How to Disable Twitter’s Image Previews in Android and iOS

Twitter has announced changes to the way tweeted images are displayed in your timeline. Now rather than appearing as a clickable link, images are displayed as previews. While this is useful for some people, it is not for everyone.

The problem with the image preview feature is that it means you have to scroll more through your timeline, and there are also fears that the feature will be used to display advertisements. If you have upgraded to the latest version of the Twitter app for iOS or Android, you have a way to get out of seeing such previews.

The process is virtually identical for both mobile operating systems. Launch the app, go to your profile tab and tap the gear icon.

Select the Settings option and then scroll down to the Advanced section of the list of options. In Android, untick the option labelled Image previews and then tap back to the app.

Things are almost exactly the same in iOS, except you will need to tap the Image Preview toggle rather than using a checkbox.

Bot Revolt: Automatically Block Connections From Malicious Websites And More

Keeping your computer safe from malicious tools and softwares should be your top priority. A virus or any sort of malware can pop up from nowhere and make your life miserable. Using anti-viruses, cleaners, malware applications etc. can protect you from these threats, but with time, the malicious tools are becoming more dangerous as well the tools to counter them. Today, we came across an excellent security application called Bot Revolt Anti-Malware that can help you protect your computer.

Bot Revolt is one of the best ways to protect your computer. They have combined major security organizations with their own set of blacklists also known as known bad computers, websites. Any threat that can affect your computer from an IP address is automatically blocked by Bot Revolt, keeping you safe from viruses, bots, worms and hackers.

To get started, simply download the application from the link at the end of the post. Once installed, it’ll pop-up its update window to download the latest scams/spam, privacy, malware, spyware and more lists.

After updating, it’ll automatically start blocking / allowing connections to your computer. Unlike any other anti-viruses, you don’t need to start those long scans since it constantly scans and blocks every .002 seconds without slowing your computer down.

Bot Revolt is instant protection; it displays threats in real time, gives you detailed description of Intruders by showing you who and where they are coming from. You also have the option of changing the application’s appearance where you can choose to show the allowed connection, notify on http blocks, change the color of blocked and allowed sources. To keep your HD clear, you can also set it to delete the log automatically after a certain period of time.

By clicking the list manager, you can check, uncheck or even add the lists you want to be safe from. Malware, spyware, scams/spam, bitcoin bandits, your privacy and Bot Revolt’s own list comes as default.

All these features come when you install their free version which isn’t bad at all. Although, if you decide to sign-up for their paid account ($4.95 a month or $47 a year), the application gives you extra features such as the Incognito mode where you can browse privately online and it’ll prevent anyone from tracking what you’re doing.

In conclusion, I must say that its a very decent application if you’re looking to keep hackers out and protect your personal data.

Download BotRevolt

‘Global Rich List’ Ranks Your Wealth and Income on a Global Scale

Are you unhappy with the amount of income that you make? If yes, then ‘Global Rich List’ is one web app that will definitely make you feel better about the amount of money you make.

‘Global Rich List’ is a free to use web application that ranks your finances on a global scale. There is a good chance that if you own a computer and are employed, you will be ranked above the majority of the world’s population. Thus if you are feeling a little bad about the amount of money you make, this website can quickly restore your spirits.

You can feed your finances into the site in terms of either wealth or income. If you choose the wealth option, you must select your country and details of your assets. These assets include the equity in your home, the monetary value of your possessions, and the value of your investments. There is no need to provide currency units as the currency of your selected country is detected and set.

If you decided to go with the Income option, you will be required to select your country and type in your annual salary. Again, the currency will be automatically set according to the country that you have selected.

The above screenshots you see were of me trying out the app with random test values. The results I got were very informative for those figures. The first piece of information you receive after you click on the ‘Show my results’ button is where you rank globally on a financial scale. This is displayed in an easy to grasp infographic that shows the percentile you fall in and the estimated numeric rank you hold.

If you scroll down the page, you will find stats on how much you make per hour. I am guessing that this calculation factors in an average working routine. Your hourly income is also compared with that of somebody from an unfortunate part of the world who makes lesser than you do.

In multiple places on their page, the application provides you with donation links to help out the needy.

Comparisons such as the one mentioned above are shown throughout the app. One such comparison is your annual income against how much time somebody else would take making that much money.

There is also a comparison made between the time you and somebody else will take working to be able to buy a cola can.

The doctors’ salary equivalence is another informative image â€" you would be surprised to learn how less paid doctors are in some parts of the world.

In conclusion, Global Rich List is a simple application that will make you feel better about the money you make. And when you are feeling better and thankful about your circumstances, perhaps you could use the donation links available on the site to help people who are not doing as well as you are.

You can visit ‘Global Rich List’ by clicking on this link.

