How to customize facebook profile

The company redesigned profile layouts, giving you a lot to think about in terms of what you want to showcase and share with others.

Here are some ways you can best customize your facebook profile to make it best features forward.

The Quick Summary

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The new Facebook profile layout

In the old days, we could type a summary bio of ourselves in a small box under our profile photo. We could control that space and add a URL if we wanted. Now that box is gone, and Facebook has placed a quick reference summary of key information about us pulled from what we input into our profiles. That could include employment, education, where you currently live, marital status, hometown and birth date.

To edit what you see in that section, click on the Edit Profile button on the top right of your profile page. Most information in your quick summary is pulled from the basic Information, profile picture, featured people, and education and work sections.

You don’t have a lot of options for what you show and don’t show. In order to remove employer, for example, you have to delete it entirely, as there isn’t a checkbox to show it or not like the “gender” category under the basic information section. If you decide you don’t want your employment or education information front and center at the top of your bio, your only option right now is to remove it. If Facebook decides to put in controls at some point, you can always add those details later.

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The Bigger Reveal

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Facebook lets you reveal more about what you are doing, including classes you are taking, projects at work and other personal activities. You can even include who you’re doing these things with, tagging and linking to them in your activity description. Under the employer header, you will now see a link for “Add a Project.” Click on that and you can name your project, add who you’re working on the project with, describe your project, then specify the time period.

Education history has also become more beefy. You can edit college/university and specify class year, who you’re taking the class with, concentrations and whether college or graduate school. For high school, you can edit your class year and who else is in your class. For both college/university and high school, you have the option to add the name of a class, a description of the class, and which friends are taking it with you.

If you’re doing a lot of extracurricular things, under the activities and interests section, you can now edit your activities and add your friends with whom you’re engaging in those activities.

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Top Photos and Friend Photos

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The strip of photos across the top of your profile are the five images of you most recently tagged by others. This can be disconcerting to someone who wants more control over what photos they showcase on their profile. If you see something you don’t want featured, just hover your cursor over the image and click the tiny “x” on the upper right hand corner of the image. While this doesn’t remove the tag or the image from your photo area entirely, it is no longer placed at the top of your profile.

As always, you can still untag yourself from photos. If you really don’t want that photo appearing in your profile photo area, click on “Photos” and, immediately underneath the image, you should see a link to “remove tag.” That doesn’t mean the image is gone forever but just that it is no longer appearing in your profile.

You can also decide which friends to feature on your profile under Featured People. This feature includes your relationship status and link to your partner, your family members, and now featured friends. To remove anyone from this more prominent position on your profile, you have to delete them. To control which friends get top billing on your profile, you can create a new list or add an existing list or group rather than letting Facebook pull from your entire friends list.

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Updating Your Status

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While it may seem a bit counterintuitive, your status update box is only a click away. Tastefully tucked below the photos are your share options: status, photo, link and video. Gone is the lingering status update that remained at the top of your profile page until you posted a new thought.

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Where Did My Tabs Go?

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You may have added applications to your Facebook profile to enhance it, such as a SlideShare tab showcasing your PowerPoint presentations or a resume tab pulling in highlights from your LinkedIn profile. Those are now gone. This is part of Facebook’s larger plan that has been ongoing for months to remove third-party application tabs. The company cites “low usage” as the reason for the removal of these tabs as outlined in itsDevelopers Forum.

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Getting Geeky With Your Profile Pics

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Not everyone is feeling discombobulated by the new Facebook profiles. Instead, some are “hacking” the system to create playful presentations that exploit new features, particularly the photo strip of five images at the top. The trick is to either use a large image (692 pixels wide or larger) and break it down into six smaller images that present the larger image like pieces in a puzzle, or to use images that combine in an interesting way when they appear across the top of your profile.

Check out some of the creative photo displays on Facebook profiles, and if you’re feeling really ambitious, try the step-by-step breakdown for hacking your own profile images.

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Are Old Profiles Gone Forever?

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The old Facebook profile layout

There was a small window of time when people were able to revert their Facebook profiles to the old version by deactivating their account for a small amount of time then reactivating it. This little trick, however, no longer works — or at least, not consistently. Rather than stressing over the new look, find ways to embrace it.

