Mobile and Tablet Devices Review

Cyber Living posts the specifications or details of the latest mobile phones and tablets with some thought comments on the device You can find them by clicking the MOBILE?TSBLET DEV on the menu bar above. Or you can click this link Mobile and Tablet Devices

Computer Problems Solutions

For personal computer/notebook problems and tips, refer to PC PROB from the menu or click this link Personal Computer Problem Solutions.

What's in the world with Philippine ISPs

Discussions about Philippine Internet Service Providers (ISPs) particularly problems users are encountering but are not getting any solutions.

  • Tips or work around to these problems to improve browsing experience.
  • Do you have any problems too? Give your comments below each of the posts to be heard.
  • Or better yet, send me a message on our contact form if you want a dedicated article to your problem on this site.
  • Bloggers and Webmasters tips/tricks

    Looking for something to implement to your site? Our Bloggers' tips/tricks have what you need. If you do not find it there, notify us through our contact form.

    SEO Tips

    Tips to improve your rankings on Search Engine Resuts Pages (SERPs).

    Friday, May 31, 2013

    Replace that mouse with Camera Mouse 2013

    How to turn your camera as sensor to move the mouse pointer?

    I have got this crazy idea for several days now about using my webcam to move my mouse pointer instead of using the mouse. I did several search on the internet and I came up with one that seem to be perfect to what I wanted to do.

    It is the Camera Mouse. There are 2 versions of this application. One is the version 2011 and the latest which is the 2013. The camera mouse performs by following a certain point in your body (normally the corner of the eye or any other distinct part of the face) and moves the pointer in the same manner as the reference point moves.

    I choose the 2013 since any issues that they may have had in the initial release I assume would have been fixed.

    The Camera Mouse application is free with no pop-up ads bundled with it. All you need to have is your webcam. Any webcam is applicable with this app.

    It does require though that your OS is Windows XP or higher. For XP OS, it has to be updated to SP3 with the latest .NET framework installed. For other operating systems however, sorry to say that it is not yet supported.

    Performance
    The Camera Mouse is a very simple program with a very simple user interface. The settings selection are pretty much explanatory with some instructions on the window on certain settings.

    To use it, simply select a feature in your body that is always visible on the camera and so you are limited to selecting a feature on your face. You may select a finger but first you need to show it in front of the camera but once it leaves the camera's field of view, the app automatically selects the part of your body from where your finger lives the field of view. If the finger reappears on the camera's view, the app will not take it as the reference again and so once a finger is selected, it must never come down as such the best choice for a reference point if from the face.

    The application is so responsive in fact that even the slightest movements registers which makes the mouse pointer to keep moving which is not so much of a good thing because you would want the pointer to move smoothly and not erratically. It is possible to fine tune it though through the settings window but doing so will limit the ability for the pointer to move in any direction. So there must be a balance and practice will make the experience a lot better.

    Users must however refrain from making sudden drastic movements else risk loosing the set reference.

    Verdict
    The Camera Mouse still has a lot of areas it needs to work on but it is already a working app. I had fun trying it out and would definitely keep it for use when I am watching movies and am a couple of feet away from my desktop. Surely, disabled persons can benefit from this application, even at this stage, and I suggest they get it anyway it is free.

    Here are a couple of my recommendation for future design considerations:
    1. I prefer using my hand instead of my head to move the pointer but don't loose the existing feature already (using the head) for physically challenged individuals. In this respect, whatever has been chosen as reference should not get lost. When the reference went out of the camera's field of view, it should reestablish same body part reference once it comes back on camera. This way a hand can be used and when it gets tired, it can be put down to rest. Same with using a part of the face, with the current version, you can not go away even for a second without loosing the reference.

    2. More fine tuning should be done so that even with sudden movements, the reference point is not lost. This allows the user to be more relaxed and be at ease.

    3. There should be a way to calibrate the range at which a person wants to move himself.

    4. Lastly, availability of the software across all platforms and not only Windows. This way more people will benefit from it especially if it will remain free.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Create your own form and display all response real time using Google Drive
    Turn your old LCD TV to the envy of your peers

    Wednesday, May 29, 2013

    Turn your old LCD TV to the envy of your peers

    Today's advancing technology has provided us with electronic appliances that previously only personal computers can do.

