On-lyneTech

Truly an innovative Dialer !

If you have been using an Android phone for a while, you should have Truecaller installed on your phone by now. If not, do it now ! Truecaller is the best way to identify who is calling you, even if you do not have the no. in your directory. They boast of having a database of over 85 million nos. from all over the world. It not only goes online and looks up the no., it also displays the name on your screen even before you pick up the call. After the call is over, you can even save the no. directly in your directory. The best part is that you can mark a no. as spam (to get rid of those pesky calls) and the no. will be automatically blocked from then onwards. It will also display if others have marked a no. as spam, helping you decide whether you should pick up a call or not. A must have utility – you will wonder how you managed without it for so long.

We are proud to be one of the few countries in the world, which can boast of a free media. And our media has fiercely guarded its independence and relied entirely on self-regulation to retain its credibility. However, sometimes it can be biased, cynical or just stupid ! So who will watch them ? Newslaundry does the honors – it keeps track of the press / tv and the entire free media, criticizing, analyzing and sometimes just making fun of them. It is an e-magazine run by Madhu Trehan ( remember Newstrak ?) and her team which sincerely holds a mirror to the journalists of all kinds. Their by-line says “Sab ki Dhulai” which tells it all. Watch out for Clothesline-the weekly critique on news stories, I Agree – a completely refreshing series of interviews. Also their comics and cartoons are hilarious. Watch it for a few weeks and it will grow on you – you won’t be able to do without it – You have been warned !

Today, we are at the 100th instalment of HOW I WORK. All the installments are available on our website http://on-lyne.blogspot.in.  It has been a wonderful journey for me – exploring, sharing and learning all at the same time.

 Now, I need to know, how has it been for you ? Have you been able to put some of these ideas to work ? Has it made you more productive ? Faster ? More efficient ? Which of these ideas impressed you most ? What areas would you rather ignore ? What would you like to see more of ? And what would you like to see less of ?

Bouquets, Brickbats, Comments, all are welcome. Write to me at yazdi@on-lyne.com and let me know how we can make this column more effective and satisfying for you and those around you. Until next time then…

These days communication systems are so convenient and cheap that we can talk to anyone from across the world. However, when doing so, we need to remember the time zones of each part of the world. Besides, if you are travelling, you may need to check the time zone in your home country as well as in your destination countrybefore you make any calls.

World Time Buddy (WTB) is a cross between a time zone converter, a world clock converter, and an online meeting scheduler. It’s one of the best online productivity tools for those often finding themselves traveling, in flights, in online meetings or just calling friends and family abroad.

The user interface is sleek and easy to use. You can effortlessly compare multiple time zones at a glance, plan conference calls, webinars, international phone calls and web meetings. It also aids with business travel & tracking of market hours.

WTB also has convenient apps for Android and iPhone with the same ease of use interface. If calculating time zones is a problem, worldtimebuddy is the solution !

If you are an online shopper, you would have known the frustration of going to multiple sites, comparing prices and then homing on to the best priced product. www.junglee.com helps you avoid the extra surfing effort.

Just visit www.junglee.com,  enter the name of the product you are looking for and there you have choices, with prices, of the same product on multiple websites. They scan multiple sites to get you the best price for whatever you are looking for – a book, a mobile phone, home furnishings, clothing, furniture, etc.etc.

With over 30 million listings from over 2,000+ seller websites and 100,000+ local stores, Junglee.com is the largest online organized selection of products in India. On scrutinizing the site, one realizes that it is a service provided by Amazon, so it may well be an Amazon associate. But if it gets me the best buy, so be it.

 

It’s a jungle out there and junglee helps us figure it all out !

Most of us use the stock browser coming with our Android phone. Few others are convinced that Chrome is the fastest and best browser. For me, after having checked the popular browsers, I find that Opera Mini is the best to use with your smartphone.

It compresses images and data as they come to your phone. So in effect, it becomes blazingly fast and also uses less bandwidth on your phone. Besides, if you have always been looking forward to keep a track on the amount of data used on your Android device, this is the browser for you. Through a dedicated page easily accessible from inside the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers, you’ll be able to keep a tab on how much data you are using and how much money will you in turn be saving with Opera’s data compression tech.

Also, the footprint is small, so it uses less memory on your phone. Try it and if you like it, keep it forever !

When you wish to retire your old computer, you will do well to delete all files on your hard disk before giving it away or selling it. However, you should be aware that deletion of files or even formatting the hard disk, does not remove the data completely from the hard disk. This is where eraser comes in. Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. This leaves no chance for the data to remain on your hard disk and avoids possible misuse. Eraser is a free tool and can be used on Windows XP, Windows 7 and several other platforms. So before you chuck out your old machine, remember to delete ALL your data effectively.

Salient Eye is a home security system which you can setup using your old Android Smartphone. It is very simple to use either at home or at work. Just download the app, set it up on your android phone, and place your phone pointing to a strategic area such as the door or the window where a break-in is most likely. It uses the phone’s camera to detect motion. Once it detects a break-in, it will start taking pics and instantly send the pics to you on email or via SMS as you may have defined to another phone of your choice. Once sufficient evidence is gathered, it will also sound an alarm. So now, your old / used smartphone can double up as a Burglar Alarm ! What next ??