Fotor: A Free Web App Makes Image Editing A Breeze

A simple image editing application has become necessary for all the computer users. Especially for writers and web masters, an image editor with multiple platform support is pretty important. We have plenty of simple image editors in the Internet and today I came with a best one called “Fotor”. It is a new web application which is also available for various PC and mobile platforms. Fotor is a simple and powerful image editor with plenty of professional features. Let’s have a look at the features and functions of the application below.

You don’t need to register for using the application. Click the “Get Started Now” button on the home screen to start using it. As soon as you open the application, you will see a dashboard as shown in the screenshot below. There will be four major categories, in the first section you will have all the basic and some professional image editing options. You can add various effects, frames and clip arts to your image. The text option in the application will let you find new fonts online and add to your image instantly.

The next section is “Photo collage”. It lets you create collages instantly using different templates on the application. All you have to do is, select a template from the list, add the images you need, re-size the images and save the collage. It has different types of funky templates, shape templates, etc.

Next you have the inbuilt “Templates” to create greeting cards for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and much more. The instructions to edit the templates will be available on the left side of the window. The cards are completely customizable, you can either use the existing image or your own image from the PC or mobile devices.

In the next category “HDR”, you can edit pictures with multiple exposures and combine them to form a perfect image. In the screenshot below, you can see pictures with three different exposures at the right side. It requires minimum of three different images to adjust the exposure. Once you upload the pictures, Fotor will analyze the images and adjust the exposure automatically. You can also edit tones of the final image in sidebar.

Fotor is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. You can edit and sync the images between different devices using the application. Try this application in your PC and mobile devices and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Go To Fotor

Convert PDF Files to Different Formats From Your Desktop Context Menu

If you use or work with PDF files, you might have faced an issue where you have to convert a file to other formats like text or an image. Usually in this case, a common user heads to online file converters, which may do a fine job but it’ll cost you more time. We came across an excellent desktop based windows application called Cometdocs that makes these conversions a piece of cake.

Cometdocs is basically a web service which provides its users free storage space and is known as a free online document management system. You can use their services without registering for an account but signing up, which will take less than a minute, can give you fewer limitations since there’s also a premium (paid) account. A registered user will get 1GB worth of daily file transfers, 2GB document storage limit, better control of sharing visibility etc.

Getting back to their application, converting a PDF file to other formats is very simple. After downloading the converter (link below), install and register for an account if you don’t already have one and sign in. It’ll start in the background and you can find it’s icon in your taskbar if you need to close or sign out of it.

Cometdocs adds a ‘Convert To’ in the context menu. All you need to do is right click on a file and you’ll see the Convert to option. You will be surprised to see the amount of formats it offers. It supports almost all the formats that come with Microsoft Office package (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc). You can also convert your PDF to text, LibreOffice format, AutoCad images and even a web page.

As soon you choose your desired format, Cometdoc’s conversion window will open where you can see the progress of your file. It usually takes less than a minute; all depends on how large the file is.

Another awesome feature of this application is that you can also convert any text file / image to PDF format as well. Same steps right click on a file and click ‘Create PDF’. All in all, this is an amazingly useful application for people who work with digital files on regular basis.

Download Cometdocs

Notegraphy: A Text Based Mini Social Network To Express Your Creativity

Next to online gaming, social networking sites are the most accessed websites in the Internet. We have plenty of popular social networking web apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. In that list we have a web app called “Notegraphy”, a text based mini social network. This app is completely focused on expressing your writing skills in a creative way. In Instagram, we take a photo, apply filters and post it on the timeline. Same process here, write your text or quote, apply a design template and post it on your timeline.

Notegraphy is now available as a web app and as a mobile application for iOS devices. To start using the application, either you having to sign up with your email id or log in using your Facebook or Twitter account. Once you create an account, you will be redirected to a dashboard as shown in the screenshot below. First you have to type you own text in the blank space. You can write even paragraphs of text and customize it using the application. Number of words, paragraphs and pages in the note will be displayed on the left corner of the screen. Once you complete your text, click the “Style it” button on the right corner of the screen.

In the style section, you can add different templates to your text using the left side bar on the screen. A sample edited texture is shown in the screenshot below. If you want to edit text in the middle of styling, you can go back using the “Edit this note” button on the left top corner. After completing your design, click “Publish” on the right top corner to post the note on your wall.

After you click “Publish” you can see a window pop up on your screen as shown in the screenshot below. In which you can add the title and tags for the note you have created. You can easily enable or disable the comments and make the note private/public using the “Privacy options”. Feature your best notes on gallery for public view. Click on the social icons below to connect and share the notes on different social accounts. Even after you publish the post, you can edit the text and change the styles of your note easily.

The interface  is very simple and easy to understand. In the top menu bar of the application, you can see an option called “Explore” which helps you to see all the popular notes around Notegraphy. Under your profile in the menu, you can see your gallery of notes, option to make a new note and settings of the application to add/edit your account details. In settings, you can also connect your Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr accounts to share your notes instantly. You can see some of the famous artists on Notegraphy using the “Artists” option in the menu bar.