There are still folks out there who haven’t switched. If you are one of them, the main thing to consider about the new profile is whether or not you want more or less control over what is showcased on your profile. As long as you have the old version, you may want to stick with it if you prefer more control. At some point, however, the new profile will most likely become universal.

The new Facebook profile changes might make you rethink why and how you are using your Facebook account. If you were just using it for friends and casual, personal communications, you may feel a little uncomfortable with your employment and education information taking a more prominent position. Just edit and delete if it’s really an issue. Otherwise, just go with the flow, and eventually you may not even remember what the old profiles looked like, and you’ll settle in to your new look on Facebook.

source: marshable 

New 1000 cores Chip for futures!

Scottish scientists have built a 1,000-core processor, claiming it will run 20 times faster than today’s chips while using less power.

Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede led a research team at the University of Glasgow to create the futuristic processor using a programmable chip called a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

Instead of the built-in circuitry of conventional desktop computer chips, these processors can be customized. So with some extremely clever programming, the research team was able to divide the processor into 1,000 cores, each capable of its own computation.

To give you some perspective, the fastest consumer processors such as Intel’s Core i7 top out at six cores. According to the Daily Mail, the 1,000-core processor processes 5 gigabytes data per second, and that’s “20 times faster than modern computers.”

The researchers gave each one of the cores its own dedicated memory, speeding it up even more. Remarkably, they were able to leverage all this extra speed and power without using more energy. Because they’re using those more energy-efficient FPGAs, Dr. Vanderbauwhede calls them “a greener option.”

Will we be seeing these processors in our laptops anytime soon? Not exactly. The team will present their research at a symposium next March, but according to Vanderbauwhede, “I believe these kinds of processors will only become more common and help to speed up computers even further over the next few years.”

source : mashable.com 

Netbook or Notebook? which is good? (for intel processor only)

Future of Mobile Computing

On October 21, 2008 Intel Mobile Platforms Group manager Mooly Eden delivered the second day keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). His address was entitled “Expanding the Frontiers of Mobility.”
One of the many interesting things that Mr. Eden said was that although many industry experts predicted that 2009 will be the year that the crossover happens and more notebooks than desktop PCs are sold, 2008 is the year that Intel will sell more mobile processors than desktop processors. Part of that rapid growth in the mobile field was due to the advent of the Atom-powered mini-computers, the netbooks.
Mooly Eden also offered a look at the netbook vs. notebook question from Intel’s perspective on the past, present, and future of mobile computing.

Design Factors

Netbooks are devices designed purposely for the Internet, to communicate, learn, and view information. They have in common a compact form factor of seven to ten inches, are light-weight, feature comparatively longer battery life than notebooks, and are less dependent on a battery charger during the day. They are easily portable and can be easily moved from one place to another place. They may contain more than one wireless method to connect to the Internet. To see some examples of netbooks on the market, read about how 3 of the top netbooks compare with each another.
Notebooks are more multiple-purpose computers in a form factor of about ten inches and up. Notebooks can create content and handle heavy multi-tasking loads with many applications running at once. They can view, create, and edit high-definition video content and run intensive programs like computer aided engineering and mathematical modeling.

Differences in Mobility

Notebooks, like Netbooks, are portable, but some are becoming increasingly less so (the 17-inchers) some more so (the ultra-thins), and users of notebooks tend to pack them away in bags with all sorts of accessories before moving anywhere beyond the office or home. Although a few notebooks are able to connect to the Internet via cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi, being “locked” to a carrier is not widely considered an advantage. Thus notebook users often invest in wireless modems that are external.
Interestingly, we may see netbooks that are sold by the cellular carriers themselves as a bundle of Internet service and the device. Consumers would be likely to consider an inexpensive netbook expendable and simply stop using the wireless connection when the cellular contract was up.
So netbooks are purpose-built for a limited role, while traditional notebooks are multi-purpose general tool. (Click the image from Intel to enlarge the graphicon that explains the uses of each.)
Read on for some help on how to decide between a netbook and a notebook by taking a look at what types of applications you will be running on the computer.

What Applications Will You Run?

The central question to be asked, Mr. Eden said, was “What applications do you plan to run on it?”

If you want to run basic applications and surf the web on the go, the netbook is a good solution. However, if you want to “open five windows, if you want to run virus protection and do some indexing . . . or high definition video editing,” said Mr. Eden, then a notebook is better.

