Tuper Tario Tros

Everything seems normal until you come across a wall that Mario can’t jump beyond. And this is when you are told to ‘Press SPACE to switch between games’. As confused as Mario himself, you press the space key. Not only does the sky suddenly turn green as a result, you also face giant tetris blocks falling from the sky. Incidentally you can control these to make platforms for Mario to walk on and make progress in the game.

The fact that the screen keeps scrolling (and that Mario is killed if you aren’t fast enough) makes this game a real thrill. Play here.

Now What?

Mari0

Mari0 is an under-development game being made using Löve2D. The idea is to combine Super Mario Bros and Portal into an epic (see the videos below) game. It will be available for free along with its source code when released. I can’t wait! Check for updates here.

Mario Crossover

The twist here is that you can play not only as Mario but also as Ryu, Link, Megaman, Samus, Bill R, Sophia III and Simon. Each of these characters has his own special abilities — one has a blaster gun, another can drop bombs, yet another can climb walls. There is even a tank in the mix that can hover in the air and shoot homing missiles. Play here.

How was your experience of playing these games? Cool aren’t they? Do you know about any similar game? Share your views by leaving a comment below.

JPEGmini is an online service that enables you to reduce the size of your JPEG files. According to their website, JPEGmini can reduce a JPEG’s size by up to 5 times without changing the file format — and from the testing that we have been doing for the past hour or so, the claim is perfectly valid. To add to your surprise further, JPEGmini does not reduce the perceptible quality or the resolution of the image. Imagine the possibilities for a second, websites carrying images ‘compressed’ with JPEGmini will load much faster, you will be able to store many more images in your computer and and if you’re the owner of a website you can save on monthly bandwidth. Will somebody please tell me that is not a dream?

You shouldn’t be expecting magical performance for smaller images, though. JPEGmini performs best on images that have bigger resolutions. 8MP or higher, to be more precise.

Opinion: Google launched their own image format, WebP, a few months ago and claimed that their new format helps reduce image sizes by 30-40%. But, WebP has not been able to earn mainstream success. Mozilla, recently, announced that they will not be supporting Google’s WebP. All in all, despite the arrival of new image formats, JPEG is still the most popular one. It has become a standard, you can say. This is what makes it very difficult for completely new image formats like WebP and JPEG 2000 to succeed. So, the ultimate solution is the improvement of the JPEG itself and JPEGmini does just that. What the community thinks of it is yet to seen but, it is inevitable, we believe, that this start-up will be bought by some technology giant in the near future.

What do you think about JPEGmini? How was your experience with the service? Want to answer these questions, leave a comment below.

According to Facebook’s Help Centre, the ‘ticker’ will allow users to monitor their friends’ activities as they happen. If you have the chat pane disabled, the ticker will look something like this and will float on the screen—it will move down as you scroll down.

Click to see the full-sized image.

If you have the chat pane enabled, which is surprising, the new ‘ticker’ will be appear inside it. In both cases, the ‘ticker’ will update in real-time— as soon as one of your friends likes a page or adds somebody as a friend, whatever, you will see that in your ticker. And if you want to leave a comment on your friend’s latest activity, all you have to do is click on that item in the ticker, and a box, which will let you comment, will appear. Apologies for not adding the image, but, for some odd reason, the ‘ticker’ is no longer there.

In my opinion, the ‘ticker’ will annoy users more than it will help them. It is something that will constantly distract users and the kind of updates the ‘ticker’ will carry, do not cater to many people. I am not a huge fan of gossiping so I would not like to be updated in real time about what my friends are up to. Additionally, isn’t the default News Feed doing the job already? Also, I think that this is only one of the many updates that Facebook intends to roll out in the near future. Have a look at the following image posted by the folks at ZDNet.

Click to see the full-sized image.

What do you think about Facebook’s idea of updating the homepage? Do you think that it will spoil the exprience? Is there anything else that you’d like to tell us? Answer these questions by leaving a comment below.

Launched in 2001, Windows XP was undoubtedly one of the best operating systems (OS) of that time. The successor to Windows 2000 brought various improvements including an appearance overhaul. Infact, we ourselves used SP2 for several years before switching to Ubuntu.