It is an excellent web application for people who have good writing skills. Try the web app and iPhone app in your device and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Go To Notegraphy

5 Best Apps to Manage Files and Folders on Android

Compared to other mobile operating systems, Android has best file exploring applications. Using the inbuilt File Manager, user can access, modify and delete all the files and folders in the device. Especially in rooted devices, user can access all the system files and modify them easily. The inbuilt file manager has some limitations and that’s why we go for third party apps to manages files and folders in Android devices.

There are plenty of file managers available in play store which helps users to easily manage all the files and folders in their Android device. These file managers lets you connect with other communication apps on your device and helps you share them easily. I’ve handpicked few best file managing apps for Android and the app list is as follows.

Fylee is an excellent file manager with beautiful interface. You can access the Phone storage and SD Card data easily using the application. In just a swipe you can access all the files and folders in your device. Two important highlights of the application is, you can select different files from your device and compress into ZIP format easily using the application. If you want to email a set of compressed files you can do it right from the Fylee. Another important option is, it supports different file sharing options like Bluetooth,WiFi and through other apps installed on your mobile phone.

Uncopt File Browser is much more than a file manager application. You can access all the system files and your personal data in a single place. It is a must have application for rooted devices also for non-rooted devices it brings plenty of options to manage the data. In Settings of the application, you can enable “Super User” mode to mount and unmount the memory storages in your device. Also you can show/hide the hidden files in Settings. Another important feature is, you can connect the application to Dropbox, Google drive and other local networks (LAN) using plugins for the application.

File Wrangler is a simple file manager app for Android. You can just swipe and access all the files and folders in your device. Tap and hold on the files to get more options to edit/delete it. There is a swipeable sidebar in the application to access all folders in the internal storage. It contains movies, music, pictures, etc. You can also access root files right from the application using the arrow (^) on the top of the menu. In the root menu you can mount or unmount the SD Cards. It is completely free and there won’t be any ads displayed in the application.

OI File Manager is one of the popular apps for android. The interface of the application is very simple and easy to understand. It will show you the thumbnail of images inside the app, so that you don’t need to open all the images to find the one you need. This app will perfectly sync with your Gmail app and helps you to attach files and send them in email. Also it will act as a extension for other communication apps in your device. It supports most of the file extensions and helps you open, edit and delete those files right from the application.

Android Zip File Manager is an excellent application with awesome zip compression features. If you frequently send multiple documents or files from your Android device, then this app is an excellent choice. You have an option called “Multi” in the home screen which helps you to create encrypted ZIP files from the application. Also you can adjust the level of compression in the application settings. It has an inbuilt app manager which lets you take a data backup of different apps installed in your device. Also monitor the CPU performance and kill the unwanted apps right from the application.

If I have missed any of your favorite file manager apps for Android, please let me know. Try your favorite apps from the list above and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Bring Back Google’s Black Bar Below the Omnibox using Proper Menubar

The Black bar below the Omnibox (URL bar) in Google page was very useful to navigate between different Google services. Recently Google updated its search page and added a  new apps section as a replacement for the menu bar. Even though we have all the apps in that drop down box, the old menu bar was pretty convenient for all the users. Previously I wrote about a Chrome extension to bring back the Classic mail compose window in Gmail. Today I came with  an extension called “Proper Menubar” to bring back the old black menubar below the omnibox in Google search page.

Proper Menubar is available for Chrome and Firefox. You can download it using the link at the end of this post. Once you install the app, you can see the extension’s icon near to your URL bar in Chrome and in the bottom of the screen in Firefox. That icon is used to enable and disable the extension in your browser. If you click that icon you can see a button “Proper Menubar is ON”. Click that button to enable and disable the menu bar in your Google search page.

Using this extension won’t affect any of the Google updates and Google Apps on the search page. You can also customize the “Proper Menubar” application. Go to Settings -> Extensions -> Proper Menubar  -> Options. There you will see a window as shown in the screenshot below. In the first section “Basics” you can edit contents on the black menu bar. Exclude the unwanted links from the menu easily. At the end of the page you have an option to display that black menu bar in all the webpages you visit.

In the designs section, you can change the background and opacity of the menu bar displayed. Also you can change the country website code of the application. This custom menu bar will restore the links from Google services and from some of the important web services. By enabling the option to show this bar in all the websites you visit, it will make the options handy and open any Google service instantly. Even you change monitors, this app will work fine. It works great on HDPI screens.

