions to so-called experts, who are considered experts because they have successfully answered questions on related topics in the past.

The Big 'G' Google is also present in this market, but on a more serious note. Google Answers, relies on paid experts to generate answers, and therefore, it costs you to get your answers through them..

Fluther is hand-tailored for you. The more you participate, the more Fluther gets personalized for you. Fluther also a large tag cloud, which displays the topics of questions asked in a easily comprehendible tag cloud format.

Fluther has installed a ranking system also, where you get points for good and bad answers. People rate you based upon the quality of your activity on Fluther. And based upon your ratings, you are given access to advanced features.

In all such website, one thing I really wish. If these services could start a feature, where the person can also be able to discuss the answer in real time, it will be really interesting.

You can find many other services also on this question / answer these. With the presence of Wondir, Oyugi and Yedda, this space seems to be getting over-crowded.

del.icio.us tags: fluther, answers, questions, google answers, QnA, Wondir, Yedda, Oyugi, yahoo answers, ask metafilter

Speed up loading of Acrobat Reader witht his free webtool

If you are one of those frustrated with the long long time taken by the Acrobat Reader to load, then use following trick.

Download Adobe Reader SpeedUp from Softpedia, install it and you are through.

It actually speeds up Adobe Reader's launch time by disabling the majority of plugins that are completely useless for most users. It's completely free from any malicious scripts.

Or, alternatively, if you don't want to use any third party program on your machine, follow these steps.

1. Go to the installation folder of acrobat reader (eg. C:\program files\adobe\acrobat\reader\.. ).
2. Move all the files and folders from the “plugins” directory to the “Optional” directory.

It will prevent Acrobat Reader to open the (mostly) useless plugins and load the Reader faster.

GIMPShop | Work in GIMP like Photoshop

When I started this blog, I was a total novice at Photoshop. I new that this is a powerful tool, but didn't know much about how to operate it. Besides this, I didn't have the license also and didn't want to spend hefty amount purchasing it.

So, I decided to try Gimp, the freeware, opensource solution, which practically does all the jobs of tweaking an image.

But those users, who are adept at using photoshop, find Gimp a bit difficult because of its different interface and different menu structure.

To solve this problem, Gimp has now introduced GimpShop, the cousin of Gimp, which has most of the menu structure and other features similar to Photoshop.

Let's see the next move of Photoshop.

PortableApps Suite | Now carry your PC applications and data with you

Now you can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and any other thing you like with you. There is absolutely no need to leave any of your personal data behind. All this is possible with PortabeApps Suite. The best part is that it is absolutely free, no trial versions, no spyware, don't require you to give your email address.

It is basically a suite of programs bundled into a single setup kip and can be run from a removable device like USB Disk.

The list of programs include:

• Office tools (AbiWord, OpenOffice.org, Sumatra PDF, etc.)
• Internet browsers and tools (FileZilla, Miranda IM, Mozilla firefox and Thunderbird, etc.)
• games (sudoku portable)
• Graphics tools (GIMP Portable)
• Music&Video tools (Audacity portable, VLC Media Player Portable)
• Mac-on-Stick operating system and some utilities (7-Zip, CalmWin Portable, etc.)
• The platform is open source and more and more applications are going to be added.

You can download it here.

Add web 2.0 like refelections to your images with javascript

Do you always fancy those web 2.0 like reflections to the images, which fade into background. But what if you didn't know the use of photoshop or gimp, and didn't have enough time and pateience to learn that.

No issues. Follow this procedure to add reflections to any image on your web page.

1. Go to this cool website.

2. Download the zipped file "reflection".

3. Unzip it and recover the reflection.js file.

4. Load it to your template. For it, you have to upload it to a free file hosting site, and note its URL there.

5. Paste the following code to the template. Before pasting remember to replace the src value with the URL noted in step 4 above.

6. Now you are ready to add reflections to the images. For it, just add a class="reflect" to the image.

7. You can easily change the height and opacity of the refelction if you so desire.

What is Cellphone Unlocking

So, 29th June had arrived and passed. And with it Apple started selling its iPhone, which has created an unmatched hype, unprecedented in the history of cellphones. iPhone is the properitory technology and it works only with one particular telecom service provider.

In this situation, the question becomes highly relevant, What actually is Cellphone Locking and for that matter, Unlocking.

