IT Masala

Here are tips to help you pose for a visa or passport photo:

• No cheesy grins, as mouths should be shut. Adopt a neutral expression and look straight at the camera, so face and both ears are seen properly.

• Hair must not obscure your face, so keep those fringes in check. Make sure facial hair does not hide the outline of your nose or mouth. No head coverings, unless religious.

• Embassies usually require plain-white backgrounds and each one has slightly different rules about photo sizes, so find out what’s mandatory. Some embassies, or their visa agents, offer photo-booths, but they tend to charge you more than regular studios.

[ Readers Digest Magazine ]

Really saying i am fed up of people asking PNR status to others when they are not at their pc desk. Even though Railway has made such a nice service of Railway enquiry through sms, people hardly use it.even the so called " tech geeks" rarely use..then whats the use of technology when its not being used for making the work easier ! So atleast from now on use Railway SMS Enquiry service to know your PNR status. I know its difficult to remember all the codes for train list, seat availability, etc.. but atleast PNR status is simple !  : PNR <PNR NO> and send it to 676747

Or if you cannot remember carry a printout of the codes for it !! lol..nono..u dont need to..

here,do this to make your work easier !!

Here are the numbers to which you can send and get the info..

- 7886,676747,7070,8888   ( i like 676747 , as time of message reply back is faster..)

For example : You use 676747

-  To get the list of codes  … send . sms TRAIN to 676747 

- Checking your PNR status

sms PNR <your PNR number> to 676747
eg: PNR 1234567891    or just send your PNRNo to 676747

- Checking for Trains running between two stations

sms TL < starting city > < ending city > to 676747
eg: TL Hubli Bangalore or use stations codes   eg: TL UBL SBC

- Checking for Ticket Availablity

sms TA <train number > <starting city> <ending city> <journey date > to 676747
eg. TA 6590 hubli bangalore 07May

Networks which Support 676747 :

8888 is busy.. many a times i have never got any reply from it..as its used for many other purposes, maybe it takes longer time to respond to this railway query !

So from now on use your mobile ONLY when you are not at your pc desk..

Happy railway smsing !

For more info : [ Railway SMS Service ] [ Service provided by ACL Wireless Limited  ]

As i have to buy a Laptop very soon , i was going through some tips on how to use it efficiently,mainly on battery back up .. etc and fumbled upon this article by Jeremy Toeman .

Some of his tips are : 

• Brightness: how low can you go?
• Don’t use any external devices.
• Single-task, not multi-task.
• Keep it cool.
• Shut down unused services.
• Do Hibernate, Do Not Suspend
• Tweak advanced settings.
• Choose Wisely.
• Watch That Hard Drive.
• Like a Boy Scout, Be Prepared.

via [ 10 Tips on Maximizing Laptop Battery Performance ]   

You must be fed up sometimes of slow loading of Youtube videos, here is a tool which can accelerate the loading of videos to your pc . The streaming becomes much faster.This software will make your YouTube videos stream faster and play smoother by reducing buffering time and video interruptions.

SpeedBit Video Accelerator for YouTube makes your videos stream faster and play smoother, reducing buffering problems and video "hiccups". The unique video search lets you find the latest and hottest videos around the web, and the "Recently Accelerated" list gives you instant access to the last videos played.SpeedBit Video Accelerator is a product from the creators of Download Accelerator Plus (DAP).

Want to know How SpeedBit Video Accelerator works?

Click here for more info.

System Requirements: 

OS: Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP
Browser: FireFox 1.5, FireFox 2.0, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7

Note : This does not support vista, although it does work fine on XP.

You can check out how Speedbit works and you can download it here. This is a must if you are on a dial up and still want to enjoy watching some wonderful YouTube videos.

via [ speedbit ] 

Youtube must have neglected the fact that a site's contents can be retrieved very easily even after removing them from their visible list. This is precisely what Delutube has done. 

Delutube allows visitors to enter the video ID (pulled from YouTube) of a deleted clip, then attempts to retrieve the clip from YouTube's system. Clips are not completely deleted from YouTube's database at the moment they are taken down ( they remain in YouTube's cache before being cleared), allowing Delutube a chance of retrieving them. The site also allows for downloading of clips easily. They even have a random video for you on their site .