Windows XP is premium software. The common practice of downloading it from torrent sites is illegal in every sense of the word. Excuses like ‘I can’t afford it’, simply don’t work here. Others out there will always reason that doing such an act is not such a big deal as the one doing it will not be held accountable anyway. I will counter this opinion by saying that not getting caught does not make the unlawful, lawful. How will you respond to somebody stealing an item that you intended to make profit out of?

That does not mean, however, that there is no possible way of downloading a free copy of XP. This is where MSDN AA comes in. MSDN Academic Alliance is a program through which students of participating academic institutions can download original Microsoft software (with product keys) such as Microsoft Windows XP. Additionally, the students may continue to use the software after graduating. There are some conditions though; the software may only be used for non­-commercial purposes and copies of it may not be handed out to others.

So if your college/university is a part of this alliance, you are in luck. For preceding steps, just contact the management at your institution. But I know some of you, who do not meet the aforementioned criteria, believe that they have a valid reason for scavenging ISO files on the Internet; you’ve lost your install CD. I am sorry to inform you that this is not the correct way forward. Buying a new install disc is the only legal solution.

Alternatively, if you have only lost the serial key you can try the following two methods before calling it a day:
1. If you have XP installed and running, you may use one of these applications to locate the key.
2. Request Microsoft to give you a replacement key by contacting MS Support. More details here.

How helpful was this article? Have we missed something out? Tell us your opinion by commenting below.

The easiest way to block a person, application or a page from appearing in your Facebook ‘News Feed’ is to press the ‘X’ icon that appears on the right side of an update.

Once you do that, a dialog will appear. It will have three options; Remove this update, Remove all by ABC and Report post/Spam. All of these options will remove that particular update from your news feed. If you decide to remove that particular update only, by selecting Remove this update, future updates from that person will continue to appear in your Facebook homepage. If this is something that you don’t want, you should select Remove all by ABC. But if you think your friend is directing you towards spam via his update, you should select the third option. The best thing about this process is that the person whose updates you’ve blocked, will not be told about this.

To know about the people/applications you’ve removed from appearing in your news feed, click on the arrow pointing downwards, placed next to the ‘Most Recent’ link. Clicking on that should open a drop-down menu, similar to what is shown in the image below.

Click for full-sized image.

From here, click on ‘Edit Options’. This should open a dialog like the one shown in the image, below.

This dialog is a record of all that you’ve removed from your wall. If you notice that the weirdo friend of yours has turned into a quiet and decent person, you can remove his name from the list by pressing the blue ‘X’ button along with his name. Same is the case with applications and pages. Previously we thought this dialog showed the names of those people who had posted recently, this is not the case. This is a tool by which your ‘blocked’ list can be managed. We apologize for any inconvenience that we might have caused.

Update: Facebook now allows you to ‘unsubscribe’ from people. Once you are unsubscribed, you will not receive any updates from that particular person. The button appears on the top right of a person’s profile as shown in the image below.

Did you find the article useful? Is there anything that you’d like to tell us? Don’t restrict yourself, post the comment below.

Activation 

Making an account at 000Webhost is easy, getting it activated isn’t. It is promised that the desired account will be activated in under 24 hours, but with all the domains we hosted here, this never happened. Moreover, the user, after some time, is told that his/her account has been activated, when in fact that is not the case.

Hosting 

For as long as we used this service, we never felt that the hosting was bad. Our site would go down occasionally, but that only happened in times when there was too much load on the server. The outages generally never lasted longer than 30 minutes and most of the times, hitting the refresh button several times would do the trick.  However, despite having a lite website, loading times were pretty ordinary.  All in all, we were extremely satisfied with the service we received because all we were paying them was-nothing. In case you didn’t know already, a free account at 000Webhost gives you 1.5GBs of storage and 100GBs of bandwidth.

Inside

First thing’s first, 000Webhost’s stock file manager is probably worst thing on the service. You are logged out automatically even if you are actively using the file manager. So, you have to go back to the C-panel and open the file manager all over again. There is another file manager available, and we believe it works better than the default one. As far as uploading files is concerned, you can only upload files that are less than 5MB in size. If you are thinking you’ll be able to squeeze an upload sized 4.8MBs, you are mistaken; we have tried that, it doesn’t work. There is no problem if you intend to install WordPress on your new site. But, if you are thinking of having Joomla!, think again. Most Joomla! packages are in excess of 5MBs, the ones that aren’t are old versions. Would you like to see what 000Webhost’s C-panel looks like, refer to the image below.