Cellphone Unlocking

Every GSM compatible cellphone has a unique ESN number associated with it, with which it can be identified. On the other hand the SIM, Subscriber Identification Module, is programmed by the Telephony service provider to identify the subscriber. Two are not to be confused. ESN identifies the handset, while SIM identifies the subscriber..

When the telecom service provider bundle the handsets alongwith the telephony service, they lock the SIM. i.e. they program the handset in such a way that it can only be used with a particular SIM. This process is called Handset locking. The benefit is to the telephony service provider, as now the subscriber is tied to them, and will have to change the handset, if he wished to subscribe to any other service provider, which he may not like to do.

Breaking this programming code, so as to enable the handset to work again with any other service provider is called Cellphone Unlocking.

But how Cellphone Unlocking is done ?

There are two ways.

1. Many handsets can be unlocked simply by keying a secret code into it. The code is usually a unique number only for that particular phone, based on its serial number (what is called its IMEI) and the service provider who locked it. There are many companies, who hack these codes, and sell it to you, sometimes for a fees as low as $5.
2. Other types of phone need their 'firmware' - their operating system software - to be rewritten to remove the lock. This requires connecting the phone via a special data cable to a special programming unit. This can be done only by professionals.

Hoax your near ones with HoaxMail

Did you ever wanted to hoax your friends or relatives with a mail or SMS from someone else.

Hoaxmail provides you a free and really simple service that allows to anonymously send spoof email and SMS messages to anyone from any name/number - no matter what country you live in!
But be warned: Your IP address is added to the headers of every email you send, and as well as this we log numerous pieces of data regarding the real sender of the email. This is essential to ensure the service is not misused.

Other features:

• No Limits : Choose exactly who you want your email to appear from.
• Easy: Just fill in a few boxes and press send.
• Receive Replies: Receive replies to your emails in your own personal inbox, your victim will never know.
• Set a Time Delay: Allows you to 'queue' an email to be sent later.
• Advanced Options: Allows you to insert images, set font colours, make text bold or underlined and lots more.

So, join the fun, but don't abuse. You can be caught easily.

How not to speed up mozilla firefox | Disable Link Prefetching

Link Prefetching is a Firefox feature which allows it to pre-load all the links on the current webpage being browsed. The purpose of it is to load the next page clicked by you a bit faster. Know more about link fetching here.Although a nice feature for faster browsing, it sometimes is counter-productive especially for those who pay to their ISP on a pay-per-byte basis. They may like to consider disabling this feature of Firefox so as to save on the bytes transferred. But how ?

Here is how...

You just have to type about:config into the address bar, and scroll down to ‘network.prefetch-next’; double click on it to set the boolean value to false.

Find Lattitude and Longitude with Google Map

Tech-Recipes has posted a trick to find latitude and longitude values for any location using Google Maps.

You just have to locate the address on the map and centre that on the map by moving around it.

After that you just copy and paste this code into your browser bar and press Enter:

javascript:void(prompt('',gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));

A pop-up window will show the coordinates of the center of the map. (Image courtesy Lifehacker)

Free webtools search: Synchronize Google Calendar with cellphone

Do you use Google calendar often and want to carry your Google Calendar in your pocket.

GCalSynch is one of the useful free webtools, which allows you to do a two-way synchronization between Google Calendar and cellphone's built-in calendar, which means that you can sychronize calendar from cellphone and vice-versa.

Recently another webtool, named as GooSynch has been launched. There is a comprehensive list of mobile devices, which can be used with GooSynch.

However, You are only able to synchronise your primary Google Calendar and also there is a limit to a sync window of 7 days past and 30 days future of the current date. Beyond which you have to upgrade.

Go, check that out.

Free Webtools: online storage for your documents

Are you constantly on the move and need online storage space for your documents ?

Box.net allows you to store loads of information to a secure location on the web for later access from anywhere.

Now they have released their latest add-on for the service, Office on Demand. With this a button is created in MS Office applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access 2003 & 2007 from XP/Vista, which can easily your document with one mouse click.

You can download the software here. The service is free upto 1GB of storage space.

Free webtools: Control remote computer from your desktop

Technorati tags: Remote sharing, Tips, Webtools, Web

Have your ever been a situation when someone at a remote location is stuck with a bug in his machine and calls you for online help, which may run for hours. What do you do to avoid the hefty phone bills.

Crossloop, is a real cool tool with which you can get instant access to his machine. All you have to do is to connect to the web and download a little software (both of you). Then

1. Startup crossloop and click Join tab.
2. Click on Host tab to get a 12-digit access code.
3. Pass it to your friend (by email or phone).
4. He will enter it into his Join tab and click on connect.
5. Over and all.

