For the past six to seven months, I noticed my iPhone 4 deteriorate in speed. I thought this was pretty normal as I used up more memory and RAM to support the army of apps that I had installed on my phone. To still try that theory (geek alert), I swiped my iPhone clean to see if performance would return to normal. It didn’t. Intrigued, I prowled on Internet forums to see if there was a solution. One of the top tips to solve such problems was to perform a restore; but that did not help. Disheartened, I began to wonder if it was a hardware problem, specifically the home button. Why else would my apps quit slower than my colleague Taimoor Hafeez’s iPhone 4? That was the most prominent performance drop that I had noticed.

Of course, it wasn’t a hardware problem, as I found out yesterday. I randomly stumbled upon this piece of trick that restored the performance on my iPhone 4. I am afraid I do not remember where I found the solution, so no links here.

The solution was to turn off iPhone 4′s triple-click home button setting. You can find it under Settings > General  > Accessibility > Triple-click Home. You will find a number of options to choose from, all responsible of slowing down your phone. I had ‘Toggle White on Black’ selected. I just turned it ‘Off‘. And profit!

This tip depends on if you had any of the triple-click settings selected, so mileage depends. For me, my iPhone 4 has returned back to its speedy days. I have also noticed faster app-launch times, but I will chalk that down to placebo.

I’m sitting in my office and wondering to myself “Why on earth do we not have any posters around here?” For an office that is piled high with gadgets and games, the only thing hanging on our wall is a lonely whiteboard. Which is not a great thing considering I’ve supposed to have studied Interior Design as well.

Thankfully, there are some quick things you can do for your home or office to bring some very cute geek chic looks that won’t break your bank.

Get cushy
Cushions are a great way to jazz up chairs and sofas, and what better way to celebrate your inner geek than with some geek-inspired cushions? There’s a “Ctrl+Alt+Del” cushion for the Windows lovers, or even cushions based on logos of popular social media networks. We personally love the ones based on Adobe’s suite of products – who doesn’t like to snuggle up to a bit of InDesign?

Recolor your coffee mug
If you’re a designer and need that extra cup of coffee to get you through yet another night at home working on projects, why not grab a cup of coffee in your very own Pantone mug? They’re a great way to bring some color when sharing a cup or two with friends, and with literally hundreds of colors to choose from, these mugs will certainly get you the nod of approval from your fellow overworked designers.

Get plastered
No, no, not that – we’re talking about walls here. Wallpaper is a great way to breathe new life into a room instead of repainting it, but putting up wallpaper can be a bit of a challenge if not done correctly. So why not play it safe and grab some geeky wall decals? Companies like Blik and Wall Cravings both offer some classic and easy to apply wall transfers, such as Space Invaders, Mario, and even Donkey Kong to turn your boring walls into a gaming masterpiece.

Turn cables into art
There are so many cables under my desk that I’m tempted to dive under and see if any of them actually lead back to Narnia. While most of us  tend to get away with messy cabling at our office, it becomes a bit of an eyesore at home. So rather than shoving cables behind couches and binding them together with tape, why not get a little bit adventurous and artistic? Glue or Velcro your cables to the wall in interesting patterns to make for a very unique way to manage your cables. Just make sure you’ve sorted out your design first on paper before fixing things to the wall.

Accessorize with USB toys!
Okay this one is more for your office desk than for your home, so forgive me. While we traditionally plug all kinds of devices into USB ports, there are a couple of fun things that you can plug in as well, such as mini lava lamps, mug warmers, foam missile launchers, fans, and even a plasma globe. If you’ve got a USB hub handy or a lot of ports free on your PC, then plug in some quirky USB toys and waste the hours away!

Siri is an amazing Voice command software by Apple but no one expected it to be 100% perfect with different kind of names or pronunciations we have. But if you are getting tired of Siri not recognizing to some of your commonly used contact names then don’t worry as there is a feature in Siri with which you can assign a “Phonetic name” to the person in your address book. This way Siri will recognize the person when you pronounce his or her name.

To do this goto address book open the contact whose pronunciation of name doesn’t match spelling of name, then use option of “Add custom Field” and you will get list of options to add detail of your contact in address book. There you will see the new option of “Phonetic first/last name”. You can use these to type the spellings which it will be easier for Siri to understand and recognize the name. Now you will be able to use voice commands to call or sms this person with ease.

Do note that it is being reported that due to some bug, this option is not available on all iPhone 4S models. Even though OS version may be same on two iPhones, but it is still possible that one of them may have this feature and other may not have the Phonetic name field. For such people you just have to wait till Apple releases a bug fix.

As many students enter the final year of their high school, they’re faced with the daunting task of deciding what university or college to attend for higher education. This one decision will shape the rest of your life in more ways than you can imagine. These next three or four years of your life will define your outlook on life, and will influence the way you perceive different situations in life and how you treat different people. And interesting as it to delve deeper into this train of though, I’ll bring us back on track with the topic on hand.