Image courtesy of Intel

Mr. Eden said that asking him which is better – the Atom (netbook) or the Core 2 Duo (notebook) processor - is like asking which child he likes best. He says that, although they are different, he likes them both. Then he said he likes all of his kids.

source: brighthub

how to boost your old computer

Speeding Up Slow Computers

There are five methods you can use to make your computer faster than it is. The best thing to do if you want to optimize the speed of your computer is to use all five. If you go down the list in order you will optimize the cleanup effort and maximize the speed.

Run a Disk Cleanup

This is one of the easiest methods to get your computer running faster. It is also one of the most overlooked tricks to speed up a computer. Disk cleanup is a program that cleans out all temporary files (files loaded with web pages when you opened them), use cache (history, Internet logs, information used to auto-fill pages), any pages saved from the Internet onto your computer and empties the recycle bin.
Open the Start menu down at the bottom left of the window. Scroll over to “All Programs” and open that. Scroll over to “Accessories”; scroll over to “System Tools”. Choose “Disk Cleanup” from that menu. A box will appear. Choose the main drive of your computer (most often “C”). Click OK. Click on every option in the box that shows up. Click OK. This may take a few minutes or an hour depending on the size of your computer and the last time you ran this function.

Run the Program Removal Tool

The next phase of getting the computer running faster is to get rid of all those programs you either don’t use, or use maybe once a month or less. Many programs you may not even know you had.
Go back to the Start menu, get yourself back to the Disk Cleanup option discussed above. This also has a way to get to the Add/Remove Programs option. Once you get to the Disk Cleanup box, look for the “More Options” tab – highlight that with the mouse. This brings up three choices; you want the one in the middle that allows you to dispose of unwanted programs and software. Click OK to use the tool. A large window should open up displaying all of the programs you have installed on the computer. Look over the entire list. Take note of the last used date, to the right. If you don’t recognize the program you may not know you had it. There may also be a few installation programs that you used to put other software on the computer. Either download these programs onto a flash drive to keep them, or delete them. Usually you don’t need these as they are free on the net. Toolbars and games often bring software that piggybacked with the installation. Get rid of all that too. Highlight the program you want deleted. A box with the word “Remove” will appear on the lower right side of the highlighted section. Click that button to remove the program. You may need to click OK somewhere during the removal. You also may need to restart your computer for some software to completely remove itself. Repeat the process until you have removed all unnecessary or unwanted programs.
WARNING: Do not attempt to remove or uninstall programs by simply deleting the file folders. This does not delete the program completely. This also can cause damage to the operating system as many programs share files and folders with the operating system.

Defragment the Computer

The next trick to speed up your computer is to run defragmentation software. Operating systems pick up pieces of software as they use them; but they don’t put them back where they found them. When you go to use the software again, the operating system must go looking for the pieces it needs; these are often in much different locations than they were before. This is what slows down the operating software, and can sometimes cause a program to respond slowly or take awhile to get started. Defragging the computer puts all the pieces back into the correct position for optimum efficiency.

Go to the Start menu again. Go back to System Tools the same way you did before. Disk Defragment is usually just below Disk Cleanup on the menu. Highlight and click on the defragment option. A box pops up giving you a choice of which drive to defragment. Usually “C” or whatever drive your operating system is on. Click OK. Again, depending on the amount of software on your computer and the time since your last defragment, this can take an hour or more; especially if you have lots of media files or documents. Run the program until it ends. It will give you the option to close or print a report when finished.

Clean Up the Start up Files

Here is another way to get your computer running faster that is overlooked. Most people, myself included sometimes, tend to click away at the pop-up screens when installing software. One of these screens allows adding the program to the start up folder and Start menu; this means the software will start up when the computer is powered up. The more items in this list, the longer it takes for the computer to completely start up and the slower it gets.

Go to the Start menu again. Look for the “Run” option on the Start menu; it’s on the bottom right above the button that shuts off the computer. Highlight “Run” and click on it. A pop-up box appears with a section to type something in. Type “msconfig” (without quotes) into the box. This brings up the System Configuration Utility. You will find a row of tabs up top. On the right of the tabs you will find “Startup”. Click on that tab to open that box. There will be a list of programs currently running with green checkmarks to the left of each one. To stop a program from running when the computer starts up, uncheck the box next to it. Programs to halt on startup include Google Update, instant messenger, mail, games, browsers and any other program you can just as easily click on once to start. Click on “Apply” and restart your computer.