    The trend is to make each electronic item into a computer. Now we have the tablet where we can read books and basically bring with us our personal computer. Cellular phones are also virtually a pocket sized computer. Then there is the television where now it is practically a computer sitting in your living room that can browse the internet, play games, video call with a relative from anywhere in the world and plug a flash drive to watch movies.

    You wished you had not bought so soon for an LCD TV which cost the same as the latest televisions but now can do much more.

    There is still a way though that you can turn your television into that dream TV of yours by using your old computer (desktop or loptap).

    Just connect the display output of your computer into the television's computer input and presto your TV has been upgraded. You will even have so much more capabilities compared to the features of any TV out there at the moment.

    Place the computer somewhere discreetly hidden so as not to become an eye sore in your living room or simply to create the illusion that all are the features of your TV.

    To make the experience even better, connect a wireless keyboard and mouse which you can either display in your living room center table or also hide it together with your computer to be brought out if needed.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Replace that mouse with Camera Mouse 2013
    How to read a content from a site that is down?

    Saturday, May 25, 2013

    How to read a content from a site that is down?

    You entered the URL of the site you wished to visit but all you get is an error telling you that the site is down.

    Is that the end of it or is there another way you can read its content? Well, there is.

    You can try to view the cached page from Google by typing on the address bar the following:

    cache:address of the site

    You see, Google is always scouring the web for new content and saving this into a cache directory. Google's cache is a snapshot of a page at the time it was visited. This allows Google to load search results faster.

    So in case a page you wanted to visit is down and you do not want to wait until it is back online, then you can try it and as long as it has not been down for a long period (weeks or months), you should get a result.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Turn your old LCD TV to the envy of your peers
    Child Lock your computer using Deep Freeze

    Thursday, May 23, 2013

    Child Lock your computer using Deep Freeze

    Wish you could leave your child in front of your computer without it getting messed up?

    Here is one way you can do to "child lock" your computer.

    Well actually, it is not locking but merely reverting back easily to your computer's state exactly the same as when you leave it into your child's hands.

    Deep Freeze can do this easily for you. Just enable Deep Freeze before handing it over to your child. Then when you take over, just reset it and presto any changes or accidentally deleted files are restored.

    This is something that a ghost back-up can not do plus you do not need to re-install with your back-up thus saving you lots of time.

    Now you can leave your computer with your child without worrying of what may happen.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    How to read a content from a site that is down?
    Share pass key to others

    Tuesday, May 21, 2013

    Share pass key to others

    What I am talking here is legally.

    If you have purchased say for example a Kaspersky internet security for your own personal use alone, you might want to know that such a purchase usually entitles you to install it into 2 or three computers not just on one.

    In which case, you might want to share it with others like your brother or sister. You can do so simply by providing them with the code. No need to give them your CD copy. They can just go and download it on the internet then once prompted for the key, simply enter what was provided by you.

    This works even if you are sharing it with someone that is located on the other side of the planet.

    What you may also want to do if you are on a budget and can't afford to purchase one by yourself, ask two of your friends to share with the cost then the three of you can use the purchased software.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Child Lock your computer using Deep Freeze
    Making a better use of Google's search by image

    Sunday, May 19, 2013

    Making a better use of Google's search by image

    How to search something you do not know the name of?

    Have you seen something and wanted to find out what it is? Or you only know its name in your own dialect but not in english but you can not find out any documents of it in the internet using the name that you know?

    With Google's search by image that is no longer a problem. All you have to do is take the picture of the that something you wish to search. If it is outside in your yard, capture a close-up image using your camera or phone.

    Then with the preferred browser of your choice, go to Google and click on Images. On the images search bar click on the camera icon (found at the right most area of the search bar) then upload the image before clicking on the search by image button.

    Results will be shown to you in seconds. From here, proceed like you would normally search with words.

    What will be next? Search by sound? Who knows. Maybe it is already in the works. I have been hoping someone will release one because I usually hear some interesting music but I don't know their names.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Share pass key to others
    How to download Youtube videos

    Saturday, May 18, 2013

    How to download Youtube videos


    Loading YouTube downloader by Jaksta ...


    Note: This requires flash installed
    • On a separate tab or window, open the Youtube video you want to download.
    • When it has fully loaded, copy the complete URL from the browser's address bar.
    • Go back to this page and paste the copied address on the input field of the downloader then click on the download button.
    • A window will be displayed to choose which format you wish to download. Click on the desired format. The download will start, wait for your download to finish.