This being a technology website, I’ll mostly be looking at the various educational institutes around UAE that offer anything from a Bachelors in IT to different media branches of graphical design and computer animation. This article is for students who’ll be entering their university, and as such will only focus on undergraduate courses. I won’t go into detail about what each course provides, I’ve hyperlinked everything to the respective course details on the university’s website directly, so you can see what each module provides in detail.

Remember one thing, that no matter how good a university’s website looks, you cannot make a decision as big as choosing which university to go for until you’ve been there, seen their facilities, and ideally talked to the tutors of each module you’re planning to attend. Many universities offer open days, but at the time of writing this article those days are gone, and in fact a few universities have even started their courses. Still, these are early days, so changes can still be made. And with that, let’s go down the list of universities/colleges/institutes that provide IT and related courses here.

Websites like Google Docs, Gmail, Pandora, Campfire, Hootsuite, Seesmic web etc. have blurred the lines between desktop apps and sites. So, if you use them regularly then there are options that you can actually take them out of your browser to convert them into real standalone apps. These software are: Chrome, Prism and Fluid.

You may ask that what is the difference between an internet shortcut and apps created through these software. The answer is that this will make the app independent of your browser window, secondly you will have options to remove the browser toolbars, menus, location/url bar, back or forward buttons etc. this will make the site appear like its running on its own rather than inside a browser. so lets see how you can accomplish it using the mentioned three software.

1. Google Chrome

Chrome has a built-in option for this. Open the site you want to convert into standalone, then click the wrench icon, click Tools, select Create Application shortcut, here you will get options to where to place the shortcut, press Create to finalize. This will create your tab-less, menu-bar less application shortcut. One problem I found with using this Chrome feature is that when you open any link from Chrome app, then it is forced open in Google Chrome browser even if it is not your default browser.

2. Fluid

This is standalone app rather than a browser based feature. But Fluid app is Mac OS X exclusive and convert any website into a Mac app. Although there is a free version of this software but for more options you will need to buy the pro version.

3. Mozilla Prism

Prism is a Firefox extension / standalone software from mozilla which will do same thing. The Prism Firefox extension is not updated to run with latest or beta build firefox versions, but you can use standalone version to convert any website into application even if you donot have firefox. Just give it url and select from many options of what toolbars you want to hide or place the software in notification tray area. etc create shortcut for standalone app from software.

Overall I prefer Prism as it gives you more customization option, you can use the extension as well as downloadable Prism app to make sites into app. And all its features are free unlike Fluid pro version.

For PC gamers, a GPU or 3D card is one of the most pricy as well as most rapidly upgraded item. So, its importance and safety is overall the top priority in a gaming PC. And the most common problems in GPU occur due to over-heating. Hopefully this guide will be useful for all of those who aim to setup some safety measures for this purpose.

GPU temperature monitoring is essential when you have over-clocked your GPU. Even if you have not over-clocked your GPU, its always better to keep an eye on it, as different games under different loads can cause heat-up more than expected. Of course, there are many other factors that increase the temperatures;reducing the life of components, if not causing permanent damage. However, most people don’t know how to monitor temperatures “efficiently”. So, we are presenting a guide which will inform you of some good practices and recommended softwares which will help you remain vigilant of any over-heating issues.

The only version of limera1n available for now if for Windows, however Mac users should be getting their fix soon as well. The 328kb file downloads in an instant and I ran it with Admin privileges in Windows 7. A small screen came up that set my iPhone into recover mode after which I had to set it up in DFU mode by following the oh-so-familiar instructions.

Once the iPhone was in DFU mode, the exploit was sent and a minute and a reboot later, I saw the icon for limera1n icon on my iPhone through which I was able to install cydia. One more reboot was needed as instructions mentioned that your iPhone might require a reboot for the cydia icon to show up.

The whole process took about three minutes and none of the information on my iPhone 4 was lost. Now its time to sit back, relax and download LockInfo- the number one reason I Jailbreak my iPhones.

Reliability Monitor basically records any hardware and software problems/changes that have occurred on your PC and based on that, provides an index that ranges from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most reliable. You can launch it by clicking on the start menu and type reliability which bring a result to “View reliability history” on which you can click. Let me post a screenshot from my Sony laptop and then explain the information this tool collects.

The first thing on top in that graph is whether to view your information in days or weeks. When your PC is new, the days link is selected which shows you information about your PC on a daily basis. Once your PC becomes a few weeks or months old, you would probably want to switch to a weekly view.

As you can see, my PC has been fairly reliable over the last over the last twenty days with the graph closer towards the top (10) than the bottom. There are three types of icons in that graph- the red x is a show stopper while the yellow triangle is a warning. The blue circles are just information dialogs that tell you if an application was installed/uninstalled or a Windows Update applied. The yellow triangle you see informed me that an application was unsuccessfully installed which in this case was the older version of the Flip Share application that was on my Flip MinoHD video camera.

The red x signs are the one that you should be concerned about and two of those on my graphs are due to improper shutdown of windows which generally means that your PC crashed. Unfortunately, Reliability Monitor doesn’t provide you with the exact information on what caused the error. For that, you will probably need to look at system logs. The third red x on my graph was for Superfetch that had stopped working. Superfetch is a disk caching mechanism in Windows and since I have an SSD (Solid State Drive) on this laptop, I disabled this service as it’s a lot more helpful with standard mechanical hard drives.