Click the image for the full-sized version.

Conclusion

We are extremely satisfied with the service we received from 000Webhost. The are shortcomings, but you should always remember that this is a free service. We used the hosting service for about a year and didn’t pay a single penny. Also, people use such services like crazy; they deliberately put extra load on the servers, host spam websites-what not. This makes life all the more tougher for this company. But, the way the service is being managed is good to see. To conclude, we would recommend this service to people who want to try out WordPress, or a entry-level hosting service, for that matter. We wouldn’t, however, advise people who want to make a living out of their website to use 000Webhost.

What do you think of this post? Did you find it helpful? Tell us all this and any thing else that you’d like to share with us by leaving a comment below.

The service I use is Bit.ly. And I would recommend it to all readers of this blog, too. Yes, there are other services available, but when Bit.ly is doing the job perfectly well, there is no need to look elsewhere.

Remember Things

Once you sign-up for Bit.ly, you have the option of customizing your shortened URL (Goo.gl does not allow customization of shortened URLs). For example, if the shortened link is http://bit.ly/f8UQCj, you can customize it and make it whatever you want, provided the keywords have not been taken already. How this helps is that, you can give out this easy-to-remember link to people instead of sending them the long URL. And if you are uncomfortable with writing the ‘long’ Bit.ly, you can shorten links using ‘J.mp’. For that you need to click on ‘Shorten With’ when on the Bit.ly homepage.

Get rid of ‘mailing yourself’

Admit it, you have mailed yourself something important that you didn’t want to forget. If that has been the case, Bit.ly can provide an easier solution to ‘mailing yourself’. You can put the file on a file host that allows direct linking and get the public link to that file. Once you have it, shorten the long link and customize it into something easy to remember. So, now, whenever you need that file, all you have to do is type the URL into your browser. No boring log-ins, no time wasted. And because you aren’t telling this link to anyone, you will not have to worry about security or privacy issues.

Statistics

One very cool thing with Bit.ly and Goo.gl is that they give link statistics. So if you are wondering how many clicks you received for the shortened link you posted as a comment on Mashable, all you need to do is to add ‘+’ after the shortened URL.  Bit.ly’s statistics are very comprehensive and the locations of those who clicked on your link are shown too. The image below shows statistics for a link I created.

QR Codes

Both Goo.gl and Bit.ly give you a QR code for every link you shorten. If a QR code is scanned by a mobile device, the person is directly taken to that particular link. For example, if I have a business card and I place a QR code that I got from Bit.ly on it, when you’ll scan the QR code using your phone, you’ll be taken to that link, directly. You can get a QR code for any Bit.ly link by putting ‘.qr’ in the end of the shortened URL.

What do you think about this post? Do you know about any similar service? Leave a comment below and let us know.

1) Link to a particular status update.

Want to show your friend a status you saw on Facebook, that you found worth ‘liking’? The link to a particular status update can be obtained via clicking on the time at which the status was posted. These images should help, if my words have been alienating to you.

2) Easy login.

In order to be able to execute this step, you need to have a Facebook Username. You can get one for your profile and your page by going here. Once you have one,  you can log in by simply putting your Facebook Username, and not the complete e-mail address. Saves time, eh?

3) Clean Status Updates.

When posting a video or a link as your status, you can make it look very clean by deleting the link to the video or link from the space. Again, if you are wandering what crap this is, see the images to understand.

The not-so clean one.

Getting close.

Deleting the link doesn't harm.

Doesn't it look clean?

4) Want to prevent spam?

Perfectionists aren’t very easy with statuses being posted to other people’s walls without their consent. Even if you are uneasy with calling your self a perfectionist, it is no harm in following the preceding steps. Keep deleting and reviewing applications that you have on Facebook. Applications that you don’t use any more should be deleted. Moreover, when installing an application, closely check which areas of your profile the application will have access to. The lesser information the third-party application accesses, the safer you are.