To view the deleted video, just enter the YouTube video id and Deltube may retrieve the deleted video for you from Youtube.

How to get ID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_HERE

[ Get Your Deleted Video @ Delutube ] 

I am in now probably by a telephonic interview from RIT ( may get ..so ).  I am getting ready for it from all angles . As its my first official interview and that too on telephone . This interview is for the graduate assitantship that i have applied for. So i thought why not "google" some (found this useful link..) and get to know some tips for making this interview a successful one.

So here are some tips by Penelope who is a is a columnist at the Boston Globe and Yahoo! Finance.

1. Attend to your surroundings

2. Dress for the part

3. Stand up ( i felt this weird ..but its a must)

4. Prepare for the most obvious questions

5. Don’t forget to close

Special Note : Don’t forget a key component of a successful interview — even for a phone interview: A thank you note.

I felt something's weird about these tips , but you will be convinced when you go through the whole article.

via [ Brazen Careerist ]

The Internet porn industry generates $3 billion annually.More children and teens are being exposed to online pornography, mostly by accidentally viewing sexually explicit Web sites while surfing the Internet, researchers say.

Recently a federal judge dealt another blow to government efforts to control Internet pornography. The US federal judge ruled that a 1998 law called Child Online Protection Act is “unconstitutional”, leaving parents with the responsibility to protect their children from online pornography.

Frankly speaking children know more about computers than their parents. So obviously they are more smart and they watch porn on the net even after you put lot of restrictions on the child. No software or rules can stop the child , they break into everything !

David A. Milman, CEO - RESCUECOM Recommends to Parents : 

• Use Internet content filtering software such as the Net Nanny or CyberPatrol
• Locate your home computer(s) in the family room, living room or otherwise open area in your home. ( this rarely works )
• Limit the amount of time your children spend online.
• Educate your children to the dangers of online threats in the same manner you would about the dangers of talking to strangers. ( this might work)
• Make sure your Windows automatic updates are turned on and your content filters are up to date. ( this is a good joke )

The UNH study recommended that parents become more educated and get state- of-the-art Internet filters.

Some Facts :

- Most of the subjects who were exposed to unwanted online porn were aged between 13 and 17

- Among those questioned in the study, 42% have confessed that they have seen pornographic content (images or even short movies) in the last year.

- 66% of those who responded that exposure to porn occurred while they were Web-browsing have declared that they did not intentionally search for pornographic content and did not want it.

- Even though 48 percent of parents use some type of parental controls, still the problem continues.

- Britain now leads the world in tugging its collective todger to online porn. The official statistics is that Britain leads the world on porn downloads.

- Another study published in February’s edition of Pediatrics revealed that children and adolescents stumble upon more and more porn on the Internet, despite search filters.

Problem :  Do Your Bulbs Keep Blowing? ….If so, it may not mean you have a rewiring problem. Before you call out the electrician, run through these checks.

Check These :

- Have you chosen the correct bulb for the lamp? Overheating, caused if a bulb is forced into an enclosed space, can make it blow.

- Where is your blowing bulb located? Vibration near a bulb from washing machines, children playing or even walking up stairs will often snuff out a light source.

Solution :
The best way to save on power and reduce your bulb-changing frequency is to install CFLs. They are very energy-efficient and you now get yellowish ones that light up just like bulbs.

Related Posts :

- Use Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) & Save Energy
 

via [ Reader's Digest ]

Everybody searches for images in websites by visiting the particular site's gallery.i.e You need to visit their site to get pictures which you want. With Google Image Search you get the required photos but you get the thumbnails and you need to click on the thumbnails to get the actual picture. So here is a small tool to bypasses the thumbnail portion of a Google Images search and takes you straight to the results.

Here's an Image ripper which allows you to get straight to the results rather than searching for images with thumnails and then clicking the thumbnail to get the actual image you require.It search is not elegant as the thumbnail preview but it certainly saves yourtime.You can actually choose the size of the display of the images - icon,small,large,medium,xlarge,xxlarge.  enjoy..

 Find images; no more thumbnails, straight to the good stuff

via [ Google Image Ripper ]