It would be interesting to find out what others are scoring. Please do share your index and your PC make with us.

Keep liquids and food away from your laptop
As tempting as it might be to drink coffee, water or any other liquid near your laptop, accidents can happen all too easily. Spilt liquids may cause electrical faults to the laptop. Food crumbs can get in-between the keys in the keyboard and provide an invitation to small bugs and may force the keys to become sticky or jam.

In addition, clean hands make it easier to use your laptop touchpad and there will be less risk of leaving dirt and other stains on the computer. Even if you’re careful, someone else might bump into your desk or you. Or you can use a cup with a cover on it, so even if it does spill, the liquid doesn’t go anywhere! So it’s best to keep food and drinks away from your working area.

Play it cool
Your laptop generates a lot of heat, especially if the processor unit or hard drive usage is always running high-powered applications. Keep your laptop in a well-ventilated position and don’t block the fan grills on the sides. Laptop coolers are also a great accessory to help extend the life of your computer. Coolers have several fans to help reduce the heat and heated feeling on your thighs and hands. It also helps if you store in a well circulated area.

Protect your LCD display
Always close down the laptop lid when you are not using your laptop to protect it from dust and dirt, and make sure there is no small item such as pens or anything that will damage the screen when shut. Avoid touching the LCD screen that leaves fingerprints. Regularly clean it with cloth or an anti-static monitor wipe to keep your visual experience to the max.

Don’t drop it
As we spend more of our time on the go, a good and durable carrying bag reduces the risk of damage due to laptops being dropped or bumped when moving around or travelling. Also, your laptop bag should be big enough as to suit the size of your laptop perfectly, hold the power supply, files and papers in the other chambers provided in the bag and to avoid scratching and squeezing. Moreover, don’t leave your laptop on the edge of your desk because one ill-fated drop could mean goodbye to your mobile device.

Battery life
To increase the battery life of your laptop, ensure that all chemicals in the battery are fully activated by cycling the battery (fully charge, then fully discharge) three times. If you are using your laptop for the first time, charge your battery for 12 hours continuously. This procedure is also recommended if you stored the battery for a few months. Remove the battery pack and keep it in a cool place if you won’t be using the laptop for a long period.

Keep accessories in good condition
Do not connect devices with damaged connectors/cables to your laptop as it may also damage your machine. If you use your laptop as desktop replacement, do not leave it plugged most of the time to avoid detrimental effect on your battery life. Or you can keep it plugged all the time but remove its battery. This will help your battery last longer.

Back up your data
Back up all data that is sensitive or cannot be easily replaced. Back up data to a safe location on the corporate network. After confirming a successful backup, delete all data—both work and customer related—that is not essential for the job being performed. Be sure to empty the Recycle Bin as part of the process too.

Clean up your system
Make sure you have the latest patch for your operating system and latest definition for your anti-virus. For Microsoft® Windows®, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
If this webpage doesn’t open Windows Update automatically; click the Start button, All Programs and then click Windows Update. For other software, go to the manufacturers’ Web sites. Defragging hard drives not only speed up data access, it also improves performance. Remove unused programs and other components that only consume memory. Clear your temporary internet files folder and cookies. Delete duplicate files or other huge files you no longer use to free up space.

Data Protection
Never write down or leave access numbers or passwords in the carrying case. If a laptop is stolen, immediately do the following: report the theft to the local police and to Corporate Security; if customer data was on the laptop, contact your manager; change the password associated with the corporate user ID and if you can’t, contact your helpdesk for assistance. To avoid virus, ensure that the latest antivirus software is loaded and running on your laptop. Also, you will want to make sure the firewall on your computer is turned on. For maximum security, use a strong password on all local accounts, especially the Administrator Password. For a protected screen saver, you can use password-protected screen saver set to activate after a maximum of 15 minutes of inactivity.

If you are a Toshiba notebook owner and you register, you will be able to receive updates and information specific to your machine. This includes driver and download alerts and information about options and accessories created for your notebook.Toshiba Notebooks are covered by one, two or three year’s standard warranty depending on the model, effective from the date of purchase.

To ensure optimum service and support, please register your standard warranty. Toshiba also provides warranty extensions which allow you to extend your standard International Limited Warranty up to four years. During this period, you can take or send your defective Toshiba notebook to a Toshiba Authorised Service Provider, and all service parts and labour costs required to repair the Toshiba notebook are provided free-of-charge subject to registering the unit online.

With so many people accessing networks over WiFi or other untrusted networks for an increasing number of different kinds of services—calendars, contacts, Webmail, email, and so on—encryption is a must, whether via a VPN or by securing services one by one. While I recommend VPNs, they aren’t always the practical, affordable, or correct solution. For remote email access, SSL/TLS is simpler and more straightforward, and you don’t have to compromise on protection in the process.

Source: Ars Technica