WARNING: If you don’t recognize a program, DO NOT uncheck it. This list also includes programs which MUST start up with the computer. Only uncheck programs you recognize and do not need to have on startup.

Clean the Registry

The registry by this time will contain fragments and leftover files that used to belong to programs. It will contain orphaned items no longer needed. Find yourself a good registry cleaner for this operation. There are free cleaners out there but not all of them are worth the hassle after downloading. One I did find useful is Free Windows Registry Repair. Once you download the software, run the full scan. Use the registry cleaner to remove these files. Run the cleaner again to make sure you got everyone (especially if using it for the first time). Don’t worry about the Empty Registry Keys. Those belong there, as they are reserved space not taken up by any files yet.

WARNING: Do not attempt to rewrite the registry keys unless you are certified or thoroughly understand the consequences. Incorrectly altering the registry keys WILL disrupt parts of the computer and can cause the operating system to fail. Use a registry cleaner before attempting to alter the system yourself.

To keep your computer running at a good rate you must schedule regular maintenance using these five methods. Keeping your computer free of junk or unnecessary files keeps your computer running faster.

Image Source: W.A. Swan

source : brighthub.com

New facebook profile creative idea.

Boring with new facebook profile? here are some awesome idea to to tweek your profile into more interesting! 

 

CityVille Is Now Popular Than Farmville!

According to AppData, CityVille now has 16.8 million daily active users, compared to FarmVille’s 16.4 million. Looking at monthly active users, CityVille is also ahead with 61.7 million users, while FarmVille trails behind quite a bit with 56.8 million users.

Zynga also holds two more places in the top five with FrontierVille andTexas HoldEm Poker: put those four apps together (we’ll disregard the fact that many of those users overlap for a second) and you have a very impressive number: 184 million active users across four games. The only non-Zynga app in the top 5 list is Phrases, which at one point threatened to take the top place but is now overshadowed by both CityVille and FarmVille.

CityVille’s future success wasn’t hard to predict after an amazingly good start at the beginning of December, but it’s still impressive to see Zynga amassing tens of millions of users in a matter of days, proving that all thatventure capital that went into the company isn’t there by accident.

source marshable

Free playstation app for iphone and android soon!

Sony is set to launch free iPhone and Android apps for Playstation in the very near future, likely in early 2011.With the 1.0 versions, users will be able to monitor their PlayStation Network trophies as well as friends’ games and online statuses. The apps will also deliver gaming news and PlayStation announcements, and it will let users share news or interesting product details viaTwitter, Facebook and e-mail.

Basically, you’ll be able to do everything except actually playing games.

System requirements are about what you’d expect. iPhone and iPod touch users will need to be running devices with iOS 4; Android device owners will need to be running Android 1.6 or higher.

While we’re definitely surprised the apps aren’t going to be available in the U.S. at launch, what we don’t find too shocking is PlayStation’s foray into the world of mobile phones. After all, rumors about the PlayStation Phone have had us and other mobile and gaming bloggers salivating for details for months, and rival Microsoft recently made Xbox Live available to Windows Phone 7 owners.

Who needs a Sony PlayStation phone? Oh wait, maybe you need one to actually play PlayStation games on your phone but if all you’re looking for is something for you to manage your trophies, check out your friends’ games and online status, or get the latest gaming news and PlayStation announcements, a PlayStation app will reach your iOS 4 iPhone/iPod and Android 1.6 and above very soon; possibly early 2011, or could it make it just in time for Christmas? The app will also allow you to share your favorite products or news with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or using email.

According to the company, they will be launching the app in limited countries for the initial stage – including UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands (yes no Malaysia but why doesn’t that surprise us anymore?) – and they will be rolling out to other countries slowly as they are working on a next version that will support most SCEE countries and languages. Check out images of the Android and iPhone PlayStation app right after the break or visit the official PlayStation blog for more information.

Here’s a first look at the Android version (above) and iPhone version (below) of the app from the PlayStation

(Source: Mashable, PlayStation Blog)

top 10 Christmas gadget gifts !