5) Un-necessary notifications.

When somebody posts in a group, which you are a member of, you are sent a notification. This gets a little buggy. You keep getting notified each time an entry is made. To stop this, go to the problematic group and select edit settings from the top right corner. From here you can select notification settings. You knew this already? Tell us by leaving a comment.

6) Education and Work.

Are you un-easy with your profile not linking to your page in the ‘Work Experience’ section? Worry not. We have got your back. First of all, you need to install ‘Web Developer’ for your web browser. This extension is available for Chrome and Firefox. After installing this extension, go to ‘Edit Profile’ and select ‘Education and Work’ from the menu on the left. Here, add a new employer, instead of choosing from one of the pages that appear. This should help.

If you can’t get to see this, add anything at random in the name field. It doesn’t matter much because this name will be replaced by the name of the Page you want to link your profile with. After adding the random text you placed as an employer, open ‘Web Developer’. Select ‘Forms’ and click on ‘Display Form Details’. This should make it look something like this. (Chrome 12)

Change the number in the highlighted field to your Page’s ID. You can retrieve your Page’s ID by clicking on your Page’s profile image. The link will be something like this, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=pa.140343172650770. The number in the end (bold) is your Page’s ID. Once that is done, press ‘Add job’. You are done. Inspired by this post.

What do you think about this post? Was it of any help? Please leave a comment below and let us know.

Kuko Klok: A minimalistic and ‘to-the-point’ interface is only one of Kukuklok’s awesome features. You can choose from five alarm sounds and even if your Internet goes down after you have set the alarm, the alarm will still go off. The little display of current time not only helps in setting the alarm but you can use it as a countdown timer, too.

Egg Timer: It is nothing more than a simple online countdown timer. The interface, though not as ‘good looking’ as Kuko Klok, is simplistic and all the required information is laid out on the home page. You cannot change the sound which plays when the countdown is over and the beep can be painfully alarming if you are using headphones. SteepIt is another similar creation, by the same team.

Online Stopwatch: Although not of a similar level as the two services mentioned earlier, Online Stopwatch works well. You have the option of either counting down time or using a stopwatch. The interface is not worth commenting, even. Advertisements are placed on the website like crazy and setting the time (when using the countdown timer) is not the easiest thing on the planet.

How do you intend to use these services? Was this article useful? Let us know, by leaving a comment.

Your best bet to finding a good PS3 theme, is without a doubt the PlayStation Store. You can easily find official themes that the game developers have released, themselves. One of the many great ‘official’ themes you can find at the store is Battlefield Bad Company 2′s free theme. Be sure to check it out before scrolling down. But there are other great themes scattered around the Internet as well.

1. Grand Theft Auto 4

The game sure is awesome, and this theme lives up well to the legacy; it is one of the best free PS3 themes on the Internet, believe me.

2. Heavy Rain

Click for full-sized image.

If you loved the game and its environment or if you love watching the rain, heavy rain that is, you’ll absolutely love this theme. The wallpaper for this one is ‘interactive’ and on turning the volume high, you can hear the rain falling on the surface. Simply awesome, isn’t it?

3. Reda 2

Probably one of the most unique PS3 themes that you’ll ever find is this one. The fact that we have used this theme on our PS3 for quite some time (Yes, I am showing off) is reason enough for you to try it. As far as the look of the theme is concerned, the icons are, what they would have been if they were hand made.

4. Graffiti V3 2.50

Even if you aren’t the usual ‘gansta’, you’ll be impressed by this theme. Every time you move within the XMB, a spray paint’s sound is made which is quite a nice addition and the icons are very well designed. Overall, this is a great theme to have on your PS3.

5. Recycled Jeans

There’s a little conflict between the two of us on this one. I say, this one doesn’t deserve to be on this list but the other half of Tech Daba thinks that this is a decent theme. Try it out for yourself and let us know about what you think about the theme.

If you tried the themes mentioned above and you haven’t unfortunately liked any one of them, you could also try these themes; The Official Tori-Emaki, Ratchet and Clank (Official) and AST Dew Tour 2008.

What do you think about these themes? Is the XMB’s default look better than everything else? Tell us by commenting below.