    Thursday, May 16, 2013

    Surfing securely on public and unsecured servers

    How you can safeguard yourself when you are at a public and most often times unsecured wifi hotspots?

    We have all heard and read about not opening your bank accounts and similar things when you are on an unsecured server. That is all well and good but logging into unsecured servers still does not 100% protect you from intrusions even with the latest updates in your antispy, anti virus and any other security software that you may have from from attacks like virus, malware, trojan and specially keyloggers.

    The best thing to do is simply to use a program that when you turn off your computer it will remove all your recent activity including any unnoticed malicious programs that may have slipped into your machine.

    Deep Freeze is one such software. What it does is to prevent any further saving of files into your drive by allocating some of your available memory to create a volatile memory that ones you restart your machine all recent data since Deep Freeze was activated will disappear as if you have not used your computer at all. I have written a more complete document of it. Simply search for it on this site.

    Neat huh? Try it next time, it will save you from any unnecessary trouble.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    How to download Youtube videos
    WinCDEmu Virtual Drive Review

    Thursday, May 9, 2013

    WinCDEmu Virtual Drive Review

    The short answer: WinCDEmu does the job and delivers what it has promised.

    If you are interested in knowing it a little bit more read further, this is just a quick review.

    WinCDEmu is a CD/DVD ROM emulator which means even without a physical CD/DVD ROM drive installed in your computer, your computer thinks you have one.

    It is free - The application is free to download and use. It is licensed under LGPL.

    Very easy to use - There is nothing that you already don't know in using this application because is uses Windows File Explorer. To mount something, simply double click the file/folder/image files and it will be mounted immediately.

    Image files are opened as if Windows can natively open them - It supports image files like ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, IMG and CCD. What I really liked about it is that once mounted, it automatically opens and shows you the content and browse them like any ordinary Windows folder. A feature is also available where you can opt to disable autoplay. It also supports data, DVD video and BD video images.

    It does not waste any drive letter - if nothing is mounted, no drive letter is used. It provide any number of virtual drives.

    Installer is very small - installer is only over a little 800Kb and as such only takes a couple of seconds to download. It runs in the background but due to its very small size, it is hardly noticeable.

    Allows the creation of ISO files - got CDs you need to convert into ISO imge? This application is capable of doing just that.

    Like what was already mentioned above, this application is well recommended when you are looking for a solution to not always use your discs (to prevent scratches or simply to keep it looking new so you can resell it afterwards).

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    Surfing securely on public and unsecured servers
    Make use of your ISO files without any CD/DVD/Blue Ray discs

    Tuesday, May 7, 2013

    Make use of your ISO files without any CD/DVD/Blue Ray discs

    How to extract the contents of an ISO file without burning it into a disc?

    First off an .iso file is an image file of a disc dontained into a single file. It is much like a .zip file except that there is no compression involved. It is just that all files in a cd is put into a single file this way it is much easier to transfer within a network.

    The problem with an ISO file is that Windows can not natively open such a file. Usually, the contents of an ISO file is extract into a disc through a burning software. After you burn an ISO image to a cd, you will be able to browse and even at all the contents. But what if you don't want to use a CD?

    A simple solution is to use what is called virtual drive. These virtual drives emulates a CD/DVD/Blue ray ROM even if you don't have any of it physically installed on your machine.

    Here is what you can do:

    Launch your virtual drive emulator - if you don't have one, download and install one. There are several freeware available just search using your favorite search tool. Try using the following phrase to look for your virtual drive: "virtual drive with ISO support". I specified the ISO support since there are some that may not support ISO mounting.

    Mount the ISO file - look for the ISO file you want to browse and mount it into your virtual drive. If your virtual drive has its own UI then browse for the ISO file from there. But there are some virtual drives that uses the File Explorer of windows to mount and opens the ISO file as if Windows can natively open it.

    Browse the contents of the ISO file - Once the file has been mounted into the virtual drive, it is now possible to look at its content. You may even copy files or if it is an installer, you may directly install the application from the virtual drive.

    That's all there is. Enjoy.

    Back to CyberLiving home page

    Other Posts
    WinCDEmu Virtual Drive Review
    Smart 4G network opens its doors to pre-paid subscribers