If you really miss that black menu bar on Google home page, then Proper Menubar is a must have extension in your browser. Try this app in your browsers and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Download Proper Menubar for Google Chrome

Download Proper Menubar for Firefox

New Update for AdBlock Plus Blocks All the Annoying Features on Facebook

AdBlock Plus is one of the best extensions for browsers to block the unwanted pop-up ads and other annoying ads displayed in the websites. Once you install the app, it will hide all the ads in a webpage and will give you a good readability. The new update for AdBlock Plus (ABP) has introduced an interesting feature to customize the ads displayed in your Facebook account. By default, ABP will block all the sidebar ads and suggestion posts displayed on your wall but this update will hide some more annoyances like Pages you may like, Rate these movies and much more.

Facebook has introduced a new feature, in that if you like a post of your friend shared from a public page, above the post it will show you the option to like that page as shown in the screenshot above. Also it will show some of the similar pages below the post. The new AdBlock Plus update will hide all these things from your wall. Also some of the other annoying things like rate this movie, rate this place suggestions on your wall will be hidden once you install the extension.

To start customizing your account first you have install ABP for your browser. You can download the extension for your browser using the link at the end of this post. If you have already installed the extension, go to this page and start customizing your account. In that page you can see three different customizing features based on your requirement. In the first option, you can hide all the page suggestions, movie ratings and all other annoying features on your wall.

If you are interested in seeing page suggestions from Facebook but want to disable those movie and books ratings from your sidebar, you can choose the second option. It will hide only those suggestions from sidebar. You can go for the third option, if you need the above said option in reverse. Using third option you can disable page suggestions on your news feed but you will see all the sidebar suggestions.

Place you cursor on “Show details” below the title to see what are all the changes it will do on your Facebook account. Once you click the “+add” button, it will redirect you to the ABP extension settings in your browser and click the “Add” button to reflect on your Facebook account. You can easily enable and disable the add-on whenever you need. Also at any point of time you can remove that add-on alone instead of removing the whole extension.

AdBlock Plus is a must have security extension in your browsers. This Facebook customization feature is an excellent move from the ABP team. Try this add-on in your browser and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Download AdBlock Plus  for Chrome and Firefox

Now you can Listen to your Emails and News using StreamShell for Android

Instead of reading an article, listening to it will make your work easier and reduce the strain in your eyes. People who work on computers through out the day, cannot concentrate on reading an article for a long time. Either they will get distracted or due to eyes strain they can’t read more. This method of listening to apps will be very useful for visually impaired people to read more articles. Previously I wrote about an application called “Sound Gecko” which helps users to listen to articles on the web. Today I came with a similar app called “StreamShell” for Android, which lets users to listen to popular blog’s recent articles and their emails on the go.

Stream Shell comes with a zero price tag and you can download it from the Google play store. Once you install the application, it will start downloading voice files from the Internet. It will take few minutes and you will be redirected to the homepage. In the home screen swipe left and right to navigate between different contents. There is a swipeable sidebar, which contains all the options and settings of the application. In the first page, by default there will be weather and two or three news channels.

 To configure your own news websites, in Sidebar under “Settings” tap the “Select Channels” option to get a list of popular news websites on the Internet. Select the ones you need and click “Done” to complete the action. To select the emails you want to listen, choose the configured emails under “Email Settings” option. To configure your  location for Weather and to update stock news sources, go to “General Settings” in the sidebar. In the “Set Profile” option under settings, you can choose the category of news you need on the front page.

From the moment you open the application, the system will start reading out the options wherever you navigate. To stop the audio, just tap anywhere on the screen and again tap on the screen to resume. You can add all your configured email ids in your device and it will automatically read out the new emails whenever you open the application. This app will bring all the stock updates, weather, hot news and much more in a single place.

This app will be very helpful for people who are not interested in reading articles for a long time. When you are travelling to work or when you want to relax, you can listen to it and catch all updates for the day. Try this in your android device and share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, do share this post with your friends.

Download StreamShell for Android

Use Quiet Hours to Silence Windows 8.1 Notifications

Many people leave their computer running around the clock these days. Despite the fact that boot times are faster than ever, the instant availability of an always-on computer is very appealing. If you have opted to leave keep your computer switched on at all times, you can use Windows 8.1′s Quiet Hours feature so you’re not disturbed by notifications in the middle of the night.

Pull out the Charms bar with a swipe or by pressing the Windows key and C at the same time. Click Settings followed by Change PC settings. Click the Search and apps link to the left of the screen.

Now move to the Notifications section.

To the right hand side of the screen, look in the Quiet hours section and switch the Quiet hours setting to the On position.

You can then use the drop down menus to specify the times at which notifications should be disabled â€" just chose the From and To times.

It is possible that you use Skype to make and receive phone calls, and you probably don’t want to miss calls during the quiet hours you have specified. To ensure that you hear notifications of incoming calls, enable the Receive calls during quiet hours setting.

That’s all there is to it! A few quick setting changes ensure that you will not be woken up in the middle of the night every time an email arrives.