Crossloop claims to contain no spyware or malware. Nor does it record any activities on the connected servers.

Safeguard your cellphone data with this free webtool

When did it happened last time, when you lost your cellphone (or got it dropped in toilet), and missed the contact list. Thanks, there are a few online cellphone data storage tools available.


Now AT$T has also started this service, but at a small price of $1.99 / month. After registration, you have to download a small code into you cellphone and set the updation frequency. Your cellphone will accordingly update your contact list on the online server.

However there is also an excellent webtool named Zyb (beta as on date), which is free and gets installed on your cellphone through an SMS, which you receive on registration here.

Seems, no more worry to loose important contacts.

Free Webtools: Safeguard your data with laptoplock

Technorati tags: Free webtools, security, laptoplock

Most of us, using laptops are concerned with the potential misuse of important data, in case the laptop gets stolen or lost.

With the help of Laptoplock, a simple yet effective free webtool, you can still access your lost laptop and delete / encrypt sensitive files so as to avoid their misuse.

For this you have to register your laptop with laptoplock, which installs a code in your machine. If your laptop gets stolen, you have to report it at the website. After that, whenever that laptop gets hooked onto the web, the laptop takes specific actions like encrypting / deleting your sensitive files, which you had marked beforehand.

Even if the laptop is not hooked to web, it could ask the user to verify their identity by asking for a password.

The service is presently free. The FAQ are available here.

Free webtools: Speed up Mozilla firefox

Every Firefox user must have got irritated when your browser just hangs on clicking a pdf link.


But, thanks, this Firefox add-on makes life simpler by opening the pdf file in your pdf viewer application instead of the browser itself.

Just install the pdf extension from here.
and
go to Tools > Add-ons > Select PDF Download > Click Options > Click ‘General’ tab > Check ‘Open PDF box’ button > Navigate to ‘PDF opening’ tab > Check ‘Use OS default viewer’ box button > OK.

You might also be interested in Lifehacker's great compilation of top Firefox configuration tweaks about

• How to modify Firefox's configuration (about:config)

• Session restore

• Tab width before scrolling kicks in

• Tab close buttons

• Fetch only what you click

• Limit RAM usage

• Turn off chrome tooltips

A few other tips for speed-up of Mozilla firefox are available on this blog here, here and here.

Free webtools: Increase your Mozilla fire-fox performance with Firetune

I like to search for better and faster browsing methods. I am sure, you too like that. You can find a useful tip and a post about Fasterfox for speeding up Firefox elsewhere in this blog.

My friend Subhash has come up with a nice tip to increase your bandwidth utilization by 20 percent in windows XP.

There is another tool Firetune, which optimizes your system based upon your connection speed, which makes it probably better than Fasterfox. However the fact that Firetune is not an add-on and you have to download a 1MB file from here, might make it less popular among some users.

Fasterfox: Mozilla add-on to speed up for Firefox

Firefox is beleved to be a faster browsing experience than IE. But would you want to speed up Firefox also. There is another post on this blog just for that.

Still not satisfied, try Fasterfox, the built-n Mozilla Firefox add-on.

The Mozilla website says

"Fasterfox allows you to tweak many network and rendering settings such as simultaneous connections, pipelining, cache, DNS cache, and initial paint delay."

In short, Fasterfox allows you to,

• Suppress popups opened via Flash plugins
• Provide HTTP Pipelining for very noticeable speed increase
• And many other features

For those, who are not much familier with pipelines, DNS, load times etc., they have simplified life by providing a few preset settings for optimum performance. You can choose any preset condition like Default, Courteous, Optimized or Turbo-charged (the fastest one).

I really find it speeding up my system and worth giving a try.

Forget Dictionary - Use this Firefox add-on for online support

Don't know the meaning of a word on a web-page or wanna know more about it. Forget using dictionary, now online help is available within your Firefox browser.


Just go to Mozilla Add-on page and download the extremely useful Answers add-on. After installation, for knowing the meaning of any word or query, just hold the key and left-click. A pop-up window will appear along with your answer, which gives brief introduction of the word.

If you wanted to know more, just click the button provided for the same on the pop-up window and it will give you reliable facts and definitions from over 100 dictionaries, encyclopedias and almanacs without having to search through lists of search engine links.

Not yet convinced?..........Why not check it out here at Mozilla Firefox blog itself.

Isn't it useful.