Christmas is a time of plenty for gadget lovers, but finding the latest technology can be difficult. We look at the technology that’s hot this holiday season.

Ever wonder how it is that Santa always gets just the right gift for that good little girl or boy? Well he reads lots of Christmas Gift Reviews that's how. So Santa is always in the know as to what the really special gifts are. And now you can have the same advantage as Santa. Let us help you sort the diamonds from the lumps of coal so that you can be sure you are also giving that perfect gift. 

2. Easy video recording

pocket camcorders have exploded in popularity over the past two years, and there are some outstanding cameras on the market to fight strong competition from the latest phones.

If you want something designed for short videos, the new Toshiba Camileo S20 is perfect, with 1080p video and 4x digital zoom for £ 130 at Amazon. If only for children, try the Kodak Zx1, which is available for £ 50 from www.techstore.co.uk, or Busbi digital video camera £ 40 Firebox.

3. Read your Ebooks in style

e-book readers are the hottest technology in the market, and the ubiquitous Kindle 3 is the most desirable of them all. Amazon has slashed the price of £ 109 and £ 149 for a 3G version, which lets you browse web pages and download books on demand.

However, they are much sought after, and if you can not wait three weeks for delivery, the iRiver Story is also very good. It costs £ 140 from Play.com, and although there is no 3G, it does get full support for Microsoft Office documents and PDF files.

4. Great pictures

Last Christmas was the year the photo frame, and our love affair is set to take place in 2011. Kodak took top marks in issue 50 of the frame with the digital test pulse group, which can be purchased for £ 85 from Play.com.

If that is too much, you can opt for the negotiating framework of 8-inch Jessops is £ 25 in jessops.com, or simply pick up a set of key framework, such as the Tao Digital Photo Keychain for only £ 13 from Firebox .

5. Can you feel the noise?

There are some excellent value speakers making the rounds, and if you are looking for a great gift for a music lover, you’re in luck.

The Logitech Z523 is a bargain at £ 50 from Amazon, or you can pick up the huge Teufel Concept C 100 for £ 109 also from Amazon.

If the volume and the bass is not your thing, the Logitech Z320 is a decent 2.0 system and costs just £ 35 on Amazon.

6. Amazing multimedia

If you are looking for MP3 players this Christmas, the iPod Touch update will be flying off the shelves. Apple has given its new MP3 player with high resolution touch screen, vibrating screen iPhone 4, and the addition of a 720p HD video camera.

This makes the iPod Touch into a force to be reckoned, but at £ 189 for the 8GB version, which is not cheap.

If you’re looking for a more profitable MP3 player, you can opt for the Sandisk Sansa Clip (from £ 38 in www.lambda-tek.com).

7. Safe and sound this Christmas

Backup does not evoke images of the holiday season, but the fact that hard drives and USB memory sticks that has really useful.

There are some good deals on everything, like the Buffalo MiniStation 320GB Lite for £ 64 at Dabs.com, which has enough space for most backups.

Portable storage is also cheap at the moment, and you can get a rubber Corsair Flash Voyager 8GB £ 12 on Amazon, or a cute teddy Hero USB Flash USB drive, which is perfect for children,the Firebox for £ 14.99.

8. Stocking fillers

Photographers love Gorillapod (£ 12 from Amazon), a versatile tripod that can be used anywhere.

Camera enthusiasts will also love the PoGo printer (£ 25 from www.scan.co.uk), which lets you print photos via Bluetooth.

If his family love PC are a bit harder to please, try some USB rechargeable batteries.

9. Stay in touch with family

Christmas is about people, but unfortunately we can not always get to our family and friends during the holiday season. The perfect gift for your loved ones at a distance is a webcam, so you can still wave hello on Christmas morning, and you can find high-quality cameras at bargain prices.

The Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000N can be purchased for $ 32 from Amazon, and is designed to work with Windows Live Messenger, so that even the most computer illiterate relatives can come to grips with it.

10. Bargain sat-navs

Sat-nav is expensive, but it presents a great way for family members of the warrior. If family members are iPhone users, the TomTom for iPhone works great, and at £ 43, represents a great saving in the cost of a whole unit.

For non-iPhone users, the TomTom Start2 is suitable for basic navigation and is packed with interesting features, such as the guide rail and road names spoken by only 120 pounds. .