Optimize your firefox profile databases for better performance

Since the release of version 3 , Firefox have been storing your bookmarks, cookies, rss feed information and such information in SQLite databases for better performance. On continuous usage, these databases can get fragmented and increase in size and may cause performance problems.

The databases can be defragmented again manually, which will optimize your firefox performance. Webupd8 explains how to perform this defragmentation in Windows, Linux and Mac OS. After trying out in a test system, ghacks author Martin, reported that it reduced the size of the firefox profile folder from 64.9MB to 53.4MB. He added that , heavy users with many bookmarks and rss feeds will most likely experience a large reduction in the size of the profile folder.

Source: ghacks
Read the full post!

Recover your Gmail password by SMS

Google recently launched a service to recover your Google account password by SMS. It is not uncommon that people forget their passwords for countless number of web applications they use. But forgetting important passwords like those of your email accounts and bank accounts can lead to lot of troubles. So normally these applications have some features to help you recover your password like the "Security question" feature.

Google had taken a step forward and introduced a new feature to recover your password by SMS. All you have to do is to login into your Google accounts page and then select the 'Change Password Recovery Options' . Add your mobile phone number in the option provided and click 'Save'. That's all. Simple isn't it. (If you got doubts, take a look at the screenshot below)

Next time, when you forget your password , goto password-assitance page and enter your Username. You will receive a text message (SMS) with the recovery code.

To take a look at the official google announcement , visit Official Gmail Blog

Also , take a look at our guide to sending free SMS from your Instant Messenger/ Gtalk .

Read the full post!

Send free SMS from your IM Client like Gtalk, Pidgin (Including India)

There are lot of internet tools and websites available to send free SMS from your PC. But you have to visit the site, just to send a SMS and more annoyingly , some of those sites even need registration. Chikka, allows you send the SMS right from your Instant Messenger like Gtalk, Pidgin etc. All you need is a Google account and an IM client supporting its chat feature. Registration with Chikka is not necessary. Normally people use Google talk , but I suggest using Pidgin as it allow multiple logins like Gtalk, Yahoo , Icq all at the same time. Moreover, its supports secure chat with encryption.


How to send free SMS from your IM client :

• Invite the <desired number with country code>@chikkatalk.com for chat. [DO NOT add a '+' before the number . Usage eg: For India , 919xxxxxxxxx]
• The invite will be accepted and the contact will be online within a minute.
• Now send your SMS as instant messages to that contact. It will delivered to that number as SMS.

To find the list of countries that chikka support , visit their faq page. I tested with Airtel India and the sms got delivered almost instantly . Let me know if it works for you , in the comments.

Happy Messaging :)

Read the full post!

Ubuntu Tips #1:How to select the right repositories for faster update and software installations

People who are new to Ubuntu, complain that it takes a lot of time for the update files to get downloaded despite their high speed Internet connections. The slower speed is also experienced while downloading software packages. This is because they did not select the right repository mirrors to download those updates. They are downloading from the main servers, which Ubuntu sets by default. These servers may be slow because of their huge load. If you configure your package manager to download the packages from a mirror repository that is close to your location (probably, a mirror from your country) , you can download the packages at a faster rate than that from the main server.

A step-by-step procedure to choose the right mirror repository in Ubuntu:

• Open Synaptic Package Manager (System-> Administration-> Synaptic Package Manager)
  
• Select Settings->Repositories
• Now click the drop-down menu near "Download from:" in the "Ubuntu Software" tab.
• Select "Other" from the list.
• In the window that appears, select your country and click the "Select best server" button on the right side. (Take a look at the screenshot below)
  
• Now click "Choose server" button and come back to the main window Synaptic Package Manager
• Click "Reload" in the toolbar and wait for the package information to get updated.
• After completing all the above steps you will certainly experience a difference in the download speed of updates and packages.

Read the full post!

iFile.it - Upload and Share files upto 250 MB with Resumable download

One of the worst problems with the file sharing giants like Rapidshare and Megaupload , is that they don't allow resumable downloads. Which means , if your download fails halfway due to some connection error or power cut, you cannot start the download again from the point it broke. You have to start over again. Same is the case , when you try to pause the download. This can become messy when downloading large files.

iFile.it , a replacement of the famous mihd.net, is offering free file sharing upto 250MB (as many files as you want) with resumable downloads. Once, you upload your files, you'll get a link to share with your friend. Clicking that link takes you to a page, where you/your friend can request a resumable download link. You can pause the download and resume it again , whenever you wish. If you are uploading as a guest user (no signup required), you can share upto 100Mb per file (any number of files) which is pretty decent.

Here is a quick review of their features:

• Upload any number of files within the size limit 250MB (Free registration)
• Upload any number of files within the size limit 100MB (Guest user - No signup required)
• Resumable downloads (Pause and resume your downloads at your convenience)
• Easy-to-use interface
• Personally , I like cool their name "ifile.it"

Link : iFile.it

Happy sharing! :)

Read the full post!